Lima Fire Department
The town of "Lima" was on the map before any local record of June 6, 1831, but it was not fully organized until March 29, 1842, and a mayor was elected.
In this same year the Common Village Council gave an order to blacksmith, William Andres, to install a clapper in th courthouse bell at a cost of $1.87. This is said to have been the first move to establish an organized fire department since the bell was used to assembly common pleas court, church and school meetings, and to summon citizens who would arm themselves with buckets, dishpans, and any sort of container that would holdwater, and formed bucket brigades to fight a fire.
Five years later, on April 21, 1847, another important date in regards to fire prevention and fire protection, at a meeting of the Common Council, the "Town of Lima," with a population of 600 people realized the need for fire prevention and the Common Council resolved that it be expedient to take some measures to prevent fires from breaking out in town. A committee of three was appointed to examine the conditions of chimneys and other fire hazards and to make a report at the next meeting. Then two years later at a Common Council meeting on April 6, 1849, on a motion, authorized the purchase of three ladders and six fire hooks to pull burning thatch from roofs. A committee was also formed to examine the houses in town and have the properties secured to prevent danger of fire.
In 1865 a volunteer fire department was organized and the first piece of pumping apparatus, a hand pumper, was purchased second hand from Dayton, Ohio, and was known as the "Pacific Engine #1." After a large fire in 1871, two more engines were purchased, the "Champion Steam Fire engine and Hose Co., No 2" and the "Citizens Gift Fire Engine and Hose Company, No. 3." The old "Pacific" engine was sold to Spencerville, Ohio. History tells us there was much rivalry between these two companies in trying to be the first on the scene of a fire.
A city building was built in 1868 on West High Street, just west of Main Stree
In this same year the Common Village Council gave an order to blacksmith, William Andres, to install a clapper in th courthouse bell at a cost of $1.87. This is said to have been the first move to establish an organized fire department since the bell was used to assembly common pleas court, church and school meetings, and to summon citizens who would arm themselves with buckets, dishpans, and any sort of container that would holdwater, and formed bucket brigades to fight a fire.
Five years later, on April 21, 1847, another important date in regards to fire prevention and fire protection, at a meeting of the Common Council, the "Town of Lima," with a population of 600 people realized the need for fire prevention and the Common Council resolved that it be expedient to take some measures to prevent fires from breaking out in town. A committee of three was appointed to examine the conditions of chimneys and other fire hazards and to make a report at the next meeting. Then two years later at a Common Council meeting on April 6, 1849, on a motion, authorized the purchase of three ladders and six fire hooks to pull burning thatch from roofs. A committee was also formed to examine the houses in town and have the properties secured to prevent danger of fire.
In 1865 a volunteer fire department was organized and the first piece of pumping apparatus, a hand pumper, was purchased second hand from Dayton, Ohio, and was known as the "Pacific Engine #1." After a large fire in 1871, two more engines were purchased, the "Champion Steam Fire engine and Hose Co., No 2" and the "Citizens Gift Fire Engine and Hose Company, No. 3." The old "Pacific" engine was sold to Spencerville, Ohio. History tells us there was much rivalry between these two companies in trying to be the first on the scene of a fire.
A city building was built in 1868 on West High Street, just west of Main Stree
