It’s possible that the Auburn Fire Company originated as the Mashpaug Fire Company in the 1890s, or the Mashpaug Fire Co. was absorbed by the Auburn Fire Co. If anyone knows the answer, please contact the museum.
As a point of fact, there were those who attempted to organize a fire company in the Auburn section of Cranston as early as 1889, but voters rejected the idea. Click here to see newspaper articles relating to this.
April 6, 1897
The Auburn Fire Company is known to have been in existence as early as April of 1897 as evidenced by the above news snippet from The Providence News, April 6, 1897. In 1897, Cranston was still a town.
The Auburn Fire Station was located on Doric Avenue.
In November of 1908, the Auburn Fire Company incorporated the steel wheel from a locomotive be used as a gong to alert volunteers of a fire. It was placed on top of the fire station and a striker with a rope was attached.
By 1909 the Auburn Fire Company consisted of an engine company, a hose company, and a hook and ladder company. In January of 1909 the following officers were elected: Chief – George E. Lovell; Lieutenant – Harry Colwell; Foreman of Hose – Milton Hoyle; Forman of Hook & Ladder – Edgar Seamans; Forman of Engine – Charles A. Potter.
At a monthly meeting in July of 1914, a committee was elected to try to persuade the city to furnish the volunteer fire stations with coal. The committee consisted of John Mackenzie, John J. McInerney, I. W. Bagley, and Robert Hayhurst. Letters were sent to the other fire companies and it was hoped that they would join them in their request. The cost to the city would be fifty dollars per station, a small expense, even for the time. A newspaper article on the matter stated in part; “On account of its novelty the reception of the question will be watched for with a good deal of interest.”
At a meeting in January of 1915 the following officers were elected; Captain – Edward H. Coyne, Jr.; Lieutenant of Company – Louis V. Seamans; Lieutenant of Hose – Gordon M. Thurber; Lieutenant of Hook & Ladder – Fred H. Tickell; Superintendent of Fire Alarm – C. Arthur Searcy.
By 1915 the Aubrun Fire Company was operating at least one motorized fire truck.
In 1921 the company began holding annual carnivals to raise funds necessary to run the organization.
Click on image to enlarge.
Click on image to enlarge.
On the night of January 8, 1922, the Auburn Fire Company, along with others, responded to a disasterous fire at the Cranston coal mine which once stood on land now occupied by the Garden City Shopping Center. The suspected arson fire destroyed all buildings above the main shaft. Some companies were delayed in responding due to a false alarm being called in at the time of the blaze. Firefighting efforts were also hampered by a lack of water supply at the site, and 2,000 feet of hose had to be laid to reach the nearest hydrant. Fighting this inferno was especially hazardous as it was feared that dynamite stored in the shaft beneath the burning buildings might explode at any second. The buildings were owned by the Graphite Mine Corporation of Rhode Island, and were valued at $125,000.
In 1923 the fire company purchased a new pumper for $7,500 from a company in Middleboro, Massachusetts. New Fire Truck Article.
On February 16, 1924, what was described in the Cranston News as “the biggest fire in the history of Cranston” broke out at the Valentine Almy School on Doric Avenue. Every piece of apparatus in the city was called into service as well as some from Providence to fight the flames, but despite their best efforts the building was a complete loss. High winds drove embers throughout the area directing resources to protect nearby buildings from igniting. It was noted in the article that ironically, despite the fact that the Grinnell Automatic Fire Extinguisher Co. was located in Auburn, the building lacked fire sprinklers.
On February 17, 1924, firefighters, still weary from fighting the school fire, were called to fight a blaze at the Cranston Community Church at 8 Pendelton Street.
In the early morning hours of August 26, 1929, a spectacular ice house fire on the edge of Blackamore Pond lit up the sky and attracted hundreds to the area. Falling embers damaged several homes. The ice house, which measured 100 by 200 feet, was about a year old. It had replaced another ice house which had also burned.
In September of 1929 the fire company sold their only fire truck to the Charlestown-Richmond Fire Company for a sum of $3,800. It was then voted to keep the company going purely as a social organization, but members agreed that would offer their services to assist city firemen at a fire if called upon to do so. It’s unknown how long the company remained as a social organization.