Edgewood Fire Company

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     The Edgewood Volunteer Fire Company, not to be confused with the Pawtuxet Volunteer Fire Company which was also located in Edgewood, was formally organized on October 24, 1904. However, an unnamed newspaper article from a scrap book dated October 15, 1906 indicates that the company began “several years” earlier. The article stated in part: “Many of the best known people of the district are sustaining members of the company even if they do not take an active part in the fire fighting, and a large number of others are expected to become members to assist in carrying on the good work that has been started. Past experience has taught the Edgewoodites to go slow in a matter of this kind as the former hose company was a joke for several years, and the property was permitted to deteriorate until almost valueless from the fire-fighting standpoint.”     

     Between 1904 and 1906 the company grew from a handful of men to 175 volunteers.

 

     The company was also referred to as the “Edgewood Volunteer Fire Company No. 1”.

     In 1906 officers of the company included: Directors – Fred E. Horton, Joseph A. Latham, and Asa Peck; President – William Higgins; Vice President – Sidney Williams; Captain – Arthur Vaughn; Lieutenant – Charles Vanstone; Superintendent of Fire Alarm – Chester Williams; and Instructor – F. F. Sisson.

Edgewood Fire Co.
June, 1916

     The company’s fire station was located on Pawtuxet Avenue at the corner of Wentworth Avenue, in a wooden structure that was formerly a factory. Next to the building stood a fifteen-foot steel tower that contained a 590 pound bell that was cast in Ohio, which was incorporated as part of the fire alarm system for the area. Gamewell Company fire alarm boxes were installed throughout the district which would electronically activate the striker for the bell in the event of a fire.

 

      In 1907-08 the building was expanded to include a large dance hall and stage, “…giving to the company”, as one newspaper reported, “one of the best homes and equipment in the country among volunteer organizations.” This addition gave the company the opportunity to hold fundraising events. In February of 1909, two bowling alleys were installed in the building.

     In 1908 the company’s active apparatus consisted of a combination hose and ladder wagon, and two vintage hand-engines which were primarily for use at musters.

     On February 2, 1909, the Edgewood Casino and Edgewood Yacht Club were destroyed by fire. As such, the Edgewood Fire Company offered the use of their building for their monthly meetings.

     It was also in February, 1909, that the Edgewood Volunteer Fire company joined the Cranston Town Fireman’s League.

     In the early morning hours of December 25, 1914, a disastrous fire destroyed three homes on Wheeler Avenue in southern Edgewood. Both the Edgewood and Pawtuxet fire companies responded, but upon arrival found the nearest fire hydrants frozen and inoperable. Evidently the loss of the homes drew some criticism which prompted Captain Charles Vanstone of the Edgewood volunteers to issue a statement to the press. “Regarding the hydrant question in Cranston”, he began, “the City of Cranston pays to the City of Providence $30 per year for each fire hydrant installed regardless of whether they are used or not. In fact there are many hydrants that are being paid for from which not a drop of water has been used in over 30 years, unless for inspection purposes.

     “The Cranston firemen have no control over the hydrants, their orders being not to interfere with them except in case of fire. The public works department of Providence is supposed to keep them in working order but with no regular inspection it is an easy matter for the hydrant to get out of order in cold weather and not be discovered until it becomes necessary to use them for a fire, when there is trouble.

     “I have now inaugurated a system of weekly inspection of hydrants in the Edgewood district, which will help considerably, as my first trip around the district disclosed eight hydrants that needed repairs. We are not supposed to open the hydrants or turn on the water, but we can tell without this whether they are frozen or not.”

     Beside the frozen hydrants, there was also a delay in reporting the fire. To this Captain Vanstone explained; “….another thing that is not generally known is that the Edgewood alarm was not rung until 2:45 a.m. while the fire was discovered three quarters of an hour earlier.

     “Inquiring as to the reason for this delay, I found part of it due to the fact that there have been several telephone calls received at the police station recently when there have been no fires and the patrolman who received the call Christmas night thought this was another hoax, and instead of pulling the alarm he went out in the street to see if he saw any sign of fire. Seeing no evidence of fire he returned to the station without turning in an alarm and not until the sky was brilliantly illuminated was an alarm rung”.

     Captain Vanstone went on to relate that by the time the first firemen arrived on scene all three homes were fully engulfed in flames and could not be saved.

    Captain Vanstone was evidently a forward thinker when it came to fire protection and prevention. In March of 1915 he advocated for the city to purchase motorized fire apparatus with pumps and give one to each of the city’s six volunteer fire companies. His position was that only two steam-fire engines could hook up to a fire hydrant at any one time, thus making other steam engines on scene useless. However, six pumps attached to auto chassis would not only be less expensive that buying a steamer engine, it could also bring more streams of water to bear on a fire. The response to his proposal from city officials is not recorded, but what is known is that the fire company began constructing a motorized fire apparatus of their own design. They began by purchasing what was described as “a big touring car” that was remodeled into a hose truck. Not long after a second car was purchased and converted to use as a fire truck. Then a third car was purchased, described as a “small runabout” which was customized into a small hose and chemical wagon.

     In June of 1919 the fire company honored returning World War I veterans with a turkey supper.  These men included Charles N. Goff, Oscar E. Hanson, Stephen A. Greene, Frank A. Cullen, Jr., William Bender, Howard A. Hagan, Harold Bromley, Thomas B. Paton, William Baynes, Frank J. Hagan, John W. Skelly, Hugh F. Gaffney, Walter A. Cullen, Roy Simmonds, and Judson H. Smith.  

     In 1919 the captain of the Edgewood Volunteers was Captain Arthur M. Williams; First Lieutenant was Charles H. Bromley; Second Lieutenant was Thomas Paton; Foreman of Hose – F. W. Barr; and Foreman of the ladder truck – C. P. Bunker.    

     In January of 1921 the company purchased yet a fourth vehicle to be remodeled and serve as the company’s principal fire truck, while one of the others would be remodeled to serve as a tractor for a hook and ladder wagon.

     In the early 1920s the City of Cranston established its first paid fire department. Within a few months construction began on the present-day Edgewood Fire Station on Park Avenue near Warwick Avenue.

     In 1925 the Edgewood Fire Company purchased an American La France pumper truck at a cost of $12,500. At the time it was the most modern piece of firefighting equipment operated by volunteers in the city, and on several occasions it was loaned to the city fire department when the city truck was in need of repairs.

     To read complete article about the new engine, click here.

     Unfortunately it was this truck that eventually led to the dissolution of the fire company for the organization fell behind in its payments and the truck was forfeited. With no modern apparatus with which to respond to fire alarms the company went dormant and eventually dissolved in 1927.