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as put together by: David
Hale
Organization
There is little detail known of the early organization and activities of
the Lisbon area Fire Departments.
The Village of Lisbon formed the Torrent #1 of Lisbon Fire Department in
the mid 1800's. Their first piece of apparatus was a Class B Hand tub
appropriately named the "Torrent #1". The Handtub was built by Hunneman
in 1852 and is still in possession of the Town.
To date the oldest known Handtub in the Village of Lisbon Falls was the
General Bates No, 3, a large class A engine built by Button in 1878 for
Weymouth, MA, and named for Civil War General James Lawrence Bates who
was wounded at Gettysburg. This unit was acquired in 1888, and probably
was housed on Maple Street on the site of the Town Hall and Fire Station
which were both destroyed in the fire of 1901.
It is believed there was an earlier department in Lisbon Falls called
The Defender, however, no information on this can be located.
At an unknown date a Department was also organized in Lisbon Center.
Initially they had a hose reel which was connected to the Mill's water
supply.
In addition to the water systems at each mill, several cisterns provided
water in the developed areas, including Main Street at Union and School
Streets in Lisbon Falls.
A major fire occurred in 1896 involving half a dozen business blocks in
Lisbon Falls. All of which were rebuilt just in time for the devastating
fire of 1901 in which the entire business district of Lisbon Falls was
destroyed.
Lisbon Falls Business District after being rebuilt from the 1896 fire
and prior to the 1901 fire.
The remains of the Lisbon Falls Business District after the Fire of
1901.
The fire of 1901 prompted the purchase of an American Fire Engine
Company 650 GPM Metropolitan Class Steamer housed in Lisbon Falls, as
well as the installation of a state of the art water system in 1903.
Apparatus
In 1922 a pair of Ford Model T Chemical Engines were purchased from
American LaFrance, one for each Village. In 1929 the first of two 250
GPM rotary pumpers built by McCann was delivered to ET Smith.
1922 Model T stored at the Lisbon Falls Station used for parades and
other functions..
1929 McCann still used for special functions and parades by members of
ET Smith.
Lisbon's unit was on a Chevrolet chassis and the one delivered to Lisbon
Falls in 1931 was on a Ford chassis. In 1938 Lisbon Falls received a
Ford V-8 hose wagon which was equipped with a 500 GPM rotary pump by
McCann. All of these early pumpers were first fitted as hose wagons and
the pumps installed at a later date. This was known as the installment
plan. 1942 saw the delivery to Lisbon of a Chevy Hose Truck which was
equipped with a 300 GPM pump in 1946.
During this period, there was great feelings between Lisbon and Lisbon
Falls over which made the better Fire Truck Ford vs. Chevy. ET Smith
favored the Chevy and the Falls preferred Ford.
After W.W.II the Town continued to upgrade its fire defenses. Lisbon
Falls received a 1948 500 GPM Ford, a 1955 750 GPM Custom, both by
American LaFrance, and a 1968 750 GPM Ford by Howe. Lisbon received a
1956 500 GPM Chevy and a 1963 750 GPM Chevy both by American LaFrance.
In 1977 two 1250 GPM Fire Truck Inc. units on Spartan chassis were
placed in service. After lengthy debate and national attention, one was
painted Lime Green and the other was painted Red. This tradition still
holds today with ET Smith's trucks being Lime Green and Lisbon Falls
Red.
Ladder service had been provide by ground ladders up until 1973 when the
City of Lewiston Donated a 1944 American LaFrance 65' ladder truck which
was assigned to Lisbon Falls. In 1986 the Town bought a 100' Seagrave.
1986 Seagrave 100' Aerial
Booster tanks started with the twin 30 Gal. chemical tanks and has
evolved to were 1,000 Gal. is almost standard on all trucks.
Tank service started with a 600 Gal. tank on the 1936 Ford chassis
(refitted in 1956), later supplemented by military surplus, first a 500
Gal. and later a 2,000 Gal. on a Ford Chassis built at a local shop.
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