Chicago Finally has a Fire Alarm Bell; City Ordinance Passed July 1855.

In February 1855, a deep-toned bell was installed in the new Courthouse.

The July 1855 ordinance passed, dividing the City into six fire districts. An alarm-sounding code was initiated:

Mr. Holden, from the Committee on Fire and Water, made a report in regard to a system of Fire Alarms. The South, West and North Divisions are numbered 1, 2, and 3. The city is divided into 6 districts.

• One tap, followed by nine more taps, calls the firemen to district № 1.
• Three taps, followed by nine other taps, calls them to district № 3.
• Six taps, followed by nine other taps, calls them to district № 6.
• Six strokes of the bell calls out that part of the fire department which is located in the district in which the fire breaks out, thus:
• One tap followed by six others, Division № 1 to District № 1.
• 2-6, calls Division № 1 to District № 2.
• 3-6, calls Division № 2 to District № 3.
• 4-6, calls Division № 2 to District № 4.
• 5-6, calls Division № 3 to District № 5.
• 6-6, calls Division № 3 to District № 6.
• The Courthouse bell is also to designate the hours of 7, 12, 1, 6, and 9 o'clock by two taps an indefinite number of times.
• The report was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.

A watchman was continually on duty in the tower. Besides ringing the bell, the watchman was responsible for handing out flags by day and lanterns by night, used to direct firefighters to the fire scene. There was no gas in those days, so torch boys ran ahead of the engine to light the way. When an alarm was rung at night, citizens were responsible for placing lighted candles in their windows, lighting the way for the firefighters.

The "Long John" steam fire engine tested in February 1858 was met with hostility from the volunteer firemen. The volunteers could sense this was the beginning of their extinction. The steam engine "Long John" was put into service on May 1, 1858, at the corner of Adams and Franklin Street. 

This Daguerreotype photograph was taken on July 4, 1855. The third floor and dome were not added to the Courthouse until 1858. The basement was above ground.

Firefighters of the volunteer hose companies and two paid members, the engineer and assistant engineer, manned the "Long John." The death knell of the volunteer fire department was rung on August 2, 1858, when the city council passed the ordinance organizing the paid City of Chicago Fire Department. The first completely paid company was Engine Company № 3, located at 225 South Michigan Boulevard. This company was one of fifteen engines and three hook and ladder companies acquired from the volunteer department. 

Courthouse in 1858.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES:

Fires in Chicago & The Great Chicago Fire.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

1855, April 30th, A Saloon Fire at Washington and Market Streets, Chicago was Destroyed.

At half-past one o'clock on Monday morning, a fire broke out in a saloon occupied by Andrew H. Young at the corner of Washington and Market Streets, being part of a house owned by Michael Casey, and kept as a boarding house by Mr. Young. 

This illustration is a visual aid.

The fire spread with great rapidity, and the building, with most of its contents, was destroyed. Most of the boarders escaped in their night clothes, and few of them saved anything more than they could lay their hands on in an instant. We have been informed that the house was partly insured, but we understand that Mr. Young's loss in furniture, etc., will not be less than $1,000 ($35,000 today), with no insurance.

The usual promptitude in sounding a fire alarm characterized this fire. Had there been a lookout on the Court House steeple, the fire would have been seen when it first broke out. An alarm could have been struck directing the firemen to proceed westward from the Court House, which would, in a very few minutes, have assembled the entire force of the department and saved at least half the destruction that followed. As it was, the fire rages for nearly half an hour before the city alarm bell sounded, and then it gave forth such an "uncertain sound" that if the blaze of the conflagration had not lit up the sky, the firemen would not have known in what direction to run.

We have spoken so often of the imperative necessity of immediate attention to the subject of fire alarms that we are tired of it. We presume that nothing will be done until some of our most valuable blocks of buildings are laid in ruins, and then we shall have a fire alarm.

ADDITIONAL READING: The Chicago Lager Beer Riot of 1855.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.