Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments
When today’s firefighters are not out extinguishing fires or responding to traffic accidents or any of the other vital duties they perform, they are training or maintaining equipment. Things were no different 100 years ago although; back then, there was probably more equipment maintenance than training.
On May 21, 1872, all 10,000 feet of hose belonging to the Nashua Fire Department was subjected to “the most thorough examination and oiled with Noyes Caster Oil Engine Hose Dressing.” In those days, fire hose was made from leather. Anyone who has ever had a pair of all-leather shoes knows if they are not cared for, and the leather kept supple, the leather will dry and crack. Fire department hose is no exception. This test in 1872 showed much of the hose was found to be dry and hard. The hose was forced full of Noyes Caster Oil Engine Hose Dressing by using an old hand pumper. When the oil started to ooze out of the hose, the outside was treated with a bristle brush, and then the oil released. It took almost 150 gallons of the dressing put into the hose in “perfect order.” (Before the days of the EPA, one must wonder what was done with the oil afterwards.)
Authors Note: Leather hose was later replaced with rubber-lined cotton hose. These hoses also needed drying in a hose tower to ensure the hose was dry to prevent mold and rot. After the hose was dry, it was rolled up and stored in a dry place, ready to be re-loaded in the hose bed of a truck returning from a fire where the hose bed was probably emptied of hose to be used at the fire. Today, the large diameter hose is rubber and hand lines are made with synthetic fibers so all this hose can be replaced in the truck at the scene without drying. The fire service has come a long way.
August 12, 1873 , An early-morning alarm was sounded when fire was discovered issuing from the west end of the wheelwright shop on Concord Street. The building, although in good repair, was old and dry as a tinderbox, and therefore the flames spread rapidly through it. Protector Volunteers “did a good service in keeping the fire confined to the building until the arrival of the steamers, when quick work was made in extinguishing the blaze.” It was believed the fire was started by an arsonist. A few days later, the fire chief was advised that only a few yards away from the burning building was another building which held a wagon… which held over a ton of gunpowder.
Author’s Note: The Protector Volunteers were using a hand pumper which was housed on Lowell St., north of the river. All the other NFD apparatus was at the Central Fire Station on Temple and Court St., south of the river.
Author’s Note: A wheelwright was a person who makes wagon wheels. Although not specified, this could have been Crosby Wheelwright at 5 Concord St. Today, this would be located right behind the First Church on the corner of Concord and Lowell St. In 1873 this would have been the site of the Indian Head Coffee House, a tavern and hotel. An explosion of that magnitude, at that location, could have resulted in a monumental loss of life.
April 24, 1873 The annual drill of the Nashua Fire Department was held on Nashua’s Main St. This was an opportunity for the fire department to not only practice operating their equipment, but also an opportunity for Nashua citizens to see their fire department at work. They proceeded to pump water from a hydrant at the corner of Main and Temple St. and at the corner of Pearl and Main St. At first there was sufficient water from the Pennichuck system to throw a stream as high as the new Merchants Exchange Building, better known today as Martha’s Exchange restaurant. But after the engines had played for five minutes the stream diminished more than one half and in eight minutes the stream was not sufficient to be of any service in the case of fire. The hydrant at the corner of Main and Temple St. gave out three times, the engine pumping it out the last time in eight minutes. The exercise demonstrated that the point previously made by the Fire Chief to the City Council – that the city’s water system was not sufficient in the event of a major fire. It further demonstrated that, but little dependence is to be placed on the branch pipes. The department’s drill showed its efficiencies, and the city’s water system deficiencies.
August 11, 1873 The fire department again tested new hose, which resulted in bursting of four out of ten links of Concord Leather hose, the linen and carbolized stood all the pressure that the steamers could put upon it. The cotton or linen hose and carbolized hose would become the fire industry’s standard for over 100 years.
Author’s Note: Carbolized hose is the black, large diameter hose used for drafting water into the fire engine’s pump. These were often seen strapped to side of a pumper truck.
At 1:30 a.m. on September 3, 1873, Miss Nellie Torney, one of the “table girls” noticed smoke and flames coming from the stable and adjacent building of the Merrimac Hotel in Railroad Square. She gave an alarm, notified the landlord, employees and lodgers to quickly vacate the building. At one point “it looked like whole square bounded by Lowell and Clinton St. and Railroad Square must succumb.” In the end, much of the hotel was ruined including the fire department engine house on Lowell St. that housed the Protector hand-pumper, the hotel stables and a few out-buildings. The best that could be said was that the fire department kept the flames from spreading to other buildings. Several people made narrow escapes including one “very inebriated person” who was “saved by the fates that shield drunken men.” The fire also partially damaged the Laton building… which was fully insured. The Merrimac owner, George Boutelle had purchased the property only three years prior, taking a run-down hotel and turning it into first-rate accommodations. The loss was estimated at $10,000 of which $4,000 was insured. Several other people living at the hotel lost everything. It is also believed that in the chaos, a party or parties stole some equipment from the burning Protector firehouse on Lowell St. including 28 hats, 27 frocks and 26 belts.
Author’s Note: The Merrimac Hotel was originally known as the Central House and sat in the middle of Railroad Square facing Main St. It was moved in 1846 to the spot now occupied by the Laton Hotel. The “Laton Building” mentioned above was the building now occupied by the Riverwalk Café. Longtime Nashua residents will remember this building being occupied by Hammar Hardware.
Author’s Note: This was the second time the NFD lost a fire building. The first was lost November 4, 1869 when “arsonists” torched the building that housed the department’s brand-new pumper. These were not fire stations as we know them today but merely barns or shacks. In 1873 the only “real” firehouse was the Central Fire Station on Temple and Court St.
The following day, on September 4, 1873, an excited meeting of the Protector Volunteer Engine Company was held, and the company voted to disband. There was no reason given for the Company wanting to disband although it probably had something to do with their apparatus being stored in a “shanty” and not an authorized fire station… and the fact that their previous shanty had just burned down.
A few days later, a meeting of the Protector Volunteer Engine Company was held at which it seemed to be the desire to continue as an organized fire company and hold themselves in readiness to do duty should the occasion require it. No arrangement for a permanent place of meeting or an engine house had been made. The engine was stored in a shanty on Olive St.
Excerpted from Ledoux’s book: Nashua’s Bravest: The History of Firefighting in Nashua NH
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Yester-Heroes author Gary Ledoux grew up in Nashua’s Crown Hill area, attending Nashua schools and graduating from Nashua High in 1970. He attended NH Vo-Tech for a time, then moved to Amherst, then Manchester, and Weare. He served as a volunteer on the Amherst Fire Dept from 1974 to 1977. A career in the automotive business took him to Florida and then to southern California. After 48 years, he retired in 2017, moving back to Florida with his wife, Rachel, and two dogs. He has published seven books, including two about Nashua history, and has been a contributing editor or contributor to 10 different magazines. Gary can be reached at mayorclum@yahoo.com
