When fire departments were the pride of a town
On July 4, 1873, members of Gilroy’s newest team of
firefighters, the Neptune Hose Company, proudly displayed their
colorful new uniforms in the town’s annual Independence Day parade.
The group provided a lively picture for spectators lined along
Monterey Street as the formation passed by wearing black pants with
red shirts trimmed in blue cuffs, collars and logo shield. The new
outfit was completed with a blue cap, decorated with the company’s
letters surrounding a fireplug with a section of hose attached. A
white belt with red letters and blue binding added the final
flourish.
When fire departments were the pride of a town
On July 4, 1873, members of Gilroy’s newest team of firefighters, the Neptune Hose Company, proudly displayed their colorful new uniforms in the town’s annual Independence Day parade. The group provided a lively picture for spectators lined along Monterey Street as the formation passed by wearing black pants with red shirts trimmed in blue cuffs, collars and logo shield. The new outfit was completed with a blue cap, decorated with the company’s letters surrounding a fireplug with a section of hose attached. A white belt with red letters and blue binding added the final flourish.
The group had started out earlier that year as the Gilroy Hose Company. For such a small town, a third fireman’s organization had been done more out of local politics than the need for an extra set of volunteers. The city had overspent, purchasing a new fire hose carriage and 600 feet of carbolized hose which weren’t needed. After the new carriage arrived in April, 1873, the two existing fire departments claimed they had too much to handle already. Thus, the Gilroy Hose, soon renamed the Neptune Company, was formed. At first it was an independent adjunct to the regular fire department.
Originally, city statutes had spelled out that there was to be one fire company per 1,000 inhabitants. With a population hovering around 2,000, the rules were soon bent and Neptune Company’s application to join the city was approved.
For its first fundraiser, in early September 1873, the new company held a ball. Pronounced a brilliant success, the event began with a dance at Firemen’s Hall at Eigleberry and Sixth streets, moved over to the Hanna House Hotel for supper, and then dancing resumed back at the hall again, where festivities lasted until 3 a.m.
Previously, Gilroy’s first volunteer fire department, the Vigilant Engine Company, had been organized in 1869. The Eureka Hook and Ladder Company was formed two years later.
During those early years, with few fire hydrants and one horse-drawn Amoskeag pumper, firefighters had to know how to run a hose cart. Frequent drills and hose cart races brought out the town to watch the fire companies compete. Besides the weekly drills, there were the fierce July Fourth competitions, which brought in fire drill teams from surrounding counties. The 12-man teams participated in spirited hose cart races, in which the team ran 400 yards, dragging the cart, then unreeled 300 feet of hose, hooked it up to the water pump and started the flow.
Competition existed on the job, as well. When a company was called out to fight a fire, members often staked claims over certain cisterns and fire hydrants. Rival volunteers sometimes stood by arguing over which company had water rights while the flames continued to burn. During dry years, everyone was left helpless when the city’s reservoir ran low, and there wasn’t enough pressure to pump water.
After a series of arson fires had damaged or leveled major downtown buildings in late 1873, lack of an adequate fire alarm bell was cause for concern. The city’s only alarm bell, located at the Vigilant fire house, couldn’t be heard all over town. The matter came to a head when a 2 a.m. fire broke out at the Ziegler Hotel, located on Monterey Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. Several firemen, asleep at home, didn’t hear the alarm bell. The slowdown in response time left the two-story wood building leveled within two hours. Many desperate guests had been forced to jump from their second-story windows. “The city needs a bell to be heard in every corner of town,” an editorial admonished. “We need a bell at least as large as the Presbyterian Church bell, and it should be situated in the center of Monterey Street, to be used only in case of fire.”
If Gilroy’s sole night watchman was at the lower end of town when a fire broke out at the upper end, it was noted, he would be forced to run all the way to the fire department to turn in the alarm. Purchasing and installing an 800-pound bell, costing $200, was suggested as the best solution. The populace became sufficiently aroused to take up a petition, signed by 151 citizens.
Then, in October 1874, the city purchased the Vigilant Company apparatus and approved a larger, new space next to the city hall at Fifth and Eigleberry Streets. From then on, the Vigilant Company’s bell, installed in a high tower, was considered loud enough to be heard all over town.
By 1878, Gilroy was back down to two fire companies when the Neptune Hose Company joined with the Eureka Hook and Ladder Company, becoming known as the Eureka Hook and Ladder and Hose Company. The two companies operated separately in town, with the Vigilant Co. at Fifth and Eigleberry streets and the Eureka Co. located on the east side of Monterey Street between Sixth and Martin.
It wasn’t until the new City Hall was completed in 1906 that it was suggested the rival companies get together under one roof. The Eureka Company quickly moved into the ground floor of City Hall, but the Vigilant Co. held out, maintaining its home at Fifth and Eigleberry. Although both companies agreed to hold their meetings in space provided for them at City Hall, the companies met on separate evenings for many ensuing years.
Matters didn’t change until 1915, after the city purchased a LaFrance Chemical Auto Engine. The new vehicle was too big to fit into the space at City Hall. A separate structure was needed, and by the following year, a new brick, two-story modern fire department was built on Fifth Street between Monterey and Eigleberry. The two companies met in the new building for the first time in December 1916.
Old rivalries die hard. It wasn’t until December 1921 that the Vigilant Engine Co. finally voted to consolidate with the Eureka Hook and Ladder and Hose Co. The following February, the Eureka Co. passed a similar resolution.
After 50 years of separate workings, the two companies were finally joined together as the Gilroy Volunteer Fire Co.
