Great Falls Fire Department Collection
The Great Falls Fire Department Collection is an early significant donation to the Cascade County Historical Society / The History Museum & Research Center from the Great Falls Fire Department (now Great Falls Fire Rescue). The collection represents the department’s origins as the volunteer Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company in 1886 and growth into a paid and fully equipped city fire department.
Great Falls’ fire department began as The Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company in December 1886. It was so named because the company did not consist of much beyond ladders and buckets, and it was entirely run by volunteers. Water was not readily available in the city until 1889, when the city water plant was created. After this, volunteer hose companies were created that worked alongside the Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company.
A. J. Trodick’s Fire Fighter’s Hat, 1909 [CCHS 146.77]
Trodick (1874-1959) came to Great Falls in 1905 and joined the fire department in 1909. He was promoted to Captain in 1912, then Chief in 1916, retiring in 1933. He was asked to serve as the State Fire Marshall, but declined the offer.
Work was demanding in the early days. In 1901, the fireman’s wage was $90 a month, and they were compelled to remain at the station day and night except for mealtimes. Each fireman was allowed to stay away from the fire station one night each week, but they still had to respond to every fire call. As the city developed, buildings in Great Falls grew in height and were made of entirely wood interiors. The fire department fought major fires downtown through the 1920s, dealing with extreme heat from the fires and freezing weather (sometimes 25 degrees below zero) during the winter.
Canvas and leather fire department bucket, 1886. [CCHS 146.28]
The department was outgrowing their downtown station in the 1970s. The building, which was constructed as City Hall in 1914 on the corner of 2nd Ave S and 5th St, housed the City Hall, the Fire Department, and the Police Department.
The Fire Department recognized the historic value of this collection, kept in the old station for many years, and donated it to the newly formed Cascade County Historical Society in 1977. Two years later the Fire, Police, and City Hall building was demolished in 1979.
Parade Belt, “1st St Chief” [CCHS 146.4]
Parade Belt, “Hose 2” for Hose Company 2 [CCHS 146.1B]
This early collection of over 80 pieces of firefighting history was the 146th donation to the young historical society. The collection contains firefighting equipment, including leather fire helmets, leather and canvas water buckets, fire ladders, hose attachments and nozzles, lifesaving breathing apparatuses, and also parade belts that represent the ladder and hose companies.
Lungmotor, c. 1917 [CCHS 146.34]
The Lungmotor was made by Life Saving Devices Co. out of Chicago and New York. An operator would press down on a hand operated pump to force air or oxygen into a person’s lungs. Lifting the the pump created suction to remove air. The city’s first Lungmotor was received by Chief Trodick July 1917.
August 1917 was the first use of the Lungmotor. At the Columbus Hospital, a still-born infant was failing to breathe after forced respiration and other methods at the hospital were tried. Chief Trodick was called and arrived within 3.5 minutes. The Lungmotor was successful, and the child was revived.
The collection was quickly displayed by the Cascade County Historical society in Room 28 of the original high school, known as Paris Gibson Square.
The collection has since grown, with a significant group of objects and documents added to the collection from the Great Falls Fire Department in 1983, and later additions from other sources of other items including photographs, documents, and more recently, Captain Bill Showen’s (captain from 1968-1992) dress uniform donated in 2014.
In 2022, the Cascade County Historical Society, known as The History Museum, received a grant from the Montana Hisotry Portal to hire intern Ali Rysted who cataloged and digitized the collection.
The entire collection can now be viewed online through Montana History Portal. The collection can also be accessed though the Owen & Gayle Robinson Research Center by appointment. Please contact our staff to schedule ahead of your visit.
We are honored to be the safekeepers of this special collection that offers valuable insight into turn of the 20th century firefighting in Montana.
Vajen & Bader Smoke Mask, 1883-1906 [CCHS 146.47]
The Vajen Bader Smoke Helmet gave firefighters and rescue personnel protection from smoke and flames. This 1893 invention filtered breathable air from a canister through the interior of the mask. The wearer could hear through mica membranes by his ears and see through mica lenses. Knobs on the lenses even turned small wipers to remove condensation from the mica. On the front of the mask is a whistle (rubber piece to blow air is missing) which allowed the rescuer to signal.
This collaboration between a hardware salesman and a piano maker was sold around the world, and was first purchased by the department in 1898.
More information about the fire department, now known as Great Falls Fire Rescue (since 1998), can be found on the city’s website.
Cellar nozzle [CCHS 146.21].
In an 1906 article from the Great Falls Tribune, Chief Jewell (fire chief from 1905-1916) revealed the findings of an investigation into the Great Falls Fire Department, in which it was determined that "there is no proper apparatus for coping with basement or cellar fires." Chief Jewell requested "at least two basement or cellar nozzles" in order to provide adequate protection to the citizens of Great Falls.
Chief Trodick (chief from 1916-1933) organized an event in October 1921 that included a demonstration for Great Falls business owners, encouraging the installation of floor plates. Floor plates, a metal handled lid like a small manhole covering, allow firemen to quilckly run a hose to a basement fire without having to cut through layers of floor.
A few fun facts about the Great Falls Fire Department:
Great Falls gave a formal retirement party to Dewey, the beloved fire horse.
The Great Falls Fire Department was the first to purchase a motorized fire truck in Montana in 1910.
The first fire bell in Montana was owned by the Great Falls Fire Department for 52 years. The bell, purchased by Helena Gulch’s businessmen in 1873, had developed a crack and was replaced with a larger bell. Phil Gibson, son of Great Falls founder Paris Gibson and secretary of the Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company at the time, paid $150 to purchase and ship the bell from Helena in 1887. Blacksmith Howard Criss repaired the crack. After years of service, this bell was replaced by a larger bell in Great Falls, and it was eventually placed on display in Black Eagle Park. Helena requested the return of the historic bell for decades, and in 1939, the Great Falls city council decided to gift the bell back to Helena for the 75th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Last Chance Gulch.
-Ashleigh McCann, Collections Curator