The death of a firefighter in the line of duty is an ever-present danger at each alarm. Wakefield’s first-known fatality was Call-Captain Robert W. Horne, assigned to Ladder 1. On January 31, 1926, while responding on foot to Box 12, Greenwood Square, for a fire in the B & M Railroad gate tender shanty at Forest Street, Captain Horne was struck by two automobiles on Main Street, opposite Charles Street.
The year 1926 saw the end of the horse-drawn era in the history of the Wakefield Fire Department when Montrose Hose 4, the last remaining call company, was deactivated and the company removed from service. The remaining call-men were transferred to the Central Fire Station and the 1896 Abbot-Downing horse-drawn wagon was discarded.
Mutual aid with the City of Melrose Fire Department was completed on January 13, 1927 with the completion of the connection on the coded Gamewell fire alarm system between Melrose and Wakefield. Mutual aid with the Town of Reading was completed on April 11, 1927.
The town purchased a second-hand 1927 Pierce-Arrow chassis during the early part of 1927 and the firefighters built another squad wagon by completing a hose body that carried 1000 feet of hose, and had a 52-gallon booster tank. In May, this new squad was put in service as a reserve piece of fire apparatus.
The first tractor-trailer aerial ladder to be purchased in the immediate area was obtained by the town in 1928 at a cost of $15,000 from Seagrave Company. This ladder truck had a 75-foot two-section wood aerial ladder with a spring assist raising mechanism. It carried a total of 304 feet of wood ground ladders in a double ladder bank and had an 80-gallon tank with a 75 9pm booster pump with 200 feet of booster hose. This new ladder truck went in service on December 14 as Ladder 1, replacing the 1914 Peerless city-service type ladder truck that was sold by the Seagrave Co. for $1600 to Pascoag, Rhode Island.
Also in 1928, the 1882 Silsby steamer was removed from reserve service and turned over to the Wakefield Water Department.
In 1929, the town purchased a 600 8pm “Seagrave Special” model pumper at a cost of $7000. This new pump went in service on July 10, 1929, as Engine 2 at the Greenwood Station, replacing the 1912 Webb pumper, which was discarded. The new pumper carried 1200 feet of hose and had an 80-gallon tank with 200 feet of booster hose.
One of the more spectacular fires to occur in the town’s history caused more than $50,000 to the Porter-Milton Ice Company on Church Street near North Avenue, on what is now known as Veterans’ Field. Box 61 was received at 3:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 26, 1929 when fire consumed ten large icehouses. Flames could be seen for miles when one of the hottest fires was contained by Wakefield, Melrose, Reading and Stoneham Fire Departments. The right side of Combination 1 was badly blistered by the fire.
On May 13, 1930, Captain William Tyzzer, who had been the first permanent fireman, died at the age of 72, while still a member of the Fire Department. He had served the department for 54 years.
In August 1930, the 1907 Amoskeag steamer was removed from reserve service and turned over to the Wakefield Water Department until 1958, when it was returned for display and parades.
