On September 4, 1888, the volunteer firemen at Fountain Engine No. 3 reorganized and voted to change their name to Volunteer Hose No. 2, with twenty-five members. William E. Cade was Foreman. Their fire station at Crescent and Lincoln Streets was refurbished in preparation for the arrival on September 17 of their new Rumsey four-wheel hand-drawn hose carriage, which was purchased at a cost of $275 by subscriptions. This beautiful new 500 pound oak wood hose carriage was built in Seneca Falls, New York, and carried 600 feet of hose.
The Volunteer Hose No. 2
1888 saw all remaining leather hose replaced by cotton rubber-lined hose.
On November 27, 1888, a serious fire occurred at 2:50 A.M. in the old Town House at Main and Salem Streets. There was heavy fire damage to the second and third floors; the quarters of the Washington Hook and Ladder Co. on the first floor sustained water damage.
In 1890, the salaries of the three Fire Engineers was $25 annually; firemen received $23 annually.
The town, having possession of all the buildings of the Academy Hill Center School at Crescent and Otis Streets, moved one of the 2½ story frame buildings diagonally across Crescent Street to the corner of Mechanic Street in 1891. Bricks from the demolished Church Street Station were used for the foundation of this building, which was remodeled into the Central Fire Station, all at a cost of $6,000.
Cental Station opened in 1894
The Silsby Steamer Lucius Beebe No. 1, its supply wagon and hose carriage; the J. H. Carter Hose No. 1; and the Washington Hook & Ladder No. 1 were relocated into the Central Fire Station at Crescent and Mechanic Streets as renovations were completed by 1894 for the town’s 250th anniversary. The town fire alarm system was also installed in this station. The 1852 Jeffers hand tub of the former Yale No. 1 was stored in the basement.
Lucius Beebe Silsby Steamer
Levi Flanders became Chief Engineer of the Board of Engineers in 1892 and remained Chief Engineer until May of 1899.
The Volunteer Hose 2 became part of the Wakefield Fire Department by vote of the March Town Meeting in 1892, with the 1888 hose carriage and equipment owned by the Volunteer Library Association.
Greenwood Hose Co. 3 purchased a 1887 Button four-wheel hand-drawn hose carriage from Montpelier, Vermont at a cost of $375. This hose carriage had been built by L. Button & Son of Waterford, New York at a cost of $1100. Greenwood Hose Co. 3 had the carriage painted blue with yellow wheels. It was placed in service in September 1892.
In November 1892, the town approved the construction of the first fire station in Greenwood. A 20 foot by 30 foot two-story frame building was erected on Oak Street at Francis Street by Isaac Heath and was occupied by the end of the year.
In 1892, a new horse-drawn ladder truck was purchased from Abbot-Downing Co. of Concord, New Hampshire. The double ladder bank city-service type ladder truck was bought at a cost of $1,500 to replace the 1871 hand-drawn ladder truck. This new ladder truck went in service on July 4, 1893. The old 1871 ladder truck was sent to the fire brigade at the Rattan Factory.
In November, 1894, a horse-drawn hose wagon was purchased from Abbot-Downing Company and placed in service as Engine 1, the wagon for the Silsby steamer.
1894 Hose Wagon Eng. 1
