1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gabelusier, and in this episode we're looking 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: at the early days of firefighting in the Hawaiian Islands. 6 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: The day was December eighteen fifty. King Kamehameha the Third 7 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: established and joined the Honolulu Fire Department, the first in 8 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: the Hawaiian Islands and the only one in the world 9 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: to include monarchs is active members. Remarkably, this kingly act 10 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: of public service was sen a one time thing. In fact, 11 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: three of the king's successors also joined the island's first 12 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: fire brigade. Kings kame Ameya the fourth, came Ameya the Fifth, 13 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: and Kala Kawa were all active members of the Honolulu 14 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: Fire Department during their reigns. In the mid eighteen hundreds, 15 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: of firefighting equipment was limited mostly to buckets and giant 16 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: water tubs on wheels. Manual water pumps and hoses were available, 17 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: but not every city had them. In Honolulu, the situation 18 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: was even worse because there was no organized system for 19 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: fighting fires whatsoever. That finally changed on November six, eighteen fifty, 20 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: when a man named W. C. Park formed the first 21 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: volunteer fire Brigade in the Hawaiian Islands. That same day, 22 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: as if to highlight the need for such a service, 23 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: a fire broke out and destroy to eleven holmes in Honolulu. 24 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: The volunteer brigade was not yet an official fire department, 25 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: but thanks to interest from King Kameamea the Third, the 26 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: volunteers were given equipment to use in the meantime while 27 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: all the details were sorted out. This amounted to sixty buckets, 28 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: which were painted red and marked as Engine number one. 29 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: The money for the buckets was issued by the Privy Council, 30 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: a body of advisers to the King. They made it 31 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: clear that the buckets were only at the disposal of 32 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: the fire Brigade until the organization of the fire department 33 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: was official. At such time, they would have to hand 34 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: over the buckets to the new fire chief, no exceptions. 35 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: The process took nearly two months, but on December eighteen fifty, 36 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:59,399 Speaker 1: Kameamea the Third signed legislation that formerly established the Honolulu 37 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: Volunteer Year Fire Department. His contribution wasn't just signing the 38 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: paperwork either, When the fire alarm would sound, the king 39 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: would respond and get to work right alongside the other volunteers. W. C. 40 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: Park served as the acting fire chief of the newly 41 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: formed department, but in February of eighteen fifty one, the 42 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: Governor of Oahu appointed Alexander Cartwright Junior to the full 43 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: time role. Under his leadership, the department grew quickly. In 44 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: August of that year, Engine Company Number One was able 45 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: to upgrade their buckets to an actual fire engine, which 46 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: had been purchased second hand. To be clear, this wasn't 47 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: a fire truck. It was a water tank and a 48 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: manual pump mounted on wheels. Most engines were pulled by horses, 49 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: but in the first few years of the Honolulu Department, 50 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: their engine was pulled by the firefighters themselves. Reportedly, it 51 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: didn't go so well the first time the engine was 52 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: used to fight a fire. When the water tank ran dry, 53 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: The volunteers tried to connect the engine suction pipe down 54 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: and nearby water well, but they mistakenly tapped a cesspool instead. 55 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: They did get the fire put out, but it wasn't pretty. 56 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: In its first ten years, the department expanded to include 57 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: several more hand drawn engine companies, as well as a 58 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: hook and ladder company. Each of the four engine companies 59 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: had more than fifty volunteer members, including Company number four, 60 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: which was made up exclusively of Native Hawaiians. The four 61 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: Kings who joined the fire department were all members of 62 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: Company number four. In eighteen seventy eight, of fifth engine 63 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: company was added. This one composed of Chinese volunteers who 64 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: primarily lived in the Chinatown area of downtown Honolulu. The 65 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: neighborhood was the site of two of the department's worst fires, 66 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: first in eighteen eighty six and then again in nineteen hundred. 67 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: Although it's hard to imagine, the city's firefighters remained unpaid 68 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 1: volunteers until the eighteen eighties, and even then, how much 69 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: and how often they were paid depended on their rank 70 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: and on how many fires they helped put out. Finally, 71 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety three, the Hawaiian legislature passed a law 72 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: funding regular salaries for everyone at the fire Department. Around 73 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: the same time, the department changed in other ways as well. 74 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: They replaced their manual water pumps with new steam powered engines, 75 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: and they even purchased horses to pull them. The first 76 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: motorized fire engine arrived in Honolulu in nineteen twelve, and 77 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: by nineteen twenty the department was fully motorized. Two decades 78 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: its later, the Honolulu Fire Department faced its greatest challenge yet, 79 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On the morning of 80 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: December seventh, nineteen forty one, Three companies Engines Won four 81 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: and six were sent to Hickam Air Force Base to 82 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: fight the fires caused by the attacking planes. When the 83 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: smoke finally cleared at Hickham Field, six firefighters were injured 84 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: and three others were dead. The men were awarded Purple 85 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: Hearts for their brave service, making them the only civilian 86 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:41,239 Speaker 1: firefighters to ever receive the honor. They're likely to remain 87 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: the only ones too, because the Purple Heart is now 88 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: only awarded to members of the Armed forces wounded in combat. 89 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: When Hawaii became the fiftieth state of the United States 90 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty nine, the Honolulu Fire Department claimed yet 91 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: another distinction. It became the only fire department in the 92 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: country to have been established by a ruling monarch. Not 93 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: only that, it's the only one who have served its 94 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: community under a monarchy, a provisional government, a Republic, a territory, 95 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: and lastly, a state of the Union. That's a remarkable 96 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: legacy of public service, and it continues to this day. 97 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: The men and women of the Honolulu Fire Department no 98 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: longer rely on buckets and hand drawn engines, but they 99 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: remain just as committed to keeping their cities safe and 100 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: fire free. Mahallow, I'm Gay Louzier, and hopefully you now 101 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 102 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: If you have a second and you're so inclined, you 103 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: can follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 104 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: t d i HC Show, and if you have any 105 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can send them my way by 106 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: writing to this Day at I heart media dot com. 107 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 108 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 109 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class. For more podcasts from 110 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 111 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.