1882:  Smethport Fire Department
Fair Grounds

photo credit:  Smethport Fire Department Archives

The fire department showed off its new piece of equipment for the whole town of Smethport to see.  This was the steam powered pumper.  The cart that it was on could carry up to 500 feet of hose on its reel.   In 1882, this was used on the fire of Jacob Winsor's residence.  Later another cart was purchased by the borough that could carry 1000 feet of hose on a reel.  Also, a hook and ladder cart was added to the department's equipment.  The hook ladder required a huge amount of strength to control it for the ladders were heavy and had to be stack on one another.  The fire department showed the citizens how the pumper worked on a mock fire that was built at the fair grounds.

On September 25, 1882, the hose company won first prize in a fireman's state convection in Bradford and had received uniforms prior to that.  The company 's parade cart with mirrors mounted on a revolving wheel was in a convention on August 28, 1886 in Meadville.