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Before municipalities imposed laws against building with inflammable materials, and as long as castâ€"iron stoves were the main means of heating durâ€" ing the cold winters, fires remained a continuous and serious threat to urban homeowners. As villages grew into towns, fire departâ€" ments became a universal necessity. Waterloo‘s means of fighting fire was organized very soon after the incorpoâ€" ration of the village in 1857. The Fire Hall was centrally located on the ground floor of the small municipal building. That administraâ€" tive core of the village was at the time on the triangular point of land where Albert and Dorset streets join. Fire department was an early necessity in Waterloo Delivered soYOU RIGHT TW Lâ€"W Area: 519â€"746â€"6914 wl Our Best Advertisement is Our Satisiied Customers! The rank and file of the Câ€"1 PAVING OVvER 35 YEARS EXPERIENCE Call Us for a free estimate WATERLOO CHRONICLE Delivered to 32,000 homes each week firefighting service being entirely voluntary, all that needed to be housed in that hall were light twoâ€" and fourâ€"wheeled carts ready loaded with leather buckets, ladders, reels of hoses and a handâ€"operated pump. The fire alarm was a conâ€" tinuous ringing of the vilâ€" lage‘s bronze bell. Rather than taking the time to hitch horses to the various carts, the volunteers themselves pulled the equipment to the scene of the fire. There they located the nearest creek, well or inâ€"ground cistern and set about working the rocking beam of the pump; three or four men to each side. The cisterns were large, woodâ€"lined tubs cleverly sitâ€" uated around the village for this purpose. 519â€"886â€"2830 Various incentives were devised to improve the town‘s firefighting efficiency. The old Fire Hall Initially $1 was promised PHOTO COURTESY OF ThE WaTERLOO PUBLIC LIBRARY to the first person to carry a gallon of water to a fire. Later, when horseâ€"drawn equipment was introduced, $5 rewarded the first team ster to arrive at a fire. Despite all such incenâ€" tives, though, many fires ended up destroying a propâ€" The constant hazard of destructive fires, on isolated farms as well as in town, was at the origin of many of Waterioo‘s insurance comâ€" panies. When it was decided in 1881 that volunteerism was not an adequate basis for effective firefighting, Waterâ€" loo offered its firemen a $5 annual stipend. With that salary the town had a "proâ€" fessional" firefighting force. A grand new Fire Hall was erected in 1885. Set between the town hall and the Market Building (the site of our present main library), the brick hall boasted a conâ€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, August 29, 2007 + 15 crete apron in front, two storeys, two bays for wagâ€" ons, on one of which was mounted a fine stateâ€"ofâ€"theâ€" art steamâ€"driven pump, a stable for horses and a tower for drying hoses. And, of course, an even bigger bronze bell. Clearly by then the Waterloo council knew it had a town well worth proâ€" tecting. the Municipal Heritage Committee, with the support of the Waterloo public library and Heritage Resources, will Terence Scully, a member of be writing a column biâ€" weekly throughout 2007 to celebrate Waterloo‘s 150th anniversary. Scully can be reached by emailing tscully@wlu.ca.