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History In the early days of the Comstock, there were no electronic pagers to sound the alarm of fire. Firemen did not have lightweight helmets or fire-retardant turnout coats and pants. And, there were no fast motorized pumpers with large-capacity water tanks to respond to a fire. In those days, firemen ran to the fire pulling their heavy hand-pumped fire engines and hose carriages behind them. They wore red shirts and leather helmets and rushed along the dirt streets of Virginia City and Gold Hill spurred by the foreman's cry to "Jump Her Lively, Boys!" Their battle cry was "First Water!" for it was an honor to be the first company to arrive at the scene of the fire and put the first spurt of water on the blaze, no matter what the outcome. The early fireman was a proud individual. His heritage of flame included service in the mighty companies of the San Francisco Fire Department or in the acknowledged fire service leader of the day, the New York Fire Department.
it was in this spirit that the first volunteer fire companies on the Comstock were formed. In 1861 Home | Site Map | Search | History | Museum | Membership | Newsletter | Photos | Calendar | Merchandise | Links | Translate | Tell a Friend | Contact |
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His hero was the mythical "Mose," whose
heroics at fires included saving babies and beautiful women, defending the Union, righting
wrong and being the champion of whatever cause was popular at the time. The mythical
hero was the center of popular plays and songs of the era and the firemen of the Comstock
tried to personify the image that was cast on stage.