True, there were bucket brigades, and in time of fire, neighbors labored and blistered shoulder to shoulder to subdue the menace, but the lack of a drilled and properly equipped firefighting force was keenly felt. "Mechanization" meant the acquisition of a hand pumper — and meant that dozens of homes once doomed when the kerosene lamp toppled were now saved by the miracle of a machine. During the late winter of 1874 and the spring of 1875, groups of civic-minded citizens conducted several conferences in the back room of a drug store at Main and River Streets, now occupied by Kennedy Apartments, and in the office of the once famous American Linen Thread Mill. They discussed Mechanicville's susceptibility to fire. These conferences progressed to the formation of Mechanicville's famous Washington Engine Company No. 1.

The History of the fire department, over the past 120 years, shows that the firemen's biggest battles were with the city. Despite their honorable and enviable records, they have had to muster their strength in a united effort, at times, to reach an objective goal or secure important needs. But that history has not been one of total frustrations. They have seen a rapid growth of a modern fire department, new modern stations, equipment and cooperation. One of their greatest problems to be consoled appeared to be a suitable alarm system acceptable to all five companies of the department and the city fathers.

Anytime church bells clanged in Mechanicville, other than on Sunday, it meant fire. There was no fixed system for calling out the volunteers. At night, in the early wood structure era, coal firing firemen on railroad trains passing through and spotting a fire would start the locomotive whistle screaming in long, loud blasts. Not until August of 1904 did the village feel they needed an improved system of calling out the fire force. They considered an electric signal, an audible signal operated by steam, but insisted that it must be heard at every corner of the village. They authorized an electric signal operated from fire boxes that would run on batteries. Halfmoon Light Heat and Power Company offered to power a whistle by steam and allow the whistle to be placed on one of their buildings where they manufactured illuminating gas from soft coal.. On November 4, 1904, the system was tested but no one could hear it. The whistle was too small. For $25.00 extra, a larger whistle was purchased. This was a "calliope" whistle, blown by steam, which started with a long alert blow from a fire box. It rose to a high crezcendo as the operator at the plant blew it through the scale range, sounding the box number on the way up. He would end with a full rise and fall of the whistle without blowing a number and end with a low note, full range blowing the box number again. The fire department liked it and it served its purpose for many years until steam was on its way out and there was no means of blowing it.

The Mechanicville Fire Department was officially organized in October of 1884. Through the years there have been periods of fire, difficult fires, fire losses, wonderful saves, commendatory response and through it all there has remained volunteers. Today the Mechanicville Fire Department serves one of the smallest cities in New York State. The Department employs five companies to protect its district which has thrived from the era of the paper mills and railroad. With help from our talented neighboring departments, The Mechanicville Fire Department continues to ensure the safety of its many homes and businesses and works to fulfill the request of our ancestor firefighters: "Be there when needed. Fight with the same determination and courage as did those first bucket brigades — those first Washington Engine smoke eaters, the men of the hose cart, the hose wagon, the fire steamer and early trucks. Because after all, these were your Mechanicville Firemen."

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