History of the Watertown Fire Department

The first mention of an organized firefighting force in the village of Watertown comes from The Wright County Eagle, Delano, MN on May 23, 1873, reporting that:

"A fire company has lately been organized in Watertown with C.H. Lienau as president, E. Hainlin, Secretary, V. Heck, treasurer, Louis Popp, foreman, and Wm. Japs Jr, assistant foreman. Hooks and ladders and one of the the Babcock fire extinguishers are all the apparatus of the company at the present, but a festival of some sort is soon to be gotten up, the proceeds of which are to be spent in procuring force pumps."

An old photograph taken a few years later, circa 1879, shows a group of men gathered around some apparatus consisting of a hand-drawn hose cart, a hand-drawn ladder, and a hand-drawn "force pump", presumed to be the hand-drawn Rumsey pumper that is still in possession of the Watertown Fire Department.

It wasn't until Septemeber 26, 1878 that Articles of Incorporation for the "Watertown Hook and Ladder Company No.1" listing William Japs Jr, Foreman; Albert C. Lewis, 1st Asst Foreman; Frank Barth 2nd Asst Foreman; Albert Japs, Treasurer; Theodore A. Leinau, Secretary; and Alexander Moers, Steward were filed with the State and Cerver County Register of Deeds, and thus, the Watertown Fire Department was officially formed. The articles called for a force not to exceed forty persons, and that any resident of Watertown who is of good moral character, sound bodily health and not physically disabled and who is not less than seventeen nor more than fifty yesrs of age may become a member thereof. Each member was expected to make a yearly contribution not to exceed five dollars. The fire department had been reorganized several times over the years with changes in response boundries, and dropping from an authorized strength of 40 members down to the current day 30 members.

For 48 years, the Watertown Fire Department ran with hand-drawn apparatus. There is nothing to indicate any equipment being of the horse-drawn variety. In an unprecedented move in 1926, surrounding area farmers presented the Village of Watertown with their first motor fire engine. This action was the first of its kind in history - farmers buying a fire truck to fight rural fires and giving it to the village. In that year a rather unique article appeared in "Esquire" magazine about the little town of Watertown, taking the National spotlight in this form of community spirit.

The first fire engine, built in 1926 was a W.S. Nott "Universal" Type 45 Triple-Combination, Serial #108, powered by a Continental six cylinder L-head engine, with a Northers rotary gear 450-gpm pump, two 40-gallon soda-acid chemical tanks, and a 100-gallon booster tank. The aspparatus was actually built by the Luverne Fire Company, under contract to Nott, outfitted by the W.S. Nott Company, and sold under the Nott name. The typical retail price of this apparatus was $5,500. This apparatus served until 1955.

The departments' current fire station, located at 401 Carter Street NE, was occupied in October of 1999. This building replaced a previous firestation on the same site that had been erected in 1972. An older fire station was located on the west side of the river, on Lewis Street, north of Territoral Street, which still stands today, occupied by a coffee shop.

Currently the Watertown Fire Department provides fire and rescue protection for a 52-square miles area encompassing parts of 4 townships in two counties, the city of Watertown, plus a section of the South Fork of the Crow River.