The Alarm Bells of North Seattle
A look at the logistical challenges of firefighting in 1885 Seattle, where volunteer companies managed city safety via university and church bells.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Board of Fire Delegates held a meeting at No. One's engine house last evening. There were present Robert Calligan, U. M. Basin, Abe Lincoln Ferry, Wm. Jones, M. M. Holmes, John C. Haines, J. Schram, John Levy, G. H. Preston, and B. Felly. The newspaper bills for publishing advertisements for the Board of Delegates were ordered presented to the City Council for payment. The communication from the hook and ladder company regarding the ringing of the University bell was ordered filed. The Secretary of the Board was requested to arrange with the proper parties for the ringing of the University bell and the North Seattle Church bell in case of fire. The Secretary was instructed to publish a notice of election for five days before the first Monday in May, when the election of Chief will take place. The following Judges of Election were chosen: R. Calligan, U. M. Basin, M. M. Holmes, W. G. Latimer, N. S. Snyder, and G. H. Preston. It was ordered that the election take place at Engine House No. 1.
“The Secretary of the Board was requested to arrange with the proper parties for the ringing of the University bell and North Seattle Church bell, in case of fire.”
Today, Seattle’s fire response is a high-tech operation orchestrated by a central dispatch center. In 1885, however, safety relied on decentralized volunteer groups and manual communication systems, using the ringing of church and university bells to alert the neighborhood to danger—an analog predecessor to today's emergency alert notifications.
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