Fire was a big concern for Poteau residents. On January 31, 1901, a small tenant house occupied by J. J. Vance and owned by W. A. Welch caught on fire and burned to the ground. One year prior to the fire of 1899, the first volunteer fire department was organized in Poteau. S. C. Roberson served as the first chief. Even though Roberson took on this immense responsibility, when a fire broke out there wasn’t much he could do.
After the 1899 fire, Roberson and his volunteer firefighters established several procedures in order to protect Poteau’s residents. By 1904, a permanent night watchman was posted to watch for fire and any other trouble that may arise in town. If a fire broke out, the night watchman would shoot off his pistol into the air. He would continue until the entire town was aroused enough to come out and fight the fire. Since Poteau didn’t have running water at this time, the volunteer firefighters had to rely on water from wells and cisterns.
Residents of the town continued this practice until the new fire station was built. In 1909, this building was located on the corner of McKenna and the alley at the end of Clayton. By this time, the volunteer fire fighting service had acquired a Horse hose cart, a hand hose cart, a 1,000-foot hose, and several hooks, axes, and ladders. In addition, the city installed a new fire whistle to warn the fire crews of a fire within town.
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| Volunteer Fire Department, 1920s |
It's likely as not that I could be one of the kids in the back of that hose truck in photo #2.
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