On July 23, 1916, Firefighter James T. Glass was fatally injured at a fire that occurred at 412 Congress Ave. at the Kriesle Building. Glass was paralyzed by a wall and stairway collapse. For over a year, he laid in a bed in Brackenridge hospital until his death on August 17, 1917. Fire Chief Clarence Woodward retired James Glass’ badge, which was Badge #13. The Austin Fire Department does not have a Fire Station #13 and has never had an Engine #13. Earlier this year, the Austin Fire Department renumbered Engine 50 in honor of James Glass. In addition, during the Austin Fire Department’s annual San Jacinto Day Celebration and Awards Ceremony, Firefighter Glass was posthumously awarded the AFD Medal of Honor for being killed in the line of duty.

During the Austin Fire Dept. Museum’s research for James Glass’ medal of honor, it was found that Glass was never given a headstone and has been in an unmarked grave ever since his death 93 years ago. Upon this discovery, the Austin Fire Museum immediately began the process of purchasing and designing a headstone for Glass.

On August 17, 2010 at 1000AM, The Austin Fire Department and the Austin Fire Museum will honor James Glass’ sacrifice with a headstone unveiling ceremony. AFD Honor Guard and an AFD Bag Piper will officially unveil the granite headstone with attached bronze badge #13. Firefighter Glass is buried in the
View Larger Map“>Walnut Creek Baptist Cemetery on N. Lamar Blvd. in North Austin.

These two photographs are of the 1916 Kriesle Fire where FF Glass was fatally injured. The Kriesle Building still stands today.

On April 10, 1940 Fire Station #7 opened the doors to its new firehouse at 201 Chicon St. in East Austin. Station 7’s territory of fire protection actually dates back to the mid 1880’s. In 1916, when the Austin Fire Department transitioned from a volunteer fire department to a municipal fire department all the fire stations were renumbered several times. Finally, in the early 1920’s the current fire station numbering practice became permanent.

This renumbering has always brought up a difficult question. When do you consider the “birthday”, or date of organization, of a particular fire station when it was renumbered over the years. Let’s use Fire Station 7 as an example. In 1884, East Austin #4 was organized, which was the first volunteer fire company organized on the city’s East Side. In 1905, West Austin #7 was organized, which was Austin’s first fire company organized to the west of town. In addition, 1908 saw the creation of Tenth Ward Fire Company #8. Tenth Ward #8 was the second fire company organized on the East Side. Remember, this is during the horse-drawn era of firefighting when fire station districts were much smaller geographically.

In the early 1920’s, after trying out a few different numbering schemes, settled on the current fire station numbering we use today. At that time East Austin #4 became Fire Station 5, West Austin #7 became Fire Station #4, and Tenth Ward #8 became Fire Station #7. Confused? Well, it is about to get even more confusing. In 1938, Old Central Fire Station #1 (now in the motorized era of firefighting) closed and moved more south and east and current Central Fire Station #1 opened closer to the downtown business district. Station 1’s move had a ripple effect that would occur over the next 20 years. First, in 1940, Old Fire Station 7 closed at 1111 Waller St. (which was originally Tenth Ward #8 built in 1908) and reopened in its current location at 201 Chicon St. Then, in the late 1960’s Old Fire Station 5 located at 1005 Lydia St. (originally East Austin #4 organized in 1884) moved farther east.

Therefore, if you determine the organization date of a particular Fire Station is determined by the time when fire protection first ocurred in a particular geographic area then Station 7 dates to 1884. If you determine the “birthday” by the number, meaning the 7th fire company organized then Station 7 dates to 1905 (West Austin #7 date, even though was on the other side of town). Current Station 7 actually splits the territory of East Austin #4 and Tenth Ward #8 so the answers are limitless.

Many of Austin’s older fire stations have similar histories of movement. This might be way too much detail for most people, but for those of us who are interested in documenting the detailed history of a fire department and its stations then these details are very important.

This year’s annual Austin Fire Museum and ESPADA (Emergency Services Pipes and Drums Assoc.) San Jacinto Day Celebration will be held on Saturday, April 17 at the Waterford House Austin. The San Jacinto Celebration also includes the annual Austin Fire Department Awards Ceremony. The awards are presented to Austin firefighters for acts of rescue, commendation, and community service performed in 2009. The highlight of this year’s awards ceremony will be a posthumous Medal of Honor awarded to Engine 6 Firefighter James T. Glass who died of injuries sustained at a fire on July 23, 1916.

Tickets are 30.00 each for AFD Museum Members and 35.00 each for non-members. This includes dinner, an open bar, and live entertainment featuring the GUY FORSYTH BAND. People wishing to sign up as AFD Museum members will also receive the 30.00 ticket price. In order to receive the member price, tickets must be purchased in person from any one of our ticket sales volunteer representatives. Full price tickets may be sold right here using Paypal.

In keeping with tradition, there will be a silent auction featuring many great gifts, items, and services with the proceeds benefiting ESPADA.

A very special thank you to Siddon’s Fire Apparatus for being our Underwriter for this event!

The newest artifact purchased/recovered by the Austin Fire Museum is this South Austin Fire Company #5 badge. This style of badge is consistent with many of the badges created for the Austin Fire Department fire companies during the end of the Austin volunteer era between 1900-1916.

South Austin Fire Company #5 was organized in 1895 and was located at 1315 South Congress Ave. Their company motto was “To the Rescue” and their territory consisted of all of the area south of the Colorado River.

A special thanks to Austin Fire Capt. David Leonard (Quint 19 B-shift) for bringing the sale of this irreplaceable piece of Austin Fire Department history to our attention so that we could be in a position to purchase it. Thanks again Dave!

Also, thank you very much to all of our over 200 Austin Fire Museum members. It is through your financial support that we are able to have the funds necessary to purchase items of our history when they become available. Since 2005, the Austin Fire Museum has purchased well over 30 historical items such as this South Austin 5 badge due to the consistent support of our members. Thank you.