The first recorded fire in Indianapolis (a newly built wooden tavern opposite the courthouse on Washington Street, January 17, 1825) found the city without a firefighting force. Not until June 20, 1826, almost a year and a half later—under a state law of 1821 which permitted 40 or more citizens to organize a company, make rules and regulations, and collect fines for violations—was a volunteer fire company established.

Its equipment was limited to leather buckets and ladders, its alarm the church bell. To protect the new state house, an 1835 law obligated the state to purchase fire buckets and ladders and erect an engine house, an offer conditional on city residents paying half the cost of a “first-rate fire engine” and the necessary hose. A second-hand engine purchased for $1,800, named the “Marion,” arrived in September 1835. Five public wells were dug, and the bucket company merged into the new organization, the Marion Fire, Hose, and Protection Company. A second volunteer company was organized in 1841, and six more by 1859. Nearly 600 men were listed on the rolls, and members were exempt from militia and jury duty, poll and road taxes.

The undue, and fractious, political influence of the volunteer companies through their Fire Association prompted the shift to paid firemen, as did the anticipated purchase of a newly invented and expensive steam fire engine. An additional factor was the habit of the volunteer companies, acting as moral guardians of the community, to burst into houses of prostitution, hosing down the occupants and ruining the interiors. Unable to control the volunteer companies, city councilmen passed an ordinance to establish the paid force on November 14, 1859. Unlike most cities, the change in Indianapolis was remarkably free of rancor.

The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) began existence with two hand engines and a hook and ladder company. The first steam engine arrived in March 1860, and two more before the end of the year. Two members of each engine company remained at the station at all times and received $300 a year; the others, who served only at fires, were paid $25. A watchtower was erected atop one of the taller buildings and a man with a field-glass was stationed there to spot fires and give the alarm. In 1870 at a cost of $350,000, fifteen miles of pipes and water mains were laid in the Mile Square. The Holly System, designed to do away with reservoirs, used immense pumps. Thus the future of fire fighting eventually lay with hose companies, not steam engines, although that future still lay some decades ahead.

The annual report to the council for the year ending May 15, 1864, listed three steam engines, one hook and ladder company, and 15 horses. The total cost to the city was just under $16,500. The 28 men (including the fire chief) who made up the force counted three engineers, seven drivers, two tower watchmen (in 1882 watchmen moved to a tower atop the courthouse), and 12 hosemen. Forty-five cisterns dotted the city, though some of the newer neighborhoods lacked them. The department was called out 54 times to 47 fires, and there were seven false alarms. All firemen lived at the firehouses. Given no days off, they could not leave their posts except for one meal, sickness in the family, or on department business—and then for no longer than strictly necessary.

Under the 1859 ordinance the chief fire engineer and his two assistants could arrest persons supplying firemen with liquor, and no card or dice games were permitted in the stations at any time. Badges had served to distinguish firemen from civilians after 1843, and later leather hats were worn both for protection and identification. Indianapolis firemen were uniformed in 1874, but not until 1928 was a regulation uniform adopted, with service stripes and summer caps the following year. Until 1943, when the first clothing allowance was paid ($60), firemen bore the cost of their clothes and equipment.

The growth of the department in the years after the Civil War was rapid and substantial. In 1877, 79 men operated 7 steamers, 11 hose reels, and 2 hook and ladder companies, drawn by 34 horses. The cost of the IFD had risen to over $96,000, nearly a sixfold increase in 14 years. The number of alarms, 189, was three times the 1864-1865 total. Water lines-50 miles by 1880 (599 hydrants)—were supplemented by 144 cisterns. An electric alarm system was installed in 1868, and the engine, reel houses, and the fire chief’s home were connected by telephone in 1880.

In 1876, Chief W. O. Sherwood hired four African Americans to form Hose Company 9, the first African American fire company. Although IFD was among the first departments to hire African Americans, the company took new hires only with the departure or death of Company 9 members. Company 9 eventually was renumbered and became Station No. 1, located at 441 Indiana Avenue. Station No. 1 expanded to become an all-black double company, employing approximately 24 firefighters who rotated through two 24-hour shifts.

Segregation came to an end on January 1, 1960.  At that time, four black firemen transferred to two other stations.  In 1962, six whites (including a captain and a lieutenant) moved to Station No. 1. By 1974, 18 of the then 33 fire stations were integrated. Joseph Kimbrew became the first African American fire chief for IFD on January 19, 1987.

In 1978, IFD hired Bryona Slaughter, also an African American, as its first female firefighter. Other noteworthy early Black IFD firefighters include Pellman Johnson, Dwayne Rogers, Herbert Miller, Henry Tanner, and Edward Rogers. On July 17, 2014, Ernest Malone became the forty-second IFD fire chief.

The fireman’s week remained 7 days, 24 hours a day, but from the late 1870s he could sleep one night at home. By 1894 firemen received a week’s vacation with pay, and by 1912 one day a week off. A two-platoon system (one of 10 hours, the other 14) was inaugurated in 1921, with the men rotating shifts every two weeks. A year later this confusing arrangement was dropped for one of 24 hours on and 24 off, a workweek of 84 hours. In 1948 firemen got an extra day off every seventh working day and a 72 hour week. With the adoption of the three-platoon system in 1966 (24 hours on, 48 off), 56 hours remained the weekly stint.

Further improvements and expansion took place under the Charter of 1891. In 1893 the water company supplied 107 miles of mains and 931 public hydrants over the 21 square mile area, including est Indianapolis, that comprised the IFD district. By 1909 the department consisted of 264 men (with a payroll of $227,000), 12 engines, 27 hose reel wagons, 4 chemical engines, 10 hook and ladder companies, and 121 horses. Fire hydrants numbered 2,371 and were supplemented by 177 cisterns. (Cisterns were not abandoned until 1932.) A Gamewell system of 280 pull boxes replaced the older electric alarms after 1901 and remained in use until 1955.

The threat of higher rates by fire insurance companies also spurred improvements. After 1894 the Fire Inspection Bureau, maintained by the insurance companies, inspected buildings and premises and used higher rates to gain compliance from property owners. After 1904 no new frame buildings were to be built in the Mile Square, crowning efforts dating from May 1859, to mandate brick construction in the city’s center. In 1919 an ordinance created a division of fire prevention with a director and four firemen. A training class held by the fire chief instructed each member of the force in inspections and abatement orders.

Political influence and public employment went hand in hand in the 19th century and later. While the annual report of 1876-1877 stated that firemen were to take no active role in politics, the office of fire chief was always political, a circumstance recognized in the Charter of 1891 which stipulated that the department (and the police) be divided equally between Republicans and Democrats. From time to time fire chiefs asserted that politics would play no part in the department, but family influence was usually crucial in gaining appointment and promotion invariably depended on political affiliation. In 1943 a captain, retiring after 44 years, said that he would not make the same career decision: “Too much confinement and too much politics in our business.” In 1973 the fire chief, citing political interference, quit after only six months in office.

Until 1929 the department offered no significant training to its firemen. Appointed by a ward chairman and assigned to a station, new firemen learned on the job. Applicants attended drill school at their own expense with no guarantee of employment. Standards were minimal: 21 to 30 years old, average weight, a character check in the neighborhood, clean record with the police.

Standards improved after World War II in 1948 the 62 men who vied for 15 vacancies received 80 hours of instruction. The recruit class of July 1969 was the first to be appointed to the department and paid while attending six weeks of class. By 1989 training extended to 17 weeks and included instruction in hazardous materials, firefighting, and emergency medical service.

Requirements for becoming a firefighter also have become increasingly rigorous. As of 2020, recruits must attend 25 weeks of training and pass a series of written, oral, and physical tests to become a member of IFD. The department also seeks to increase diversity within the department. In 2017, African Americans accounted for 15.6 percent of active firefighters, and only a little over 5 percent were women.

The department’s shift from horses to motor vehicles began in 1908 with the purchase of a Marion roadster for the chief. But not until 1921 was IFD fully motorized; by 1928 the last horses had been auctioned. (“Spot,” the last of the firehouse dogs, was killed in 1967.) Harry E. Voshell , fire chief from 1928 to 1935, installed the first radio receivers in the chiefs car and in the fire stations in 1932. (Two-way radios on fire equipment appeared only in 1947.)

Voshell, who retired from the department in 1940 at age 70, served one of the longest stints as chief and was one of the most notable of the men who have headed IFD. He established the policy of building, rather than buying, the department’s fire engines; improved the living quarters for firemen (every engine house was remodeled); and won a reputation for IFD as the department that “fights fires from the inside.”

Until March 1968 when the first arson squad was established, suspicious fires were handled by the Fire Prevention Bureau with a police officer assigned to “arson detail.” In 1970 the arson squad was separated from the bureau and a joint investigative team created with the Indianapolis Police Department . Despite an estimated one arson fire a day, prosecutions fell and in 1984 the system was reorganized with fire investigations combined into one agency. Command of the team rotates between police and firefighters and all members receive extensive training in the other specialty. Arson is easy to detect, but the arsonist is the most difficult criminal to identify. In July 1993, IFD acquired its first arson-sniffing dog, a method found useful in other departments.

At the end of the 20th century, the work of IFD  underwent a revolution as provision of emergency medical aid made extraordinary inroads on traditional firefighting. Through 1969 the great majority of the city’s rescue runs were handled by the police department. After 1970 IFD was given primary responsibility for delivering first aid. This shift grew out of a 1966 federal highway act that charged the U.S. Department of Transportation with developing standards of emergency medical care in prehospital settings.

A curriculum soon emerged for certifying emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Rescue runs soon dwarfed fire and other emergency responses of IFD. The six EMT-trained firefighters of 1976 grew to 320 in 1985 when training was required of all recruits. Emergency medical service runs grew from 6,468 in 1980 (fire emergencies, 5,904) to 41,331 in 1989, while fire runs less than doubled. Forty-six percent of all IFD responses in 1979, EMT runs constituted 80 percent of incidents in 1989. IFD further upgraded its emergency medical capabilities to provide life support care, graduating its first class of paramedics in March 1992.

The 1992 Indianapolis Athletic Club fire brought additional changes. Two Indianapolis firefighters died as a result of a flashover while fighting the fire. Following this tragedy, IFD created the High-Rise Ground Manual and purchased a flashover training chamber. The department also implemented Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) training. It acquired improved gear, established a unified reporting system, and created the position of high-rise chief.

Proposals to unify the fire departments in the county arose off and on over 50 years. In 1941, for example, the Board of Public Safety discussed a plan to have IFD provide fire service countywide, augmented by the township volunteer companies. Given the number of entities involved—twelve (versus only two for a police sheriff merger)—and the Unigov requirement of a petition of a majority of property owners or the owners of three-quarters of the assessed property affected, such a merger of departments proved was difficult. A State Senate bill in 1982 to give the City County Council greater authority to consolidate IFD and the 11 township fire departments died in committee.

While similar mergers proved cost effective in Los Angeles, and in Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida, its adoption in Indianapolis appeared to be unlikely. In the absence of merger, the Indianapolis Fire Department had a mutual aid agreement with surrounding townships and, beginning in 1991, “dual response” pacts with Perry, Washington, and Warren townships (the closest apparatus responds regardless of boundary lines). Finally in 2007 as part of an initiative that the Mayoral Administration of Bart Peterson called Indy Works, the Washington and Warren township fire departments merged with IFD. Perry, Franklin, and Lawrence townships followed in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. As of 2020, Decatur, Warren, and Wayne townships continued to operate separate fire departments.

In 1995, Indianapolis hosted the first International Fire Department Instructors Conference. The Indianapolis Fire Museum and Fallen Firefighters Memorial opened in 1996 in the restored and refurbished Fire Station  No. 2,  at 748 Massachusetts Avenue. Built in 1872, Station No. 2 is the oldest standing fire station building in the city. In the 21st century, more focus has been drawn to cancer prevention for firefighters. Regularly exposed to toxic gases released by common household goods as they burn, firefighters have an increased cancer risk.

IFD also directs operations for Indiana Task Force One (IN-TF1). IN-TF1 is one of 28 Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue Teams that exist in the U.S.  Composed of 202 members from 30 participating agencies across Central Indiana, IN-TF1 has responded to some of nation’s worst disasters, including the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Maria, and Florence.

WILLIAM DOHERTY and ELIZABETH J. VAN ALLEN