On Dec. 15, 2021, the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) celebrated its 130th anniversary. The NOFD provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the approximately 390,000 people who live in the 350-square-mile city and has a Class 1 rating from the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana. The annual budget for fiscal year 2020 was $122.4 million. The NOFD, which is led by Superintendent Roman Nelson, has 6 districts, 29 engines and 6 ladder trucks and is staffed by 567 members. In 2020, the NOFD responded to 45,549 calls. Additionally, the NOFD provides airport rescue firefighting services to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
The mission statement of the department reads: To respond to all emergency situations in the city of New Orleans to protect and save life and property. Further, to strive to reduce the incidence of fire and the loss of life and injuries to civilians and fire personnel.
The vision statement reads: NOFD will explore every opportunity to promote safety awareness and will provide our community with all-hazard emergency services, including preparedness, planning, response and mitigation.
In the beginning
At approximately 1 p.m. on March 21, 1788, which happened to be Good Friday, a huge fire occurred in New Orleans. A candle on an alter in the home of Don Jose Nunez accidentally ignited his lace curtains. Gale force winds fanned the flames, lighting Nunez’ Chartres Street home ablaze.
In those days, the bells on the Church of Saint Louis called residents to assembly during emergencies. Catholic tradition says, however, that bells never toll on Good Friday. As a result, no alert was sounded. It’s estimated that more than 800 wooden homes were destroyed, as the fire (which came to be known as the Great New Orleans Fire) virtually wiped out the entire city. What took 70 years to create was gone in a mere five hours. It was then that Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miro decided that the city needed an organized group to handle fires.
The first official reference to the subject of organization against fire appeared four years later when police officials were directed to take charge of the new “fire engines” and assume command at all fires. Then, in 1804, the City Council received a request to have 15 men, commanded by a foreman, assigned to each of the four engines that were in service.
In April 1829, a larger group of men joined together to fight fires, the first major step to organize a first-class volunteer fire department in New Orleans. These volunteers went under the name of the Firemen’s Charitable Association (FCA), a title that the department kept for 62 years. Henri Buckman was selected as the foreman and first chartered member of the FCA and served all 62 years of its existence, which led to him being officially declared as the father of the fire service in New Orleans.
In 1854, Thomas O’Connor joined Company No. 19 at the age of 15. Four years later, he became eligible for full membership in the FCA, joining Columbia No. 5. O’Connor was elected head of the department in 1869.
On Dec. 15, 1891, the volunteer FCA transitioned to a paid department and came into existence as the New Orleans Fire Department. Becoming a paid department ensured that one of the most culturally rich and historically relevant cities in all of the Americas had the safety and security of a prompt response from professional trained firefighters. O’Connor remained on as the first chief of the NOFD and continued to lead it for the next 20 years.
O’Connor would go on to write “The History of the Fire Department of New Orleans,” which is a 500-page book that details the workings of the fire service in the city from the early pioneer days, through the days of the volunteer department, to the first years of the paid department.
A series of firsts
The first fire that was fought by the paid New Orleans Fire Department occurred on Feb. 17, 1892, at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets. Kinked hoselines delayed the attack on the fire, which extended to the next building. As at all major fires, a large crowd gathered, among them many volunteer firefighters, who pitched in to help their comrades-in-arms. Leaping over the restraining lines, they straightened the kinked hoses, which enabled the fire at A.W. Schwartz’ General Store to be extinguished.
The first two men to give their life in the service of the NOFD were Dan Golden and Dominick Parera, who were killed in a fire on Oct. 9, 1892. The NOFD has suffered 98 line-of-duty deaths in its 130-year history.
The department’s first “horseless engine” was placed in service on Sept. 5, 1900. The new engine had a steam boiler and was placed in service as Engine 2. Engine 23 was the last company to have a horse-drawn apparatus. It was placed out of service and a new motorized pumper placed in service on April 27, 1922.
On Feb. 22, 1965, history was made, when just barely six months after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed to ban discrimination, Firefighter George Mondy Jr. opened the doors of professional firefighting to African American citizens of New Orleans. A former Marine Corps drill instructor, Mondy was one of the founders of the Black Association of New Orleans Firefighters (BANOFF), achieved the rank of apparatus operator and, in 1991, retired after 26 years of service with the department.
The department moved into the computer age in July 1973 when a new communications system was unveiled. The new system included a five-channel radio system and teleprinters in the fire stations and chiefs’ vehicles. Construction also began on a completely new building to house the Communications Division.
Major strides for fire safety were made in 1974 when Superintendent William J. McCrossen and the NOFD helped push through the State Legislature a bill that adopted fire safety standards for high-rise buildings. With passage of the legislation, Louisiana became the first state in the nation to, for all practical purposes, require automatic sprinkler systems in all high-rise buildings that were constructed after 1975. Later in the year, a strengthened version of the law was adopted as a local ordinance by the City Council.
History was made again on Jan. 22, 1993, when Kathy Wilkerson graduated from the department’s training academy, becoming the NOFD’s first female firefighter.
Another historic first occurred on March 10, 2012, when Firefighters Linda Pailet and Katherine Jahncke were promoted to captain, which made them the first female officers in the department’s history.
A fatal fire that took the life of five family members in November 2014 triggered the NOFD to escalate its Smoke Alarm Program, which follows the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ recommendation for a door-to-door effort and duplicates the initiatives of major progressive fire departments across the nation.
The NOFD celebrated 125 years in 2016. The occasion was marked by a change in the design of the department’s duty badge for the first time in 100 years. The emblems replicated the original badges that were issued to members at the inception of the department in 1891. Members were authorized to wear them throughout the year.
What’s new?
The NOFD continues to rebuild following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (see “Hurricane Katrina & the NOFD”). Thanks to FEMA-provided funding, the department refurbished several stations in the past few years to provide the best conditions possible for its firefighters. With the effects of hurricanes in mind—specifically the sometimes lengthy power outages–natural lighting and backup generators have come to the fore. Amid the same efforts, gender-specific facilities were included for the first time at NOFD firehouses.
Hurricane Katrina & the NOFD
No history of the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) would be complete without mentioning the heroic efforts of the department during and after Hurricane Katrina.
On Aug. 29, 2005, the NOFD’s infrastructure was decimated by Hurricane Katrina. Within 12 hours, 80 percent of the city was flooded under as much as 20 feet of water. Twenty-three of the department’s 33 stations either were destroyed or severely flooded, and the others received some extent of storm damage. More than 80 percent of the NOFD’s personnel lost their home.
Members of the NOFD performed more than 18,000 rescues in personal and acquired boats. As the water receded, members of LA TF-1 USAR conducted house-to-house searches for months to assure citizens closure from the loss of loved ones.
In October 2006, the Leary Foundation donated 15 flatboats with motors, which were valued at more than $100,000. That generosity grew into another $100,000 Leary grant to repair one fire station. With the offer of help from a New York District Council of Carpenters (NYDCC) member, Gerry Crimmins, three stations (4, 14 and 38) were renovated using only $25,000 of that money. Crimmins then recruited his friends from the NYDCC, who volunteered their time to travel to New Orleans, ultimately resulting in the restoration of 16 flood-damaged stations.
The NOFD continued to receive donations and assistance through 2008 from many philanthropic organizations for station repairs. By the end of that year, 20 of the 23 flood-damaged stations had been renovated and reoccupied.
The late Harvey Eisner, who was Firehouse editor-in-chief at the time, reported on Hurricane Katrina and interviewed then New Orleans District Fire Chief Chris E. Mickal. Mickal later did a follow-up report for Firehouse.
Major Fires and Incidents in New Orleans
On Aug. 30, 1908, the Great Chartres Street Fire struck the square bounded by Decatur, Chartres, Iverville and Bienville Streets. Buildings on three of the streets were heavily damaged in the fire. Losses were estimated at $1.25 million.
On Dec. 4, 1919, New Orleans lost a major landmark, when the French Opera House burned. Located at the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse streets, the opera house was built in 1859 and was the center of much of the city’s social life.
The first major high-rise fire that the department encountered came on June 18, 1935, when the 13-floor Maison Blanche building became involved in fire. Although the building was equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, the fire gained headway, because it was located between floors at the 13th story. Several firefighters were overcome by smoke while they fought the fire, which took five hours to control.
One of the most spectacular fires to hit New Orleans was the Treigle Sash and Door Company fire on April 21, 1936. The factory was destroyed in the blaze, as was a church and six residential homes. An even bigger disaster was avoided, because firefighters protected the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana bulk plant, which was located across Jackson Avenue from the factory.
Christmas Day in 1971 was a tragic day for the NOFD. Three members were killed while battling a structure fire. Firefighter William Aymami of Engine 16, Firefighter Anton Puderer of Ladder 8 and Operator George Forstall of the Flying Squad died when the front wall of the building collapsed. Fifteen other firefighters were injured in the incident.
One of the most tragic fires occurred on June 24, 1973, at the Upstairs Bar. The flash fire killed 32 people and injured many more. The incident could have been much worse, but it was located just three blocks from Central Fire Station and was brought under control in 16 minutes from the initial alarm.
On Dec. 17, 1993, a fire that started in the jockey’s room consumed a substantial portion of the Fair Grounds horse track, which at the time was the third oldest horse track in the United States.
A nine-alarm fire on June 28, 1996, brought 120 firefighters to the French Quarter, where for nearly two hours they worked to control a blaze at the former WDSU-TV production studio.
On July 2, 2002, approximately 100 firefighters were needed to extinguish a blaze aboard the $30 million luxury yacht Ulysses, which was docked at the Trinity Yachts dock on the Industrial Canal.
On Jan. 27, 2016, the NOFD responded to a six-alarm fire in the 1000 block of Canal Street.
On Feb. 7, 2017, a small but damaging outbreak of 15 tornadoes affected the southeast United States. The most damaging tornado of the outbreak was a large and powerful EF3 tornado that was the strongest to strike New Orleans in recorded history. The tornado caused considerable damage along its path and left approximately 10,000 homes without electricity.
In February of 2019, New Orleans firefighters battled a seven-alarm blaze that destroyed a 150-year-old historic mansion that was home to several kings and queens of Carnival.
On May 11, 2019, the NOFD battled a five-alarm fire at a shared building that housed Old Nawlins Cookery and Oceana Grill. The fire proved to be very elusive in the manner in which it extended into the adjacent business through voids in the fire wall.
On Oct. 12, 2019, a partial collapse during construction of the Hard Rock Hotel occurred. Three workers died, and dozens of others were injured. It took nine months for the remains of two of the victims to be recovered.
On June 18, 2020, two New Orleans firefighters suffered smoke-related injuries after battling a six-alarm blaze at a hotel in the French Quarter. The building actually was several buildings combined together into one set of condominiums. Firefighters had to use a ladder to rescue one of the firefighters through a fifth-floor window after he became separated from his crew.
In August 2021, Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana with an onslaught of harsh winds and floodwaters, leaving nearly a million people without power, including much of New Orleans, and at least one person dead. The hurricane made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm. It sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to evacuate and left countless others bracing for survival, in an eerie echo of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana 16 years before to the day.
NOFD Leadership Through the Years
Thomas O’Connor 1891-1911
Louis Pujol 1911-1919
John M. Evans 1920-1945
Frank P. Rivard 1945-1946
Howard L. Dey 1946-1962
Arthur J. Heyd 1963-1970
Louis J. SanSalvador 1970-1973
William J. McCrossen 1973-1993
Warren E. McDaniels 1993-2002
Charles Parent 2002-2013
Timothy McConnell 2013-2020
Roman Nelson 2021-present
Steven Shaw | Managing Editor, Firehouse.com
Steven Shaw is the managing editor of Firehouse.com. Shaw served as editorial director of the James H. Neal Award-winning “WTC: In Their Own Words” and “Hot Shots: Spectacular Fire Photos.” He previously served as editor-in-chief of Industrial Photography, The Commercial Image and Studio Photography and Design.
