Dan McBride collection of Rochester (N.Y.) fire department scrapbooks

The origins of the Rochester Fire Department date back to the earliest days of the village of Rochesterville, with the foundation in 1817 of Aetna Fire Company No. 1. A volunteer company, it was followed by several additional volunteer companies over the ensuing 40 years. After a string of three disastrous fires in three days from August 16-18, 1858, the volunteer companies were disbanded and reorganized. The combined coming of steam pumpers and the manpower crunch resulting from the Civil War led to the final disbanding of all but two volunteer companies in 1862, and their replacement with the first paid, prefessional firefighters. The City of Rochester would continue modernizing its fire services with the installation of telegraph alarms in 1869 and a Holly high-pressure water system in 1874. Despite the modernizations, tragic fires would continue to trouble the city, most notably the 1888 Steam Gauge and Lantern Works fire, resulting in 40 worker deaths; another 38 lives lost in the Rochester Orphan Asylum fire of 1901; and the Sibley's fire of 1904 that gutted Rochester's entire downtown commerical district.

The fire department reacted to these massive fires at the dawn of the 20th Century by increasing its manpower and improving its equipment. This would culminate with the retirement of the last fire horses in 1927. Working conditions for firefighters also improved with the introduction of pensions in 1908 and a two-tier work schedule in 1919. Work hours,however, would remain at 84 per week. This would slowly fall back to 42 hours a week by 1974, a change accompanied by both growing numbers of firefighters in the ranks of the department and continued improvements to both equipment and working conditions. Following a harsh, highly critical 1949 report on the state of the fire department by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, an ambitious program of building new firehouses, obtaining up to date equipment and improved training created the modern Rochester Fire Department. By 1955, a follow-up report from the National Board of Fire Underwriters ranked Rochester as having a first-class fire department. The department continued to evolve, with a 1970 strike leading to greatly improved hours and pay, and the introduction of the labor-saving "quint and midi" concept in 1980s that allowed many neighborhood firehouses to stay viable.

Dan McBride served as a Rochester fire fighter from 1984 to 2009. After serving in several operational positions, he served as the department's Public Information Officer from 1999 to 2006. Long interested in local history and the history of the fire department, this position allowed him to author In the Finest Tradition, a book-length history of the Rochester Fire Department published in 2005. This collection is comprised of materials McBride assembled as part of his work researching the book.