The Rise of Manchester's Fire Department and the Heroism of the Torrent​

 

In nineteenth century Manchester, fire was greatly feared. In 1808, in order to quell fears and ensure safety, the town passed a by-law which forbade outdoor burning, day and night, with a steep 300 dollar fine for violators, which is equivalent to over 7,900 dollars in 2026. The fear citizens held towards fires was warranted as there was no organized network to put them out once they started, and there existed a custom of each householder to keep leather buckets in the hall of the house in case of emergency. In 1828, as a first step towards organized fire extinguishing, the town voted to purchase its first engine, the “Eagle”, which volunteers would pull to fires with ropes. This was the beginning of the Manchester Fire Department.

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A local inventor and furniture manufacturer, Colonel Eben Tappan, created a more efficient fire engine, which he loaned to the town in 1832. The “Torrent” was a "hand tub," meaning it was pulled by hand to a fire, where water was sprayed on the blaze through a hose. This was more effective compared to the previous “Eagle”, which relied on a bucket brigade. After serving in the great fire of 1836 on Central Street (which started in the furniture factory of John Perry Allen, at the site of today's Seaside No. 1), the town found the “Torrent” so useful that it bought the machine from Col. Tappan.

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Being a firefighter was tough work during the time of the Torrent, especially due to the manual labor involved. Veteran firefighter George F. Leach wrote to the Manchester Cricket in 1925 (read the whole article here) telling of his time working with the hand tub starting when he was 17 years old, describing how it took 45 "good husky" men to control the brakes of the 1,000 pound machine. The engine had to be filled manually with buckets at first, but in 1871 a suction hose was used in order to fill it up more efficiently.

 

The largest fire the Torrent ever fought, Mr. Leach detailed, was the great fire of 1871 that inflamed (among other buildings) the Rust & Marshall furniture factory (it ironically enough was located at the same site today's Seaside No. 1 and the earlier Allen factory which burned in 1836). The veteran recounted that he was on duty with Torrent from midnight to eight in the morning, working tirelessly to fight the fire. Though the factory and other buildings were lost, from the firefighters’ hard work and the Torrent’s persistence, the fire was ultimately contained and the town was saved (read a primary article on this 1871 "Destructive Fire at Manchester!" here).

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Manchester began to maintain a dedicated fire station in the 1880s.  The site of the burned Allen and later Rust & Marshall mills was acquired by the town following the latter's destructive fire and, in 1885, it constructed the building known as Seaside No. 1 to store the town’s new horse-drawn fire engine of that same name.  The department acquired a new, larger fire station on School St. in 1892 and the horse-drawn steamer "Seaside No. 2." built in 1902.  From then on, the Manchester Fire Department continued to grow, and more sophisticated technology was used to keep the town safe from fire.  The 1892 station, with alteration, served the town until it was town down in 1974; it was replaced with the present-day fire station in 1975.

 

After its retirement as a fire house, Seaside No. 1 became the town police station and remained at the center of the town’s public safety until 1970, when the police moved into the new town hall. Seaside No. 1 was then preserved as a museum restored for the 350th anniversary of Manchester in 1995. The building today shares the evolution of the town’s firefighting and police forces through the display of historical artifacts, including the hand tub “Torrent” and the “Seaside No. 2” steamer.

 

Originally written by Em Cicala, 2024. Last updated by Matthew Swindell, 2026.

 

For further reading:

- O’Malley, Joseph. “Fire Department.” In Manchester-by-the-Sea, 1645–1995, edited by Gordon Abbott Jr., Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA.

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