PHOTOS: The town of Daytona organized its volunteer fire department in 1909. It took some work, though. "Daytona needs a fire department; Daytona wants a fire department and Daytona will have a fire department. But the citizens must awake to the fact that the matter needs their cooperation. 'Tis time to get busy," The Daytona Daily News exhorted on Dec. 7, 1909.
The department bought a LaFrance hose truck in 1913 that was the pride of the city. "Pictures of it include nearly all the prominent men of that time. It was housed in the former railroad freight house between the old City Hall and the river," wrote local historian Ianthe Bond Hebel. This was superseded by a 1,000-gallon pumper bought in 1919. By 1925, the department was housed in the stucco Fire Station No. 1, still in use on South Beach Street.