A bell rings, shaking the bricks of the building below at 411 W. King St. in Lancaster. The sound is familiar – something’s on fire.
Horses rush from the stable behind the firehouse. Firefighters latch on their heavy equipment, driving the teams toward the smoke, hooves thundering and equipment clanking through narrow city streets.
It’s nearing the end of the 19th century, and the county’s first paid fire department is settling into its role.
The Lancaster City Bureau of Fire, which marks its 140th anniversary this month, is one of the oldest paid fire departments in Pennsylvania. The first was Philadelphia in 1871.
Fourteen decades. Nearly 1,000 firefighters filed through the ranks, led by 17 chiefs. Thousands of blazes extinguished. Eleven firefighters’ lives lost in the line of duty. Countless lives saved. Hundreds of properties salvaged.