Lincoln Fire & Rescue Department

The Lincoln Fire & Rescue Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded on February 9, 1872 consisting of one steam engine, two horse drawn carts, 40 to 50 men, and paraphanelia to outfit a bucket brigade. The number of firefighters grew to the point where on June 4, 1877 it had to split into two divisions, No. 1 and No. 2. In 1879, the department made its first great impact on the city by saving a total of $90,750 USD worth of property while only losing $2,250 USD. The first fire company that was paid was located at the corner of 10th and Q streets. The first paid fire department alarm was on Friday January 22, 1886.

Famous quotes containing the words lincoln, fire, rescue and/or department:

    “Almost every thing, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two [good and evil].”
    —Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    “Not till the fire is dying in the grate,
    Look we for any kinship with the stars.
    Oh, wisdom never comes when it is gold,
    And the great price we paid for it full worth:
    We have it only when we are half earth.
    Little avails that coinage to the old!”
    —George Meredith (1828–1909)

    “To rescue our children we will have to let them save us from the power we embody: we will have to trust the very difference that they forever personify. And we will have to allow them the choice, without fear of death: that they may come and do likewise or that they may come and that we will follow them, that a little child will lead us back to the child we will always be, vulnerable and wanting and hurting for love and for beauty.”
    —June Jordan (b. 1939)

    ““Which is more important to you, your field or your children?” the department head asked. She replied, “That’s like asking me if I could walk better if you amputated my right leg or my left leg.””
    —Anonymous Parent. As quoted in Women and the Work Family Dilemma, by Deborah J. Swiss and Judith P. Walker, ch. 2 (1993)