CHIEF ENGINEER'S OFFICE, FIRE DEPARTMENT,
SAN FRANCISCO, July 23d, 1866.

To the Honorable Board of Supervisors:

GENTLEMEN: In accordance with the requirements of Resolution No. 5,556 of your Honorable' Body, I herewith present my Annual Report on the condition and expenses of the Fire Department, for the Fiscal Year ending June 30th, 1866.
Trusting that the recommendations herein contained will receive your attention, I remain

Very Respectfully Yours,

DAVID SCANNELL,
Chief Engineer.

FIRES.
During the past year the number of fires have not been as great as in the year preceding, but the loss from them has been more than doubled, being estimated at $593,000, against $276,000 last year. The most destructive fire of the year occurred July 17th, 1865, at the Pacific Warehouse, located at the northeast corner of Broadway and Battery streets, where starting in the night and in a tight building filled with a variety of goods some of them being of the most combustible character, it had gained such headway and spread through the stock to such an extent by the time the Department arrived on the ground and got the doors open, as to prevent them from gaining the mastery over it.

For nearly two days it raged with fury, notwithstanding the greater part of the time it was deluged with water from hand and steam engines and hydrants, but all to little purpose, owing to the large quantity of coal oil, camphene, etc., stored within its walls, which served to prevent it from being subdued. The damage resulting from this fire alone has been estimated as high as $343,000.

The impropriety of storing such combustible articles as coal oil, camphene, and alcohol in warehouses where other goods are stored, must become apparent from the result of this fire, for had nothing of this kind been stored there, it is quite probable that the fire would have been extinguished before the entire building and its contents were destroyed. The origin of this fire is unknown, and it was probably caused by spontaneous combustion.

The Department has been called out about two hundred and twenty times during the year ; a number of incendiary fires have taken place in the same period, and the most suspicious circumstances in connection with them is, that the property thus destroyed generally had more or less insurance on it. Out of the two hundred fires that took place, thirty-three were undoubtedly caused by the match of the incendiary, and the loss from these fires originating in premises covered by insurance amounted to about $75,000, while the loss from incendiary fires originating in premises not insured, did not exceed $3,500. Nearly the same observations will apply to the attempts to set fire ; for of the fourteen attempts made, fully two-thirds of the places were insured to a greater or less extent. Unoccupied buildings, particularly if setting alone, always serve as an invitation for the incendiary to apply his torch, and we therefore see that of the thirty-three incendiary fires, ten took place in unoccupied buildings. A number of arrests on charges of arson have been made by the Fire Marshal during the past year, some of whom have been tried and convicted, and others are awaiting trial.

HYDRANTS.
The number of Hydrants set on the first day of July was four hundred and forty-eight, of which forty were set during the past year, and the one at the northwest corner of Teharaa and First streets was taken up by order of the Fire and Water Committee. A list of the Hydrants with their location, will be found hereafter in this report.

I will again call your attention to the necessity of having larger mains laid along the lower part of the City front, to which Hydrants can be attached, so as to afford in case of emergency an abundant supply of water one or two steam engines taking suction from Hydrants attached to small mains, if fully enabled to supply themselves, will leave nothing for hand engines or hose carriages, and are more likely to be short of a supply themselves than otherwise.

CISTERNS.
There are forty-two Cisterns in the City in good order, ranging in capacity from 15,000 to 51,000 gallons ; and there are eight in bad order, being nearly worthless. These latter should be put in good condition without delay. The expense of building good Cisterns is large, but when well built they will last for years without additional cost, and the security they afford against extensive conflagrations under contingencies which might arise, will, in my opinion, warrant the outlay for their construction. The water in the mains is frequently shut off in different parts of the City for the setting of hydrants, laying of pipes, and other purposes incident thereto, thus at times leaving certain sections for a period entirely without protection. To guard against accidents from this source, as well as to be prepared for any emergency that may occur from a lack of water in the hydrants, caused either from a scarcity of supply, or accident to the pipes or flumes conveying it to the City, it is deemed necessary that more Cisterns should be provided. As a rule also, steam engines can do better service from Cisterns than from hydrants, the supply from them being uniform and constant, while it sometimes happens that from the latter it is fitful and inadequate.

HOSE.
There is in use by the different companies 'of the Department about 10,800 feet of Hose, of which only about one-third can be considered in first rate condition, the remainder being of an ordinary character and not at all to be relied on in case of severe work. Owing to the fact that soon hereafter the Department will be supplied with Steam Engines of a more powerful character than any we have yet had, it is necessary that a full supply of strong new Hose should be provided for them, so that at all times when in service, accidents from the bursting of Hose, and the delay consequent upon requiring the replacing of a defective length, oftentimes at the most critical moment of the fire, may be avoided. I therefore recommend that 10,000 feet of the best quality of new Hose be purchased at your earliest convenience.

FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.
I am pleased to be able to say, that the Fire Alarm Telegraph, during the past year has been kept in better working order than formerly, and has not as often been imposed upon by ringing false alarms. It is now working in a very satisfactory manner, and with due care and precaution* on the part of those having it in charge, it will prove of great importance to the welfare of the City.

LOCATION OF FIRE COMPANY HOUSES AND DISTRICTS FOR SERVICE.
The force of the Department as at present organized, is distributed in a very judicious manner throughout the city, and since they have been confined to certain districts within which to perform duty, their services have been of a less arduous character yet quite as efficient as formerly.

However, the new organization which will have less companies, and which in a few months will supersede the present one, will require a change in some instances for the proper location of some of them.

Under the act creating the Paid Department, your honorable body have the power to direct the sale of the houses and lots at present occupied by the Fire Companies, and secure others in suitable locations for the new companies, and I doubt not you will take timely measures to provide for their accommodation.

FIRE LIMIT BLOCKS.
Since my last report the line of the Fire Limit Blocks has been materially altered, and considerably curtailed, but it is yet extensive enough to eventually prove of benefit "in securing the erection of fire-proof buildings on many of our prominent streets whenever it shall become necessary to substitute others for the frame structures now in existence.

The violations of the Fire Ordinance during the past year have not been as numerous as heretofore if we except the line of Kearny street owing probably in part to a fear of consequences instilled into the public mind by the arrest and punishment of a number of persons for like offenses, through the efforts of the Fire Marshal and Fire Wardens.

Along the line of Kearny street, between Sacramento and Geary, that part affected by the widening, a number of palpable violations of the ordinance have taken place ; yet owing to the passage of a special order for the benefit of property owners on that line, by your honorable body, and the adoption of resolutions granting special privileges, no action could be taken by the Fire Wardens.

While every reasonable privilege should be given to those who had buildings that were interfered with by the order widening that street, compelling them to cut off a portion when the lot was not of sufficient depth to permit of their removal back, or removing them to the rear of the lot they were on when sufficiently large to allow of it, yet in neither case should they be allowed to overhaul and remodel them with new material to such an extent so as to make new structures of them. Permits for alterations and repairs on wooden buildings within the Fire Limit Blocks, should be granted only after proper examination, and where the necessity of the case absolutely demands it, and then in conformity with the spirit of the ordinance itself.

THE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO.
It is well known that during the session of the Legislature of last winter, a bill was passed abolishing the present Volunteer Fire Department, and authorizing the establishment of a paid one in its place. As this will be the last opportunity I shall have of submitting a report under the law governing the present Department, I may be allowed the privilege of saying a few words in commemoration of the noble, energetic and faithful institution, soon to be numbered with the things that were.

This Department, now so soon to go out of existence, that has done so much for the protection and prosperity of the city, was organized in the year 1850, by some of our best citizens and business men, including merchants, mechanics, lawyers, clerks and laborers, many of whom had been active firemen in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other eastern cities, and some of whom since have not only performed the active duty of firemen here, but have also filled offices of honor and profit amongst us where ability and integrity were required, and as exalted as that of Mayor of our city, and United States Senator.

During that and the preceding year, the population of the city had increased with unprecedented rapidity, and to afford them accommodations for living, as well as for business purposes, buildings of wood and cloth, and canvas tents were hurriedly erected with at that time scarcely an exceptional structure of brick or stone. The town being constructed of such combustible materials, and no organized provision made for the extinguishment of fires, we are not surprised to learn of the devastating conflagrations that took place here in early times, and compelled the inhabitants to perfect an organization among themselves for the protection of their own as well as neighbors' property and households.

On the twenty-fourth of December, 1849, occurred the first of these great calamities, though by no means comparing in magnitude with those that occurred in 1850 and 1851. However, it was the inauguration of the fiery ordeal through which the city was to pass here she should reach the proud eminence of permanent prosperity which she at this time has attained.

From an early history of San Francisco, we learn "that on the morning of that day, Dennison's Exchange on the east side of the plaza, was discovered to be on fire at about six o'clock. Nearly all the block bounded by Kearny, Washington, Montgomery and Clay streets, was destroyed. The loss was estimated at one million of dollars. With no organized Fire Department, and the inflammable nature of the buildings being considered, it was wonderful that the conflagration did not make still more general devastation."

The great destruction of property by this fire, fully impressed the citizens with the necessity of creating an organization to combat the fiery element, and consequently we find that early in the succeeding year steps were taken by those whose property and interests were identified with the growth and prosperity of the city, to perfect and put in operation an organization which though then small in numbers, and poorly equipped, did most excellent duty when called upon, and which has continued to grow with the growth and requirements of the city, until it numbered fourteen Engine Companies, three Hook and Ladder Companies, and three Hose Companies, with one thousand and fifty members.

The first election for Chief Engineer took place on the nineteenth day of October, 1850, when Frederick D. Kohler was elected to that office. From that period the history of the Fire Department may be said to date, and in a few years, through the efficiency of its officers and the promptness and fidelity of its members, who worked not for pay, but for glory and honor, it obtained a reputation for efficiency and order equal to that of any of the old Departments in eastern cities, and it has kept on in the march of advancement until its fame was world-wide as it deserved to be, since in my opinion, I do not say too much when I say it was excelled by none either on this or the eastern continent.

At last the march of progress and improvement, ever on the advance, seized the minds of some of our people, and for a few years past the question of creating a paid department in place of the present volunteer one, was agitated both by the press and legislative bodies, until at last a bill was presented to the Legislature, which meeting with favor, become a law, and is to go into operation on the first Monday of December of this year.

Thus passes from one midst, an institution that has acquired honor and fame, as well as a history that will be read and talked of for years in the distant future.

The duty its members have performed for the people of San Francisco for the past sixteen years without other pay or emolument than that flowing from a consciousness of having performed their onerous and self-imposed task faithfully, is beyond computation in mere dollars and cents. There was something higher and nobler that actuated those who turned out at the 'first tap of the bell at any hour of the day or night, in fair or stormy weather, than the mere wish to earn a livelihood from the necessities and misfortunes of their fellow men.

They can be looked upon in no other light than that of philanthropists, whose noble deeds and acts of daring in endeavoring to save life and property when combating the march of the devouring element on many a hotly contested field, deserve ever to be held in grateful remembrance by the people of San Francisco, for whom as a body they have done so much, and for whom many of them have sacrificed both their health and their lives.

But a new order of things is now about to succeed them, and we trust that it will realize all the expectations that its friends entertain for it, and have advanced in its favor. And in this connection I desire to call particular attention to the magnanimous action of the officers and members of the Department in falling into the support of the new undertaking the moment it became a law, and their prompt and efficient performance of duty pending the time the new Department shall be fully organized and in working order.

It illustrates again, and in a new light, the character of the men composing the Fire Department. Although quite unanimous in their opposition to the passage of a law which would break up their organization, and in its stead place a paid Department, and notwithstanding the unnecessary misrepresentations against their character and conduct made during the time the question was under agitation, and the acrimonious debate indulged in by the friends of the measure, reflecting on the Companies and members of the Department, we find that no sooner is the matter settled by becoming a law, than with general accord they agree to withdraw further opposition, and perform their accustomed duty faithfully until such time as the authorities having the matter in charge, shall be able to get it organized, and in perfect working order.

Thus again are the enemies of the Department, those who predicted riot and disorder, and a refusal to do duty after the passage of the bill, rebuked. The members of the Department since the passage of the bill have done their duty well, and there is no reason to suppose that they will fail to continue doing it as long as their services are required.

EXPENSES OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30th, 1866.
The total amount of demands audited and allowed out of the Fire Department Fund during the past year, as shown below, was $65,248.21. This sum, however, includes a deficit of about $15,000, which existed at the close of last year, and could not be provided for out of the annual appropriation for the expenses of the Department as allowed under the statutes of 1863, page 168.

The power necessary to authorize the payment of these demands was secured at the last session of the Legislature, and hence they are brought forward and placed with the expenses of the Department for the present year, though not properly belonging to it.

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