Fargo's first Mayor, George Egbert, and the city's six aldermen first met on April 12, 1875. That day the Mayor appointed Barney Griffin and L. B. Cornwall as Fargo's Fire Wardens. Their primary duties were to patrol the city on the lookout for fire and to keep people clear of danger in case of a serious fire. Fires in the early days were fought with bucket brigades.

On November 20, 1877, the city council passed the first fire ordinance. It provided for a chief engineer (Barney Griffin was appointed), first assistant (Hugh McChesney), second assistant (James Stack), and two fire wardens (J.B. Chapin and Brad Stevens). Also in that year, Fargo's first fire apparatus was selected and delivered on December 29, 1877: a hook and ladder rig from the Babcock Fire Extinguisher Company for $375.

The era of the volunteer fire companies began on December 29, 1877, when the Pioneer Fire Company was recognized by the Council. Unfortunately, the Pioneer Company was never officially organized or chartered and thus was of little value.

Following a fire on Front Street on December 18, 1879, a meeting was held to organize the Fire Department and establish a new fire company which took the name "Hook and Ladder Company Number One Hard." The name, taken from Dakota's famous wheat, was shortened to "The Hards." The first organized and chartered fire company in Fargo was led by John Haggart, Chief Engineer. The company lasted only five years.

In the spring of 1880, the unorganized Pioneer Fire Company organized itself and changed its name to the Continental Hose Company No. 1. The company was officially organized and chartered on October 19, 1880.

The Fargo Hose Company No. 2 was formed in 1882 but lasted less than two years before being dissolved. The Yerxa Hose Company No. 3 was established on December 7, 1883. The Yerxa were named for W.A. Yerxa who was Mayor at the time and owner of a grocery store on the southwest corner of Broadway and NP Avenue. The company was composed of young Fargo businessmen and is reported to have been the most dedicated and effective of Fargo's volunteer fire companies.

Each company had about twenty-five active members. The Yerxas were housed in the hose house on NP Avenue and Roberts Street. The Hards called home the fire station on Front Street and Fifth Street. For more information about the Fire Department's buildings, please continue here.

Fargo experienced many fires over its history but none was as disastrous or had such far-reaching effects as the great fire of June 7, 1893. To learn more about that fire, please continue here.

To learn more about the Fire Department and its growth with professional firefighters after 1903, please continue here.