Ronald steam fire engine - Firefighters Museum of Calgary - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
N 51° 01.070 W 114° 02.170
11U E 707871 N 5655989
This Ronald steam fire engine, built around 1900, is similar to the one purchased by the City of Calgary in November 1886. Once the fire engine's boiler was started, it took 5 - 8 minutes to produce a strong water jet for firefighting.
Waymark Code: WMF53A
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/24/2012
Views: 2
This Ronald steam fire engine, built around 1900, is similar to the one purchased by the City of Calgary in November 1886. Once the fire engine's boiler was started, it took 5 - 8 minutes to produce a strong water jet for firefighting.
Text of accompanying sign:
The Ronald Steam Fire Engine
In the fall of 1886, Calgary's mayor and councillors met with an Ontario entrepreneur to discuss the purchase of a new steam fire engine to protect the young prairie town. For $5,000, John Ronald of J.D. Ronald company proposed selling the town a medium-sized engine and two hose carts with 3,000 feet of hose. While the pitch received a fair amount of interest, council decided it was not an immediate concern.
Just weeks later, the scope of destruction caused by Calgary's first major fire in November 1886 convinced town council that better fire ewuipment was needed for the growing community. As the damage reports came in, council voted to purchase a Ronald steam fire engine, two hose reels and 2,000 feet of hose. The deal was closed by the end of November.
The new apparatus was purchased for $4,000 and soon put into service at Calgary's first fire hall on Seventh Avenue just east of Centre Street. The horse-drawn Ronald had the capacity to pump up to 450 gallons of water per minute. Withing five to eight minutes of starting the steam engine's boiler, the vehicle was capable of creating a strong, steady stream of water.
The Ronald in the collection of the Firefighters Museum of Calgary is not the original vehicle that battled fires in early Calgary. This vehicle, a steam-powered pump built around 1900, was purchased in 2000 from a private collector in Dallas, Texas.
This fire engine is still undergoing further conservation and restoration. When that is complete, it may look more like this
Ronald steamer in the collection of the Winnipeg Fire Museum.
The J.D. Ronald Company (also called the Ronald Fire Engine Works) was based in Brussels, Ontario. For more information on early firefighting in Calgary, see City of Calgary webpage . For some more info on the J.D. Ronald company, see Worldwide Steam Fire Engine Register.