File:Officers of last Volunteer Fire Department, circa 1889 (MOHAI 12986).jpg

The creation of the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) can be traced back to July 6th, 1876, when the all-volunteer Seattle Engine Company No.1 was organized. In 1883, the City Charter was amended to create and fund equipment, but not staff, for a centralized municipal fire department. The volunteer-based system persisted until pressure from the insurance industry and citizens after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 forced the city council to reform Seattle's seven volunteer companies into a paid, professional unit of 32 men organized into five district fire stations. In this photo collage, each of the officers of the last volunteer fire department of Seattle is pictured, in uniform and holding their helmets, and identified by name and position. In the center is Fire Chief Josiah Collins (1864-1949), a lawyer who was born in North Carolina and moved to Seattle about 1885.

Printed on image: Officers of the last volunteer fire department of Seattle, Washington, LaRoche & Co. Photo's. Identifications printed on image: Wm. Murphy, Foreman, Engine Co. No. 1; W. H. Clark, Foreman, Washington Eng. No. 2; M. W. Hand, Foreman, Union Eng. No. 3; A. D. McKnight, Foreman, Deluge Eng. No. 7; Jas. Murph, 1st. Asst. Chief; Josiah Collins, Jr., Chief of last Volunteer Department; Jas. McIntyre, 2nd Asst. Chief; W. H. Lake, Foreman of Engine Co. No. 4; Jack McDonald, Chief of first Regular Department; T. E. Nunan, Foreman, Hook & Ladder Co. Handwritten on verso: H. Clark, Compliments of Josiah Collins, Jr.

• Subjects (LCTGM): Portrait photographs; Seattle (Wash.). Fire Department; Uniforms