Pacific NW

APPARATUS NO. 63, a White City Service Ladder, was delivered to Fremont's Fire Station No. 9 in 1923. In his "Seattle Firehouses," Jim Stevenson's 1972 sketchbook of about 40 Seattle stations, the author considers station No. 9 as "standing out from many other wood-frame stations built after the turn of the century (1901) because of its excellent treatment of detail along the eaves and above the doors."

Most of Stevenson's chosen stations were designed for horses. Here at 3892 Linden Ave. N. the five or six horses got the main floor; the firemen shared the second floor with the hayloft. On Aug. 16, 1904, the Fremont station was hailed for speeding in 22 minutes to the home of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority in University Heights and saving "what remained of the building."

The age of galloping horse-drawn hose wagons answering fire calls ended in 1924 when the department retired its remaining horses. At the Fremont station, the replacement, Apparatus No. 63, was not so terrific. At a mere 29.8 horsepower, it was "one of those rigs that kids used to run after and keep up with when it was climbing a hill," says department historian Galen Thomaier. In 1930 No. 63 was withdrawn into reserve status until sold in 1955 for $75. Thomaier found it parked on the front lawn of a Pullman fraternity house in 1994. The gas tank had been replaced with a beer keg.

Thomaier collects retired fire engines and has several of them in his Ballard "workplace," also known as the Last Resort Fire Department. You can visit it through www.lastresortfd.org. On Wednesdays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., you can also visit the Last Resort's exhibit at the Seattle Fire Department headquarters, Second Avenue South and Main Street.

Check out Paul Dorpat and Jean Sherrard's blog at www.pauldorpat.com.