Collection is open for research.
Materials found in collection; provenance is unknown.
The earliest "fire suppression interest group" in Walla Walla, Washington was the Union Hook and Ladder Company, a volunteer group established in November of 1861. After a series of catastrophic fires in the city of Walla Walla around 1852, a local brewer named Joseph Hellmuth petitioned the city to form an organized fire department. By May of 1865, a fire department was technically founded by the city, but it wasn't until 1884 that a reliable, well-funded and well-organized fire department was established.
The Walla Walla Fire Department contains organizational records of the Walla Walla Fire Department. This collection, which dates from 1868 to 1995, consists of a group photograph from 1995, department rules and regulations from the 1950s, membership badges from the Fireman's Association for the years 1896, 1897, and 1899, fire hydrant locations, correspondence, address lists, mailers, letterheads, 1943 fire permits, minute books, payrolls, and an 1868 engine certificate.