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Let’s go back 59 years courtesy of the Austin Fire Museum. This film shows the men from old Fire Station 5 in East Austin. Besides giving us a view of station life in 1953, it also shows some of the first African American firefighters hired in Texas (see below). Stay beyond the closing credits of the film because there are a couple of outtakes.

Description of the film:

This film was created by Captain Victor Tiemann of Engine Company 5 at Old Fire Station 5 at 1005 Lydia St. in East Austin.  In 1952 the City of Austin hired the first paid African American firefighters in Texas.  They were initially stationed at Old Fire Station 5.  Captain Tiemann had the crew demonstrate for the camera various activities in the day in the life of an Austin fire company in 1953.  At the time of the filming the Austin Fire Department had a two platoon shift schedule and Captain Tiemann was in charge of the A-Shift.  The driver was William (Bill) Walsh, and the firefighters of the crew were Willie Ray Davis, Marvin Douglas, and James Ritchardson.

From the Austin Fire Museum website:

1952

The Austin Fire Department employed three black firefighters, the first blacks to be hired under Civil Service law in the state of Texas. The three were Willie Ray Davis, who retired as a Captain; Nathaniel H. Kindred, who died of a heart attack in 1977 while at a fire scene; and Roy D. Greene, who resigned.

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