HISTORY OF LADDER CO. 3
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COMPANY ORGANIZED: MARCH 5, 1883
COMPANY QUARTERS
COMPANY QUARTERS
1883-1966 163 Brackett Street, easterly side, West End
1966-1972 474 Ocean Avenue (north-side), East Deering, w/Engine Co. 11
1972-1983 212 Stevens Avenue (westerly-side), Rosemont, w/Engine Co. 3
1983-2000 Decommissioned
2001- 212 Stevens Avenue, with Medcu 3
COMPANY NAMES
COMPANY NAMES
1840-1868 “City Ladder Carriage No. 3” (spare ladder carriage)
1883-1889 “Bramhall” Hook and Ladder Co. No. 3
1889-1983 Ladder Co. 3 (1904-1919, at times called “Combination No. 3”)
1983-2000 Decommissioned because of Engine 3’s Quint Truck
2001- Ladder Co. 3 (Quint Company, formerly E-3’s Quint Company)
ABRIDGED HISTORY
ABRIDGED HISTORY
March 5, 1883, a new ladder company organized improving fire protection in the heavily populated, western section of the peninsula. Their first meeting was held at 176 Brackett Street in the firehouse of “Cumberland” Steam Engine 3, which was up the street from the new one-story brick Ladder House.
The Company was named “Bramhall” Hook & Ladder Co. No. 3, in honor of George Bramhall, who was killed by Indians at “Bramhall Heights”, the name given to a hill on the west end of the Peninsula.
A Talbot & Moulton ladder truck was purchased, with a Street Department Driver and a horse.
1884 – Permanent Fire Department Driver appointed and a PFD horse was acquired. Horse stalls
Were later built inside at the rear of the firehouse and a second horse was added in December of 1891.
1897 – A wood-frame, second story addition was built above the Brackett Street brick Ladder House.
1904 – Ladder carriage rebuilt into a combination truck, carrying two chemical tanks and chemical hose.
1905 – A Permanent Lieutenant and Hoseman were appointed, giving L-3 three Permanent Men.
1908 – The Lieutenant was promoted to Captain. In 1911, a second Hoseman was appointed.
October 11, 1919 – Ladder 3 was motorized with a new Indianachassis/McCann ladder & chemical combination truck, carrying 320 feet of ground ladders.
1920 – A fifth Permanent Man (Ladderman) was appointed, and a sixth was added in 1921.
1923 – A Permanent Lieutenant was appointed
April 1, 1924 – Ladder 3 became a permanent company.
August 26, 1936 – Ladder 3 assigned Portland’s 1st. steel aerial truck (Seagrave 65-foot), carrying 373 feet of ladders, a 100-gallon booster tank, and 250 feet of booster hose.
March 15, 1951 – A two-way radio was installed in Ladder 3 by the fire alarm division.
November 20, 1957 – Ladder 3 was reassigned a 1944 Seagrave 65-foot aerial combination, carrying 257 feet of ladders, two 100-gallon booster tanks, and 400 feet of booster hose (formerly Ladder 1).
July 12, 1960 – Private Thomas G. O’Connor died in the line of duty in an accident with Ladder 3 and Engine 4 at the intersection of Brackett & Spring streets, while responding to an alarm. Six other firemen injured. Both trucks were a total loss.
November 15, 1960 – A new Seagrave mid-ship mounted 65-foot aerial ladder truck in commission.
August 4, 1966 – Ladder 3 was relocated off the peninsula to Engine 11’s Station in East Deering, and the old L-3 ladder house was razed. This improved fire protection citywide, with two ladder companies each in District One (the peninsula) and in District Two (the Deering section).
April 21, 1972 – Ladder Co. 3 was again relocated. This time to Engine Co. 3 at 212 Stevens Avenue in the Rosemont area, after a second bay was added in 1971 to the one-story brick station, built in 1951.
July 3, 1978 – Ladder 3 was reassigned old Ladder 6, a 1961 Seagrave tractor-drawn 100-foot, three-section aerial ladder truck, carrying 228 feet of ladders, 200-gallon booster tank, and 200 feet of hose.
1980’s – The Portland Fire Department suffered major reductions in Personnel and budget cuts. As the City’s fire protection ratings lowered near a Class-3, the Chief Engineers ordered two new types of fire apparatus, known as “Quint” trucks. (Combination engine/ladder), carrying a 1,500gpm pump, a 500-gallon tank, a hose body, a complement of ground ladders, and a 75-foot aerial ladder. In 1982, one was assigned to Engine Co. 8, replacing E-8 & L-4 (Ladder Co. 4 had been decommissioned in 1981).
July 14, 1983 – A Quint truck went into service to Engine Co. 3, replacing Engine 3 and Ladder 3, and Ladder Co. 3 was decommissioned after more than 100 years of service.
January 1, 2001, Ladder Co. 3 was re-commissioned as a Quint Company from E-3’s Quint. The
truck was a 1998 Pierce Dash 75-foot aerial, a 1,500gpm pump, and 131 feet of ground ladders.
2009 – Ladder 3 put in commission a new apparatus door was heightened several inches to allow other PFD trucks to fit inside.
May 4, 2013 – A Seagrave Marauder II Quint truck went into commission, with a 100-foot aerial Ladder, a 1,500gpm pump, and 123 feet of ground ladders.
October 6, 2022 – Ladder 3 commissioned a Pierce Enforcer Quint truck, carrying a 107 ft. Ascentant aerial ladder and a 1,500gpm pump.
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