PHOTOS: The Utica Fire Department is celebrating their 150th anniversary this month and Deputy Fire Chief John R. Kelly recently took the Daily Sentinel on a trip down memory lane. Kelly said the early 1900s saw great change to the fire service and the world because of the invention of the motor vehicle.
“The era of the horses was starting to end,” said Kelly. The UFD bought their first motorized vehicle for the fire chief in 1914. Within the next three years, the department was fully motorized with 10 engine companies and four truck companies.
“This was quite an accomplishment at the time. We were one of the first in the country to be fully motorized,” Kelly stated. “The old timers, obviously, they didn’t want the horses to go away because they worked. Tradition is very much entrenched in the fire service. Just like a lot of things, nobody likes change,” Kelly explained.