Preservation Buffalo Niagara is recognizing outstanding preservation projects and those contributing to regional preservation efforts at its annual awards ceremony May 31, 11:30 AM at Kleinhans Music Hall. Buffalo Rising has been profiling this year’s winners leading up to the event.
The Friendship Fire Department (FFD) has restored and preserved the only Silsby Heater along with one of only two operational rotary steam powered fire pumpers in the United States to conserve a true classic of firefighting legends.
The FFD’s Silsby Restoration (SRP) project is an exemplary historic preservation project from the most rural county in Western New York. The SRP combines multiple generations working in their specialized areas of expertise to preserve the first pieces of fire apparatus purchased by FFD in 1881.
The scope of SRP has not only energized and educated the people of Friendship but also Allegany County and beyond on the significance and importance of the fire service to the residents of the community, the region and even farther.
The Friendship Fire department purchased the Silsby Heater in 1886, its first fire apparatus. It was purchased after a disastrous fire that leveled most of the central business district of Friendship. The US patent for the Silsby Heater was issued in 1888.
The parts of the Silsby Heater (the ash box, the boiler and the water reserve) were found in the three fire halls located in Friendship. The Silsby Heater was restored by high school students and local craftsmen using pictures and drawings. The painted portions of the apparatus was transported to Hand in Rand Restoration in Jackson, Michigan for refurbishment. The local community raised funds to complete the work.
The Silsby Heater in addition to keeping the Steam powered fire pumper ready for service on a moments notice, kept the fire hall warm and also dried the cotton fire hoses hanging in the hose tower on the fire hall. It was pulled by two horses or “six able-bodied men.”
Since restoring and rejuvenating the apparatus, known locally as Miss Daisy, the FFD steamer company #2 has participated in several parades and pumpings each year. By being active in the fíreman’s muster activities the FFD has educated many people about the evolution of firefighting from the days of the bucket brigades to today’s modern pumpers with outputs of over 1,500 gallons of water per minute.
Miss Daisy is the only horse-drawn steam powered pumper in New York State and one of only two steam powered rotary pumpers still in operation in the United States. The FFD’s Silsby Restoration Project (SRP) is the 2005 national Save Our History Award winner.