Curious SouthCoast: New Bedford fire chief's invention changes firefighting in early 1900s
New Bedford Fire Chief Edward F. Dahill changed the way fire fighters fight fires.
Dahill dedicated 59 years of service to the department from 1888 to 1947, and left behind an invention that made an extremely difficult job less difficult for all firefighters.
He invented the first aerial ladder hoist, called the Dahill hoist, in 1902.
Larry Roy, director of the New Bedford Fire Museum, said Dahill’s invention really made a difference when it came to firefighting and helped save time and save lives. Before Dahill's invention, firefighters had to manually raise the ladder out of the bed of the fire truck.
Born in New Bedford in 1862, Edward F. Dahill joined the New Bedford Fire Department in 1888 when he was 26 years old. He served as chief of the department from 1904 to 1947. He left his job as chief at age 85 due to mandatory retirement. He was first assistant of the department when he invented the hoist in 1902.
Documenting the new invention
In the archives at the New Bedford Fire Museum are articles and photographs from the Standard-Times featuring Dahill and his invention.
One story with a photograph of a fire truck fitted with the Dahill hoist under the headline “Mayor Sees Newly Acquired Fire Truck” from the Standard-Times is dated June 18, 1944.
It reads, “Just how New Bedford’s newest piece of fire fighting equipment, the rebuilt ladder truck, will stand up when the pressure is on, is being demonstrated before Mayor Harriman in the presence of Fire Chief Edward F. Dahill."
Dahill hoist puts New Bedford on the map
Larry Roy, who has given more than 50 years of volunteer service to the New Bedford Fire Museum at 51 Bedford St., has served as museum director from its very beginning and founded the nonprofit New Bedford Fire Museum Association. Old Fire Station No. 4 opened in 1867.
Roy said Dahill’s invention helped save time and save lives. Before Dahill's invention, he said, firefighters had to manually raise the ladder out of the bed of the fire truck.
Using a storage tank for compressed air, two cylinders could lift a 70-foot extension ladder to full height in seven seconds. It was refined in 1923 and retained its technological edge until the late 1930s when hydraulic hoists were invented.
New Bedford’s Hook and Ladder Company 1 was motorized in 1917, and with the battery, it operated the Dahill hoist fit for a 65-foot aerial ladder truck. Ladder 4 was placed in commission May 1, 1921, at station 8 with an electric battery-driven Dahill hoist.
Remembering Dahill for his many achievements
The Standard-Times articles about Dahill’s retirement from July 1947 recognize him for his “foresight, ingenuity and initiative” and New Bedford’s “enviable record of low fire loss and high protection.”
Another article dated July 7, 1947, recognizes his achievements, the Dahill hoist among them.
“The hydraulic hoist for aerial ladders, the foamite tank truck and the fog wagon were but a few of the features put into effect in the New Bedford Department by Chief Dahill,” it states. “It was during this time that the department was placed on the two-platoon system and that the organization developed from the horse-drawn apparatus era to that of modernized equipment.”
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Former New Bedford Fire Chief Edward F. Dahill invented ladder hoist
