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SFFD History SFFD Volunteer Companies 1850 - 1866 1906 Great Earthquake & Fire Great Fires People Journal Entries Horses 1849 - 1922 SFFD History - People: San Francisco Fire Chiefs
Lillie Hitchcock was born August 23, 1843 at West Point where her father Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock was stationed. Dr. Hitchcock served in the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars. During the Mexican War he performed a splendid piece of surgery on Colonel Jefferson Davis, saving his leg. Davis went on to be U.S. Secretary of War and President of the Confederacy. In May 1851, Lillie and her family arrived in a charred, desolate San Francisco, just after the "big Fire of May 4th" when few houses escaped the flames. Most of the population was living in tents on Telegraph Hill. The Hitchcocks' home was to be the Oriental Hotel, which stood at Bush and Battery Streets. When Lillie was seven-years-old her life was saved by the volunteers of Knickerbocker Engine 5. Forevermore her saviors, Lillie joined their calls to duty, nursed their injured, and supported the families of those who died fighting fires. Beloved, she was named an honorary member of the Company and upon her death, returned their affection by commissioning Coit Tower in their memory. David Broderick was foreman of one of the first volunteer fire companies. This portrait of Broderick depicts him holding an ornately gilded trumpet through which Fire Chiefs shouted commands to unify firefighters' efforts to combat blazes. Broderick was a former New Yorker and an opponent of slavery. He was killed in 1859 dueling at Lake Merced, with State Supreme Court Justice David Terry, a Southern partisan. The bitterness intensified by the duel, split the Democrats and delivered the state to the new Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Mentor to an association of heroes, fire chief Dennis Sullivan's life was cut short as he ran to save his wife from the debris of the collapsing Chief's Firehouse and California Hotel shaken asunder by the Great Quake of 1906. Sullivan saved his wife, but was fatally injured falling into a sea of wreckage three floors below.
David S. Scannell was the last of seven men who served as Chiefs of San Francisco's Volunteer Fire Department during the years 1849-1866. As Chief Engineer (the title at that time) he signed the declaration which stated the operation of the Volunteer Department would cease at midnight on Sunday, December 2, 1866, and the fire protection would then be provided by the new Paid Fire Department of the City of San Francisco. On April 3, 1871, David Scannell was appointed Chief Engineer of the new paid Department. Approximately 500 former Volunteers paraded through the streets to show their appreciation of their former Volunteer leader. In April 1873 he was removed from office over a squabble between Fire Commissioners. On December 1, 1873, amidst much controversy, he was reappointed Chief Engineer. During Scannell's tenure the Fire Department Headquarters were in Old City Hall at 234 Kearny Street. There were 276 Regular firemen and 201 Extras; there were 62 horses in service at that time. The Department's first fireboat and first water tower were put in service on July 1, 1891. Scannell recommended 60 ft. height limits, fire escapes and standpipes on all multi-story buildings. On March 30, 1893, Chief Engineer David S. Scannell died while in service. He was a firefighter for 43 years, Chief for almost 25 years. His will provided $2,000 to establish a fund to purchase the meritorious service medal which bears his name. The Chief Engineer, the Mayor and the City Controller were designated custodians of the funds. The David S. Scannell Medal is awarded to San Francisco firefighters who have performed meritoriously at personal risk of their own life. The first Scannell Medal was awarded to Battalion Chief John Wills on August 20, 1896, for rescuing a woman from a burning building at 52 Fifth Street. In 1964 the Scannell Medal was awarded posthumously to Captain Andrew Benton who lost his life rescuing a woman from a burning building at 391 Valencia Street. In 1909 the newest fireboat was christened the David S. Scannell to honor him; it served until 1954.
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