Nevada History Lecture – Nevada’s Pioneer Fire Service And The Fire That Destroyed It

Nevada History Lecture

Nevada’s Pioneer Fire Service And The Fire That Destroyed It

June 3, 2023 from 1-2:30pm

Steve Frady, Historian and Journalist

Panorama of Virginia City, Nevada, 1877

Summary: A look at the development and death of the Virginia Fire Department, Nevada’s first organized fire department that by 1875 boasted more than 500 volunteers combined on the rolls of its volunteer fire companies. Despite battling the “fire fiend” in Virginia City for decades with an impressive arsenal of equipment, one incident was to prove the end of Nevada’s pioneer fire department.

Steve Frady

Biography: Steve Frady is an author (Red Shirts and Leather Helmets: Volunteer Fire Fighting on the Comstock Lode, and Where Duty Calls . . .The Story of Warren Engine Co. No. 1), historian and journalist, with an extensive career in fire and law enforcement including City of Reno Police and Fire public information officer; Virginia City fire chief; Nevada Division of Forestry chief of prevention and enforcement; Nevada State Fire Marshal Division deputy state fire marshal and chief of fire service and hazardous materials training; Nevada Division of Investigations criminal investigator; and, editor of the Nevada Appeal daily newspaper in Carson City.

Make sure to arrive early as we have limited seating available in our Event Space. Don’t forget, we provide free, temporary parking permits to make it easier to visit NHS!