Fire Department History

Fire Department History


To fully understand the history of the Dodge City Fire Department, one must first know a little of the history of the city which we serve.

The first home built in Dodge City was constructed of sod and built around 1871. This home was located in the vicinity of Second and Trail. Over the next few years the town grew by leaps and bounds. In November of 1875, Dodge City became incorporated. By 1876, the Dodge City Fire Company was formed without any help from the City and P.L. Beatty became the first Fire Chief. Not until 1887, did the City formally establish the Dodge City Fire Department.

There were three main events that led up to the official formation of the Fire Department and all were to happen in the year 1885. As you can probably guess they were all fire related - but not just any fire--these were fires that consumed an entire city block at a time. The first fire broke out only one day after a newspaper reported on the lack of fires in Dodge City. In January 1885, a fire broke out in a grocery store on Front Street between Second and Third Avenues. Before firefighters could extinguish the flames, all but three buildings would fall.

The summer of 1885 went by uneventfully. Then on November 29 the cry of "fire" came once again, claiming yet another block on Front Street, this one between First and Second Avenues. Just ten days later, fate struck again. This time the block between First and Second, just north of Gunsmoke, would be its victim. This entire block would also fall prey to the horrors of the flames.

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The Fire Chiefs

Name
Year Term
P.L. Beatty
1876-1887
C.M. (Chalk) Beeson
1887-1909
William Crutchley
1909-1913
M. Warren
1913-1913
Al S. Warren
1913-1936
Floyd McGahen
1936-1942
M.C. Woodall
1942-1951
Claus Krambeck
1951-1956
George (Jerry) Daeschner
1956-1985
Dan Williamson, Tom Spencer, Ned O’Neal
1985-1987
Pat Simpson
1987-1995
Dan Williamson
1996-2009
Kevin Norton
2010-2015
Robert Heinz
2016-2019
Ken Spencer 2019 - Present