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| Station Number #31 | Companies Assigned | |
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9365 Garland Road
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Engine 31
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Rescue 31
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updated
04/11/2008
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| Fire Station #31 and Fire Station #29 both opened on August 16, 1947-the
first of Dallas' post-World War II stations. Fire Station #31 has 2 full
bays and contains 10,621 square feet. In typical fire department fashion,
firefighters from the two stations had bets on whether #29 or #31 would
have the first run. Station #29 won. Initially, station crews were supervised
only by lieutenants, managing to "somehow survive" without the benefit of
a Captain for three months. Station #31 was constructed partially with used materials from several old houses being torn down to build Central expressway. The used materials not only helped reduce the construction costs, but also provided ready material in the postwar months when such materials were hard to come by at any price. In 1947, Station #31 sat in the midst of open fields, near the City limits and the community of Reinhardt. Runs to Buckner Blvd. and Oates Drive, Northwest Highway at Easton, and Flag Pole Hill were county runs. Station #31 had a large first alarm district, but only 12 to 15 boxes. The first engine at #31 was an old second hand pumper donated to the City by the Air Force with a 500 gallon capacity. The pumper was referred to as an A-wagon and carried 30 feet of hard suction coiled on top of the tank for drafting. Difficulty in getting this engine up the incline of the Station #31 approach caused firefighters to drain some of the water from the tank to lighten its load. Even so, many times Engine 31 would start on a run, only to watch Engine 19 pass by as it sat broken down. In the late 1940s, a grass wagon was located at #31 but was never separately manned. |
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