More than a hundred years ago Fredericksburg had an organized fire department, and from reports, which, however, were seldom made, was sufficient in extinguishing fires. In the early part of the eighteenth century, when the town was built up mostly of wooden houses, with wooden chimneys, and the water was scarce and inaccessible, several fires occurred that spread over considerable territory and did great damage, but even in those instances, although the winds were high, the department did much to retard the progress of the fires and finally got them under control. The first fire company organized in town was known as the Vigilant. It was organized in 1788 and the names of its members were certified to the hustings court and filed with the court papers, but their names were not placed on the record. How long this company remained in existence is not known, but in 1814 the Hope Company was organized, which was soon followed by the formation of the Union. It is not known who commanded these companies when they were first organized, but we are told that long before the middle of the century the Hope was commanded by Charles C. Wellford and afterwards by John Pritchard, and the Union, about the same time, was commanded by Albert G. Lucas, who was succeeded by John M. Whittemore. These fire companies had suction and force engines and got water from the river, street pumps, and sometimes from the canal west of the town, after it was constructed, using the source most convenient, and did effective work. It is said the rivalry between these organizations was very great, the excitement in times of fires was intense, and often disputes would arise between the members as to which company did the most effective work, which often resulted in blows. When they were in their prime fires were frequent. Scarcely a week passed that a fire did not occur, and often two or three would take place inside of a week. Then there was a grand rush to see which company could get the first stream of water on the fire. The frequent fires soon led to the suspicion that some of the firemen originated and were responsible for many of them, and, strange to say, the disbandment of the companies was encouraged by the property owners of the town, as a means of preventing fires and saving property. They were disbanded before the Civil war, and since that time, until the year 1885, the town was without a fire department, and was without any means of contending with the flames, save the feeble efforts of citizens in what was styled "the bucket brigade." This name was applied to the large number of citizens, who, in times of fire, carried water in buckets to extinguish it, and used "wet blankets" to prevent the flames from spreading to adjoining buildings.