Hose Company No. 9 

Indianapolis established the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) in 1859, six years after Cincinnati, Ohio professionalized firefighting with a full-time, paid, career fire department.  

Like most fire departments in the 19th century, IFD was an all-white entity. However, in April 1876 Indianapolis mayor John Caven directed the chiefs of the police and fire departments to appoint Black candidates to their respective organizations. Caven’s decision came in the aftermath of pushback from Indianapolis’ Black and white community regarding the exoneration of two Indianapolis police officers charged with the shooting of Edward Phillips, an unarmed Black man earlier that month. IFD chief W. O. “Deck” Sherwood hired the city’s first Black firefighters on May 19, 1876. Of the 30 applicants, Sherwood selected Thomas Smith, Robert Braxton, James Graves, and Thomas Howard to join Hose Company 9 at Station 9. Nine days after hiring the Black firefighters, Sherwood transferred the white firemen to other fire stations, leaving the African Americans of Hose Company 9 at a de facto segregated fire station.  

Public service positions were political appointments. Census reports show that the four original African American firefighters registered as Republicans, making them subject to dismissal by Democratic politicians. Indeed, three of the four original African American firemen lost their positions temporarily at some point in their careers: Graves in 1880, Braxton in 1884, and Smith in 1899. Each contested their release and was reinstated to the force.  

Black firefighters were essential to the public safety of residents in Black neighborhoods. Many white firemen refused to enter and extinguish fires in those areas. Thus, IFD positioned the hose company where it could best serve those Black residents. Hose Company 9’s original location was at 31 W. Saint Joseph Street. The all-Black Hose Company 9 moved to Fire Station 9 at East 16th Street and Ashland Avenue (today 1602 N. Carrolton Avenue) in the current Kennedy-King Neighborhood in 1881. On February 8, 1897, IFD rebadged the station as Fire Station 16 and the company as Hose Company 16.  

Unlike their white colleagues who did not team up to fight fires in Black neighborhoods, the Black firemen extinguished fires alongside white crews. On March 17, 1890, Hose Company 16 positioned itself on a rooftop adjacent to the Bowen-Merrill building to assist in extinguishing a fire there. The building collapsed, killing 12 firemen. The Bowen-Merrill fire (see Fires) remains the single greatest loss of firefighters in IFD history.   

Lieutenant Thomas Smith became the first Black firefighter to die in the line of duty on November 8, 1911. Smith, on his way to extinguish a fire at 21st Street and Northwestern Avenue was thrown from the horse-drawn Hose Wagon 16 after being hit by a streetcar on College Avenue. The streetcar ran over Smith, dragging him several feet. Thomas Howard was also thrown from the wagon, breaking several bones. At the time of the accident, Smith and Howard were two of the oldest and longest-serving members of IFD. 

In 1922 IFD reassigned the Black firefighters of Hose Company 16 to Fire Station 1, located at 411 Indiana Avenue, in the heart of the Black business district. Here, 24 firefighters worked two 24-hour shifts. In 1938, a new Fire Station 1 opened on W. Michigan and Porto Alegre streets, east of the White River. This became the last of Indianapolis’ fully segregated fire stations.   

In 1951 Charles E. Smith became the last Black firefighter to join the department during the segregated era. In 1960, IFD became desegregated when four Black firefighters transferred to other stations in the city, though Station 1 remained all-Black. Two years later six white firefighters transferred into Station 1, ending the era of segregated fire stations in Indianapolis. Fire Station 1 relocated to its current location at 1903 W. 10th Street as an integrated station in the Haughville neighborhood in 1982.  

On September 25, 2009, the Indianapolis Black Firefighters Association (IBFA) installed a memorial bench honoring Thomas Smith in the Heroes of Public Safety section at Crown Hill Cemetery. On July 1, 2016, Fire Station 1 adopted the name Joseph D. Kimbrew Fire Station 1 to honor Indianapolis’ first African American fire chief (1987-1992).