Over Century-Old Cistern Found by the New Haven, CT, Fire Department
The New Haven Fire Department discovered a fully intact underground water tank that was used for firefighting before the department started in the 1800s.
The discovery was a cistern, which fire departments used before fire hydrants.
An engineer called Fire Chief Daniel Coughlin after finding the more than 160-year-old, 19,000-gallon water tank, according to WTNH.
“There had to have been some calculations as to, ‘Hey, how much water do we need or potentially need.’ These guys were ahead of their time,” Coughlin said.
After some digging, Coughlin said the tank appeared in the city's 1862 annual report, the year the department was founded.
“Probably used by the volunteers before we had an official fire department in 1862,” Coughlin said. “The fire department would take the old steam engine, pull up with the horses and pump out of it to get the water.”
Since the cistern was dug up, the department said it will be added to its archive.
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Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.