In 1901 the fire department gave up the volunteer programs for a staff of paid firemen. After the Gottschalk Opera House fire in 1910, the first steam pumper was purchased. In 1915 the first White Truck was purchased to replace horses. This was in use until 1937, but other new equipment was added. In 1952 a large 1,250-gallon-per-minute pumper was purchased. By this time the department had five pumpers and employed twenty-five men.
The first fire station had been in the old city hall; when the new city hall was built in 1913, the department moved into it. In 1910 an old barn had been converted into a northside fire station; in 1930 Fire Station No. 2 was built there. In the 1970's a third firestation was established at the municipal airport.
In 1941 the Elks Club donated an ambulance to be equipped and used by the city. This became a service of the fire department and has continued through the years. During 1947, this ambulance took care of 107 emergency calls.
