A Brief History of the Pompier Ladder
Christ Hoell
Like most firefighters, I have a fascination and respect for anyone who has ever climbed or worked from a Pompier Ladder. As buildings in the late 1800's grew in size and height, the ladder became a necessary tool for window rescues and scaling above the reach of ground ladders. The ladder, shaped like a question mark, is driven hook first into the window above the firefighter. The hook is pulled into the sill. Then the firefighter climbs to the window, straddles the sill, raises the ladder to the next floor and repeats the process until he reaches his destination. The pompier ladder is a simple, but effective tool for scaling buildings and saving lives.
The pompier Ladder was introduced to the United States in 1877 by Lt. Christ Hoell of the St. Louis Fire Department. He learned of the tool and the method while working for the Elberfeld, Germany Fire Department. The ladder had been invented about 50 years earlier in Germany and was already seeing wide use through the southern part of the country.
In 1873 (at the age of 27) Christ Hoell emigrated from Germany and settled in St. Louis where he was a stone mason until he was appointed to the St. Louis Fire Department. Early in 1877 two major fires in the St. Louis area prompted Christ Hoell to suggest and bring forth the idea of a 'Pompier Corps', to which he would train firefighters in the Pompier Ladder and other life-saving methods. By December of the following year Lt. Hoell had trained St. Louis FD Hook and Ladder 3 and 4 and the first pompier crew was put into service in the United States.
After training the St. Louis Fire Department, Christ Hoell was given leave to train FDNY in the use of the ladder and his other life-saving methods. New York's first rescue with the Hoell rescue device (pompier ladder) occurred on April 7, 1884 and was performed by John Binns of Ladder Co. 3. The last rescue occurred on December 15, 1967. Gene Dowling of Ladder Co. 25 made the daring rescue in 30+ mile per hour winds. Both the first and the last rescues performed with the pompier ladder earned the James Gordon Bennet Medal, the highest honor bestowed to FDNY firefighters.
Many people owe their lives to this odd ladder and the daring firefighters who scaled the sides of buildings to save victims. The FDNY carried the pompier ladder on their trucks until July 11, 1996 when it was decommissioned. The Boston Fire Department still uses the ladder as part of its recruit training.
This design was hand drawn by Tom Lane using a turn of the century style that we believe matches the heart and soul of the ladder. The lower left portion of the shirt displays the St. Louis FD logo with the year that Christ Hoell introduced the ladder to America. We hope you like this new design as much as we do.
-George
19 comments
My Grandfather (maternal) used a Pompier Ladder in 1933 or 34 to rescue a woman from the fifth floor of a tenement in Brooklyn while assigned to Engine 281. He joined the FDNY in 1913 and retired in 1941. He received the Conran Medal for his actions.
I believe that the only other departments that use this ladder as part of recruit training besides Boston are the New Haven, Ct Fire Department, the Providence, RI Fire Department (the department that invented the Providence Hook which most people mistakenly refer to as a pike pole) and I think the San Francisco, CA Fire Department. There’s a link below were the Boston Fire Department let the Providence Fire Department use their training tower for pompier training because Providence’s tower was condemned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgsgBtG4ibg
Thanks for the recognition of our great greanfather’s accomplishments!
Barbara
St. Louis, Missouri
Wonderful article about Capt. Hoell and his introduction of the Pompier. Thank you.
Gail Holzhausen, Columbia Il