Fire Department Started

• In 1875 The first Rockwall County Courthouse located on the S.E. Corner of the present square was destroyed by fire.
• In 1891 The second Rockwall County Courthouse, which was constructed in 1878 was destroyed by fire and a temporary two story brick building was built out of native sandstone.
• In 1904 Fire destroyed five downtown Rockwall businesses and the post office.

After several noteworthy fires, the Rockwall Fire Department was formed around 1903. The Fire department has played a vital role in this community since its inception. Yesterday and today, firemen are basically the same; local businessmen who leave their places of work, and citizens who dedicate their time away from their full time jobs out of the city to lend protection to people within the community when the signal sounds.

First Meeting Site
The fire department had its first meeting hall on South Goliad Street on the square. The first modern fire station was located on East Washington Street . It is unknown when that station was constructed but it served the community until 1984.

Engines
The first modern fire truck was built in 1939 and was a F600 open top cap truck. It was assembled in E.B. (Benny) Shaw’s mechanic garage located on the square. The 1939 model was an F600 open top cab truck. Benny also built the city’s first panel emergency truck, which was used as an ambulance. The fire department purchased a second open top truck chassis in 1942. Benny Shaw built the tank and body for it.

Rockwall purchased its first factory ordered and first enclosed cab pumper fire truck in 1959. The firemen call it GRANNIE. She retired in 1999 and does not respond to fires anymore but she still runs and pumps. Granny will remain within the fire service for many years to come. She will serve as a pumper at our future training facility.

Paging Systems
Firemen were notified of a fire call by a loud siren mounted on the water tower, which was located at the corner of Goliad and Washington Street . When it went off, it would sound a number of times for a house fire and a different number of times for other fires.

In 1974 Rockwall purchased modern pagers, which gave the type call, location and other pertinent information.

More Apparatus and a New Station
Rockwall continued to purchase new trucks over the years. In 1984 a new fire station was constructed at 305 E. Boydstun. The station was named Central Fire Station. In 1985, Rockwall purchased its first custom pumper truck.. In 1985, the fire department purchased its first self-contained breathing apparatus air filling stations to fill the air packs. In 1997 a bond was passed to purchase land to the south, land to the north, and funds to build station two. Station two was constructed and opened January 2, 2002 . It was dedicated and named Thomas Nalls Station after Thomas Hugh Nalls who retired from the fire department in 2001 after 41 years of service.

Family Ties
The fire department is a brotherhood but it also has even stronger roots within our department. The department in the past and in the present consists of fathers, sons, uncles, and cousins.

Heroic Saves
Many of the firemen have had extraordinary saves. Benny Gracy and Mark Poindexter saved a child in Lake Ray Hubbard. Benny Gracy saving two lives when he died in the line of . The Rockwall fire department has taken part in many major tragedies...Full History and Pictures