In 1852, a bond initiative was posted on the ballot and approved by the people to buy one horse drawn fire engine and one hook and ladder wagon.
The mule drawn vehicles replaced the hand carts because of the muddy condition of the dirt streets; mules were more serviceable than horses. With the introduction of mules pulling the apparatus, larger size hand-operated pumpers were utilized. It took six to eight men to operate the pump when it was needed. The first water reservoirs used for firefighting were huge 50,000 gallon under-ground cisterns. These cisterns were located at Market and Texas, Texas and McNeil, Fannin and Edwards, and Market and Crockett. There is a chance that some, if not all, of these are still in the same place, but not filled with water.