Established in 1868 as the all-volunteer Governor Tod Engine Company, the department has grown over the years. In 1891, the volunteer department was disbanded as the city grew and the need for a full-time force of career firefighters became evident. By 1955, the department had grown to operate from 15 fire stations, but this would last only 15 years. By the early 1970s, with the steel industry on its way out of Youngstown, the department began to close companies. First were Fire Stations 4 and 11. Others would follow, including Stations 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 14.
The Youngstown Fire Department led all cities of similar size in arson fires in 2012. Youngstown has had problems with vacant structure fires for several decades. The Youngstown Fire Department had over 400 structure fires in 2014.
Stations and apparatus
As of December 2019[update] below is a list of all stations and apparatus used by the Youngstown Fire Department.[3][4]