Weekly Snapshot: Parque De Bombas, Ponce

Parque de Bombas – Ponce, Puerto Rico

The Parque de Bombas, Spanish for Park of Pumps, is a historic firehouse building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognized landmarks due to its history and its characteristic design and colors.

Located in the Plaza Las Delicias town square, directly behind the Ponce Cathedral, this building was the main fire station of Ponce from 1885 till 1990, when it was converted into a fire-fighting museum.  It was Puerto Rico’s first ever fire station, but its original use was not for fire fighting; it was originally built as the main exhibit pavilion for the 1883 Ponce World Fair.  It was in 1885 when the first fire fighters occupied the building.  It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1984.

The Great “El Polvorin” fire

On January 25, 1899, a large fire (later dubbed “El Polvorin”) threatened the city of Ponce. Disobeying orders from the American troops that had recently taken control of Puerto Rico, a group of local firefighters took charge of the matter and was able to appease flames that had started inside the U.S. Army’s gunpowder reserves.

For their success, the group was honored many times both in Ponce and the rest of Puerto Rico.  A few yards from Parque de Bombas sits an obelisk to their memory.  In addition, a series of homes were built a few years later for the firefighters and their families on 25 de Enero Street (January 25^th street).  Still to this day, the descendants from the original fire fighters and their families still live in many of these homes, and they still conserve the original red and black colors – the official colors of Ponce, representing fire and ash.

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