Earliest records reveal that Kewaunee's first Fire Department was organized in the year 1870. That organization consisted of two groups called Fire Company No. 1 and Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. In the year 1898 the Fire Company and the Hook and Ladder Company were dissolved, leaving the city without a fire department. The mayor then appointed thirty able bodied men from the city to act as a temporary fire department and those refusing such appointments would be announced at the city council meeting. Troubled and turbulent times founded the beginning of the Kewaunee Fire Department.
Today the fire department has grown with manpower and equipment to offer fire protection to a 60 square mile area in Kewaunee County. The average population of this area is approximately 5,000 people. The areas of fire protection territory include the City of Kewaunee, Townships of West Kewaunee, Pierce, Casco and the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant. The fire department has available eight pieces of motorized fire apparatus. This equipment is housed in two garages called fire stations, one in the downtown area and one on the west side of town. The current membership roster of the department is 36 firefighters.
The fire department is fortunate to have historical antique fire apparatus that is well maintained and on public display in parades of today. These pieces of history were all used by Kewaunee firemen many years ago. They include an 1870 chemical pumper purchased from the City of Milwaukee in 1894, a 1884 hand pumper purchased new in that same year, a 1908 hand drawn wheeled hose car, and a 1927 American LaFrance pumping engine, still in working condition.