Engine Company No. 5 Mural - Inman Square

In honor of Presidents Day 2025, and to remember George Washington's actual birthday which is February 22nd, as you pass through Inman Square, slow down, look up and take notice of the mural on the Cambridge Street side of the Fire House.

George Washington, our first president, born on February 22, 1732, is honored with the Firefighters of Engine Company No. 5 on the Inman Square Fire House mural. Washington was a volunteer firefighter in Alexandria, Virginia. He also lived, worked, and established his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The mural was painted by Ellary Eddy in 1976 to celebrate the Nation’s Bicentennial. She repainted and restored it in 1999.

The artwork features Cambridge Engine Company 5 firefighters (at the time of the painting) as well as two historical figures, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, both volunteer firefighters in their own communities in their time. The classic Dalmatian fire dog, Buff, is also included.

The apparatus shown is the 1960 Pirsch 1000 gallons per minute pump which was Engine 5’s pump at the time. Twenty members were assigned to the company under command of Captain Walter Ellis.

Depicted in the artwork are from L-R, Francis Dudley, George Washington, Buff the Fire Dog, Robert Carroll, Arthur “Buddy” Largenton, William Rose, Arthur Souza, James Nagle, Walter Ellis, Tom Sullivan, John O’Leary, Benjamin Franklin, Maitland “Mickey” LaRose, Ronald Ring, Francis Oliver, Francis Bransfield, and Donald McElearney. They were all good, brave firefighters. Most of them have since passed away, but they live on in the memory of Engine 5 via the mural.

For additional refernce, go to: George Washington, Past President and Firefighter