Each volume is divided into sections, each engine company in its own section. Within each company section is a chronological list of alarms to which the company responded. Includes date, name and address of building or structure and Fire Department officer on duty.

Proceedings of Board of Fire Commissioners meetings, 1890-1896.

Correspondence and memoranda from the Fire Chief relating to personnel actions including reprimands, promotions, hiring and firing. Also includes memoranda to other departments and Fire Marshal's notices of fire code violations.

Correspondence and civil service forms relating to promotions, notices of appointment, separations, misconduct reports, injury reports, requests for certification, and returns to service.

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, City Council briefings, and press clippings relating to issues before the Seattle City Council during Compton's tenure. Major topics of interest to Compton were technology and public safety.

Reports to the Civil Service Department concerning conduct of men in each company. Filed monthly.

Correspondence to and from the City Attorney. Includes requests from City agencies for legal opinions and advice.

Newsletters published by the department as well as the union, the officers' association, a fire buff society, and others. Also includes brochures and Fire Department ephemera.

Record of payments for equipment and supplies, building repair and maintenance, utilities, payroll, and other department expenses. Includes voucher number, name of payer, service or account type, and amount paid. Annual recapitulations are arranged by engine company and totaled by month.

Daily logs of each firefighter's hourly in and out status of Engine Company 6. Also includes some additional information such as supplies received and alarms or fires, as well as fire fighter substitutions.

Copies of departmental budgets and estimates of expenditures.

Slides primarily used in public relations and training prgrams.

Correspondence, notices, and inspection reports regarding fire hazards, fire code violations, fire escapes, and other safety devices at Seattle homes and businesses. Includes orders to correct violations. This is almost exclusively the correspondence of Gardner Kellogg.

Records documenting security preparations for the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle.

Index cards kept by the Seattle Fire Marshal to track various types of fire incidents.

Records documenting the Seattle Fire Department's Marine Fire Protection Project.

Record of monthly expenditures for apparatus, equipment, supplies, maintenance, and services. Includes date; requisition, and voucher order numbers; and amount of order by type of expenditure.

Monthly departmental newsletter.