At the organizational meeting of the Board of Assistant Aldermen on March 29, 1852, the president of the Board appointed eleven standing committees of five members each. The rules of the Board, adopted at the April 15 meeting, provided that all matters pertaining to the Fire Department should be reported on by the Committee on Fires before being acted on by the Board.

Ordinance #2492, approved on December 8, 1855, provided that the Fire Department be operated by a contractor chosen by public bid for a five year term. The contractor was to be furnished with an inventory of all of the department's property belonging to the city, that inventory to be made by the Surveyor and the chairmen of the Finance Committees of the two Boards. The chairmen were to have general supervision of the department, its buildings, and other property. They were periodically to report to the Boards as to the efficiency of the department, of the contractor, and of the officers and men of the department.

The ordinance also created a Board of Fire Commissioners to be composed of the chairmen of the Finance, Fire, and Judiciary Committees of the two Boards along with a committee of six persons to be elected by the presidents and agents of the insurance companies operating in New Orleans. The Board had full power to hear and determine complaints of citizens touching on the Fire Department and its operations. If three-quarters of the members of the Board declared the contractor to be guilty of gross neglect or inefficiency, the contract would be dissolved.