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Pioneer Fire Company No.1
As the year 1878 came to a close, Vineland had a Fire Department consisting of a hook and ladder company, an engine company, with equipment for each, fire police, a few uniforms, helmets and badges. To avoid friction and avail the city with the best, most smoothly operating fire protection, the Town Committee appointed five Fire Commissioners, giving them full control over the department and its property as a whole. They were also responsible for upkeep and care of the latter. A Chief Engineer was in charge of the department at fires while the officers of each company were to be a Foreman, Assistant and Secretary, elected annually and subject to approval of the Commissioners. The first Commissioners appointed were Freeman S. Hale, President; James Loughran, Secretary; M.J. Kimball; Ezekiel Morely and Joseph Mason. William V. Prince was elected Chief Engineer. With a well organized Fire Department, there was a necessity for more water access and within less than a month three new cisterns were built, all on Landis Avenue.
Although the citizens worked heroically, their means were still insufficient to prevent the destruction and they realized that something more must be done. A meeting was held in the Baker House on October 2nd. Another group of men joined the department calling themselves the Niagara Engine Company and they took immediate steps towards procuring a fire engine and hose wagon.
Along with these assets, the department faced financial problems. Before 1878, there had been no appropriation from public monies and that year it totaled only $256.78. Expenses had to be met through private donations. Of course, everyone relied on the department in time of trouble but the donations were much slower in arriving than the speedy firemen in response to fire alarms. Ungratefulness was not the reason. Its was just that the people had so little. The settlement of only seventeen years was struggling with the many personal and public problems confronting a new town, complicated by an increase in population. There were new roads to be opened and old ones to be repaired; schools and churches to be built; sidewalks to be laid to replace the casual board and a simple system of street lighting to be installed. And so the men of the department paid personally the smaller bills and held community suppers, balls and musical entertainments to liquidate the larger ones.
As the city grew, other means had to be found to support and develop the water supply and provide new apparatus for the department. The Town Committee engineered a new plan for securing the monies necessary to build up equipment. In March 1880, they organized a regular Fire District in accordance with State Law and the legal voters within that district elected five Fire Directors. The first directors were Freeman S. Hale, Chairman; Hosea Allen, Clerk; John Prince; Eli B. Hendee and Oliver D. Graves and the sum of $200 was then appropiated for fire purposes.
The Rough and Ready Boys of the old "Hook and Ladder Company" and the men of the Niagara Engine Company found it increasingly difficult to procure space for the purpose of their meeting and the rental of the various rooms became more of a burden. It became apparent with the increase in the fire equipment and the number of men in service that one fire house large enough to house together all the men and equipment was necessary.
A lease was obtained from the Town Committee for a lot on Sixth and Wood Streets and during the spring and summer the building of the new firehouse proceeded. The firehouse cost less than the estimated $1600 and was raised by tax on the property in the fire district. It was completed on October 1st and the Vineland Hook and Ladder Company and Niagara Engine Company combined forming Pioneer Fire Company 1.
A two story brick building, with apparatus quarters on the first floor, a parlor, meeting room and recreation apartment on the second, the new firehouse meant a great deal to the men of Pioneer Fire Company. They were now one Fire Department and had great pride in it. They felt a sense of belonging and comradeship. The firehouse became a social club where community picnics and dances were held. It was a place where the boys could gather and talk. They could often be found at the firehouse on cold winter nights drinking hot coffee and listening to old timers tell tales of bygone days. On summer nights, they would collect in front of the station while someone played a harmonica or other instrument.
The volunteer firemen became friends of the community. They were dependable and very generous. Often, when a family lost their home and didn't have a place to go, the firemen offered the protection of the firehouse. There they gave whatever was necessary to make their neighbors comfortable until further arrangements could be made. It was a time of neighborly spirit where almost every face was familiar and the small settlement was like a large family unknowing and untouched by the pangs of the modern, noisy existence of today.
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Brief History
History Written By Linda M. Kandle in 1976.
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