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Hose Co. No. 1 History Page |
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On March 9, 1908, thirteen concerned residents
met in the home of Andrew Post, a resident of Hempstead Avenue, and
a then prominent resident, and proposed the forming of a third fire
company in a growing community know as Lynbrook.
Those
thirteen men that day, including Post were, William “Billy” Karn,
who is believed to be the original organizer for forming this new
fire company, and Hugo Cook, Henry P. Schweitzer, William Cochran,
Peter Kischoff, John Hiller, William Conway, Frank Whelden, Steve
Dolbeer, John Torrence, Charles Potts, and Charles Fox.
At
that first meeting the group of charter members proposed naming the
new fire company, Lynbrook Hose Company No. 1, and appointed Andrew
Post as it first “Foreman,” now referred to as a Captain.
After
that meeting the members filed incorporation papers with the State
of New York, and on Friday, March 13, 1908, Hose Company No. 1 of
the Lynbrook Fire Department was officially a fire company through
the efforts and dedication of those 13 men.
After
all the formalities of this new organization were established, the
next task was to obtain a piece of fire apparatus for the men to use
to fight fires. Back then volunteer firefighters pulled a four
wheeled cart with hose to a fire scene.
A
committee was next appointed and a search was begun to locate a used
piece of fire equipment. The members located a “high, four-wheeled
jumper” hose wagon which was for sale from the Rockville Centre
Alerts Fire Company, which had just purchased a new one. The
“jumper” as it was called, was also known as a “giraffe” and
originally saw service in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The Hose Company
members purchased the “jumper” for $25. When it arrived in
Lynbrook, and without having a firehouse, it was stored in the barn
of member John Torrence on Noble Street, just west of Hempstead
Avenue.
1926
MACK PUMPER >
The Hose Company volunteers were soon pulling their “jumper”
to the borders of East Rockaway, Rockville Centre, Franklin
Square, and Valley Stream, to fight fires. With now only
having a barn for the “jumper,” and no other room, the new
fire company held their meetings in the firehouse belonging
to Rescue, Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, on Earle Avenue,
Lynbrook’s first fire company. Hook and Ladder charged
Hose Company $1 per meeting to use their firehouse.
In 1911, Steve Dolbeer, one of the original 13 charter members that
helped form the new company, was elected and served as Fire Chief of
the Lynbrook Fire Department for two years. The Lynbrook Fire
Department consisted that time of only three companies, Hook and
Ladder No. 1, Engine Company No. 1, and Hose Company No. 1.
The Hose Company members next held dances, fairs, and other
entertainment to help raise the needed funds to build their own
firehouse. The monies raised from the growing community were
used to purchase two empty lots on Blake Avenue, behind the Lynbrook
movie theater. In 1912, the same year that the Village of
Lynbrook was incorporated, Hose Company moved into its new firehouse
and it is still being used today by the fire company.
In 1917, the company received its second piece of fire apparatus and
the first factory built equipment, which was then followed by a
replacement in 1926 with a new hose truck. Twenty years later
in 1946, that hose truck was replaced with a triple combination 750
gallon fire pumper. In August 1967, Hose Company received the
Lynbrook Fire Department’s first diesel powered fire engine.
The company now responds from their Blake Avenue firehouse with a
1,500 gallon pumper which was purchased by the village in 1992.
On the evening of March 13, 2008, the present volunteer members of
Hose Company celebrated the company’s official 100 years of service
to the Village of Lynbrook with a special meeting in which all
former Hose Company volunteers were invited to attend. At this
meeting the original minutes and original records of the forming of
the fire company were read. They also honored the memory of
the 13 community minded residents who worked together to organize
the company.
Although the company was officially incorporated on Friday, the 13th,
there is nothing superstitious about the dedication and commitment
that Hose Company volunteers have made to our community for over
100 years.
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Copyright 2016 - Lynbrook Fire Department - All rights reserved. |
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