A Brief History of Woodbridge Fire Department

Woodbridge Fire Co. #1 was organized in the Fall of 1897. Old timers have said that this was in response to a bad fire on Main Street that did a considerable amount of damage. Early meetings were held at "John Weygand Hall", the location of which is unknown. However, it is known that the Fire Company did rent a garage to house equipment in and that this garage was on Green Street near the railroad line. Horses to pull this first piece of apparatus were supplied by Drumpleman's Livery Stable located on the northwest corner of Pearl and James Streets.

At a meeting held October 28,1897, James Freeman was elected temporary chairman and he asked the men assembled to signal their intention to form a fire company by answering to a roll call. The following gentlemen answered in turn: James V. Freeman, David A. Brown, W.K. Whitaker, James M. McElroy, John H. Leisen, Winfield S. Anness, Charles R. Brown, Oscar Valentine, W.L. Harned, L.M. Campbell, Clarence F. Turner, Terence Flanagan, William Irving, Richard Sattler, Lawrence Moore and Thomas F. Dunnigan. By request of the men at that meeting the following names were also added: E. J. Flanagan, E.W. Christy, J. Ross Valentine, J.E. Miller, C. Levi, Gustav Blum, John Weygands, William Gerity, J.V. Coffee, Frank R. Valentine, H.R. Valentine, George Brown, Thomas Christy, James F. Dunn, F. Bader, H.N. Philipp, J.J. Neary, Robert A. Hirner, and Ferdinand Kath.

The first slate of officers was then elected with James V. Freeman elected Chairman and David A. Brown elected Foreman, a position comparable to our present Chief. Thomas Dunnigan was elected Assistant Foreman and E. J. Flanagan elected Secretary. Winfield S. Anness was elected Financial Secretary and J. H. Leisen was elected Treasurer, although the first treasurer's book shows that William Harned was actually the first member to do the job from 1897 to 1903 followed by Hampton Cutter.

The new Chairman, James V. Freeman, then appointed several three man committees to get the new organization started. Among them were committees to purchase hose, secure a carriage to carry the hose, draw up a set of By-Laws, find a site for a firehouse and "solicit subscriptions toward a fund for the assistance of the Company".

The next meeting was held on November 4,1897 at which reports were read about hose purchases and the new By-Laws were approved with only one change. The name of the company was changed from Woodbridge Hook and Ladder Co. # 1 to Woodbridge Fire Co. # 1. The new By-Laws took effect on November 18, 1897. Since then they have been revised four times.

The first orders of hose from N.Y. Belting and Packing totaling $490.40 were paid by the Township of Woodbridge, Winfield S. Anness, Treasurer. He also served as Financial Secretary of the Company and collected $.25 per month dues from each member and fines of $.25 for each meeting missed and each fire not attended. Order and decorum at meetings was assured by a fine of $.10 for use of profane or indecent language.

Locating a site for the new firehouse was a matter of great importance. Donations for the purchase of a site totaled $380.00 and a lot on the corner of School Street and Brook Street was purchased from E. W. Valentine for $350.00 in November of 1899.

It wasn't until January of 1901 that plans and specifications were received from Gorham Boynton. For this service he was paid $72.50.

In April of 1901 J. H. Coddington was contracted to build the new firehouse and on May 16, 1901 five $1,000 bonds were sold and a mortgage delivered to William Edgar, who was also a trustee of the Fire Company.

On October 29, 1901 the first meeting was held in the new firehouse and the building was sold to the Board of Fire Commissioners for $1,950.00 subject to the $5,000.00 mortgage held by Mr. Edgar. The Fire Co. took back a $750.00 ten year bond at 5% interest as part of the price and the balance was paid to the contractor. On November 21, 1901, a committee was appointed to furnish the new building for $100.00.

This building served the needs of the department until around 1937 when an addition was built on the rear of the building. This provided additional room for apparatus and an ambulance on the ground floor and a dormitory on the second floor for an expanded paid department.

The paid department began in 1911 with the hiring of Harry Mawbey as a "fire driver". In 1929 the job title was changed to "fireman" to enable the men to organize a union. They became affiliated with The International Association of Fire Fighters and Local #290 was chartered and still represents the men today.

In 1915 the department purchased the first motorized pumper from American LaFrance. It had hard rubber tires, no power steering, and was considered at the time to be the most modern piece of fire fighting apparatus available.

In 1943 the department purchased its first aerial truck, an American LaFrance, with a 75 foot mid-ship mounted ladder. This was only the third aerial truck in Middlesex County after the cities of New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. Several people called it a waste of money and some called it a "painters wagon" but at one of the country’s worst rail disasters in history, the train wreck on Fulton Street in 1951, it proved invaluable to rescuers and the criticism was never again heard.

In 1952 the department recognized the need for improved communications between the apparatus and headquarters and a Motorola radio system was installed along with five home alarm units placed in the homes of various volunteers. Eventually each firefighter was equipped with a home alarm receiver. These units gradually gave way to the present use of alarm receivers carried on the firefighter's person.

The focus on prevention of fires rather than just extinguishment was recognized in 1965 with the appointment of Lt. Andrew Anderson to the first full time position of Fire Inspector. The department now employs five full time inspectors.

In the late 1960's the old firehouse was showing signs of age and was no longer large enough to serve the needs of the department. It was agreed that the site on School Street was the best location so the original building was demolished and the new firehouse built on the same site. From October of 1967 until December 21, 1969 the department operated out of the Township Garage on upper Main Street that was located across from the Main Street entrance to Route 9 South. The new firehouse cost $386,263.03 and was erected by Wallace J. Wilck, Inc. of Perth Amboy. The dedication was held on May 18, 1969 with several area departments participating.

Compiled by Todd Howell