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HISTORY OF THE SPRINGFIELD FIRE DEPARTMENT On February 3, 1906, at a meeting of the Township's Citizens, a resolution was passed to incorporate the "Springfield Volunteer Fire Department, Company Number one". Citizens were very nervous about the possibility of a fire, since major fires had occurred in various cities across the country. Funding for the department was raised by selling shares or insurance policies to the various interested citizens at the initial cost of $2.00 per share. The thirty-five charter members acquired its first piece of apparatus with the purchase of a hand drawn hose reel. Help in pulling this was done by the men as well as citizens and at times the Morris County Traction Company would allow the Volunteers to hook the cart to the back of the trolley.The original firehouse was located at 295 Morris Avenue. It remained as the Headquarters until 1921 when it was relocated to Caldwell place in what is now the rear of Town Hall on Mountain Avenue. This small three bay facility was the home of fire headquarters until 2004 when a new facility was completed at 200 Mountain Avenue which consists of five bays facing Mountain Avenue and three bays facing the rear of the building. This new building is shared with the Office of Emergency Management which relocated from the Sarah Bailey Civic Center located on Church Mall. Some of the original fire apparatus; the Hose Reel and a 1933 Diamond "T" Chemical Pumper are still owned by the Volunteer Department and are used for parades and Fire Prevention Week displays. In 1929, the Township was faced with the need for increased daytime fire coverage. Many of the volunteers were business owners and others were hurting for work due to the Depression and had to venture into the cities in search of employment. This created a serious void in protection and a small staff of full time career firefighters were hired to supplement the volunteers. During the period from the 1940's until around the 1960's a corp of Reserve Firefighters was established under the Civil Defense program. This unit supplemented the department during the manpower shortages caused by World War II and the Korean War. The members of the reserves were eventually given membership as volunteer firefighters. Today the department consists of a Fire Chief, four Captains, and fourteen career line Firefighters. |
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