History of The Millville Fire Department
It all began soon after Millville became a
township in 1801. For some years little thought was given to
fire protection until February 16,
1832, when the Millville Union Fire Company was incorporated. In
the years following its
incorporation, the Union Company either failed or ceased to exist for some
unknown reason. It was during this
time that the township purchased a hand operated fire engine, that
the citizens of Millville used to
fight fire. On July 18, 1872, the Mulford and Reeves lumberyard fire started
a sequence of events that led the
local newspaper to print on April 30, 1880, an article that stated the need
for an organized fire company.
On May 14, 1880, a few volunteers grouped together
and formed the Resolution Hose Co.
No. 3. Reuben
Meredith served as the first
president and Charles W.
Hunt the first fire chief.
Headquarters for the new
company was a barn on Smith Street
between Second
and Third streets. The Company
answered seven
alarms the first year.
In 1908, the department consisted of a chief and forty men. Two paid drivers
were kept on duty and housed
at the firehouse. A brick sub-station
and two frame hose houses were located in different portions of the
city. Fire apparatus at this time
was: one hose wagon, four hose carts, one hook and ladder wagon, 153
feet run of ladders, 4500 feet of
hose and eight hand extinguishers. All but three hose carts were drawn by
two horses.
In 1915, the first motor driven truck was purchased but horses remained on
the scene until 1918 when two Mack trucks were put into service.
Pictured here is a 1914 American LaFrance hose wagon followed by the
Marquette which was the first motorized fire apparatus of Millville.
1882, Millville opened their new
headquarters that
also served as City Hall. In November
1915, the
Resolution Hose Co. No. 3 was
incorporated as
the Millville Fire Department.
September 10, 1955, ground was broken for the current firehouse at Buck
and Oak streets, which was occupied on January 19, 1957.
On January 1, 1976, the bell memorial
was dedicated in memory of all Millville deceased firemen. Nineteen
years before it had hung in the tower
of the old fire hall at Second and Sassafras streets. It was used to sound
an alarm of fire and tolled upon the
death of a member of the department. In January 1989, a gazebo was built
to protect the bell from the weather.
Other Major Events in the History of the Fire Company
On November 3, 1976, fire destroyed the old cotton mill in which
nine of the surrounding fire
companies joined Millville in fighting the
fire. The nine companies were South
Vineland, Vineland, Bridgeton,
Mauricetown, Gouldtown, Port
Elizabeth, Port Norris, Cumberland,
and the NJ Forest Fire Service.
On January 21, 1985, Millville answered five calls of which two were working
fires. A house at 5th and
Florence streets, and Giuffras at 522
N. High Street which was a three story commercial structure of
ordinary construction with apartments
on the third floor. Sixty-nine men from Millville, with the help of
South Vineland and Gouldtown fought
the fire for ten hours in below freezing temperatures.
Over the past few years the
department has experienced several operational changes including; the
transfer
of it's dispatching arrangement to
the county's Emergency 9-1-1 Communications Center, the implementation
of the Incident Command System at
fire incidents, the creation of a tactical rescue team, the enforcement of
the state's Uniform Fire Code by on
duty paid personnel, and probably most important, aggresive promotion
of fire prevention and fire safety in
the community.
In addition to the operational changes facing the department, requests for
fire department assistance has
increased dramatically over the past
few years. In 1998, the department responded to 691 fire incidents
resulting in almost 11,000 man-hours.
These included 77 structure fires and 67 brush fires. Occasionally,
the department experiences some very
busy months such as August of 1998, when, the Millville Fire
Department responded to 69 incidents.
Today, the Millville Fire Department has eighty members
including thirteen full-time career Firefighters including the
Chief. The company operates 5 engines, 2 ladders, 1 rescue/
cascade truck, 1 brush truck, 2 utility trucks, 2 thermal
imaging cameras and a Tactical Rescue trailer. The company
also has a state of the art Fire
Prevention Trailer that is set up as a 2 story house with operating smoke
detectors, heated bedroom door, for
teaching children how to check doors for fire, and smoke simulation.
