|
The History of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department This a brief history of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department; an organization which has played a very large and positive role in the history of the small hamlet. Throughout the last 100 years, the members of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department have carried on the tradition of unselfish service and sacrifice on behalf of their fellow citizens and the community. At the turn of the century, Golden’s Bridge was becoming a commercial center for the Northern Westchester area. Situated in the middle of a large dairy-farming area, with a railroad through its center, Golden’s Bridge become a collection point for dairy produce, which was then transported to the large markets of the New York City. Not only did the Golden’s Bridge prosper as a rail head, it also grew as a commercial and social center. Stores and businesses, that served both the needs of farm and family, prospered and grew. With the structural and population growth that inevitably follows commercial development, came the recognition by the people living in the hamlet, of the need for organized fire protection. Until the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department began service in 1910, the closest fire protection was Katonah Fire Department to the south, Brewster Fire Department to the north, Peekskill Fire Department to the west, and Ridgefield Fire Department to the east. Horses still provided most of the pulling power for firefighting machinery. Roads, which were still mainly of a gravel base, were questionable in dependability at best. Due to the flammable construction of buildings at that time, it is safe to assume that even the most prompt response with a maximum effort would have resulted only in the hosing down of charred remains. In response to this obvious problem, action was taken to form a fire company. On the evening of January 9, 1909, in the Green Bros. store, a petition to the State of New York requesting a charter for the purpose of forming a fire company was signed by twelve men. It was witnessed and attested to by the Hon. Caleb Green, Justice of the Peace. Calab Green was soon to be the first Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners. On February 20, 1909 a constitution and bylaws were adopted. In March of 1909 the Department began collecting dues (25 cents per member/month). In December of that year a charter was granted by the state allowing for the official forming of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department. At the first official monthly meeting of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department, Richard Kellog was elected Chief. The office of president was not created until 1932. Until that time the department chief carried not only the responsibility for fire operations, but also chief administrator. During the month of September, 1910, the first piece of fire equipment arrived – a gas powered, horse drawn pump, mounted on a hose cart. Temporary housing for the new engine was found in an old milk storage shed. The next task before the membership was that of erecting a fire house. With volunteer labor, that task was accomplished by February, 1911. This building was to house the Golden’s Bridge Fire department for 55 years. On May 6, 1911, the department responded to its first fire. On the 9th of September, 1913, in response to its first call out of the district, the department used a motorized vehicle to pull the engine for the first time (an auto car owned by C.H. Anderson). As the department grew in its ability to give service as fire fighters, it also grew as a social center for the community. It must be remembered that during this period of time, the area of Northern Westchester was very rural and transportation was still quite slow. A trip of only a few miles could be all day affair. Because of this, entertainment and social life were usually limited to what was available locally. In response to the need not only for revenue, but for entertainment, the fire department began hosting dances, held in the second floor meeting area of the fire house. The price was $1.00/couple for an evening of dancing and the refreshments. The profit from its first dance was $105.80, a tidy profit back in those years. In 1917, the department purchased a motion picture machine, which was used for public viewing. Movies were shown into the 1920’s, stopped perhaps as transportation and access to outside entertainment became easier. These social affairs not only provided relief from the everyday routine of life, but also provided the circumstances for the first fines levied upon member firemen. Two firemen, perhaps unable to make a choice as to which lady friend to escort to the Annual Turkey Dinner, brought to two ladies each. They were both fined $1.00. The rules were quite explicit – one fireman, one lady. The 1920’s were to be very important decade in the development of the fire department. In 1925, the first fully motorized fire pumper, a REO, was purchased at the cost of $2,017. In 1927 Charles A. Anderson was accepted a member. In 1928, John Lally was elected to what was to be his first of fourteen consecutive years as chief of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department. The department made many advances during his long tenure as chief. In 1939, a second and much more sophisticated pumper was purchased to serve with the “Old Reo”, as it was affectionately called. This new engine, a Seagrave, greatly increased the capacities and abilities of the department to respond and operate at fires.
World War II exploded in 1941. Once again, as in 1917, many members were called to serve their country. Unfortunately, unlike World War I, our membership did not return without loss. John B. Winter Jr. was killed in the service of his country in 1944 during the Battle of The Bulge. In 1945 his name was listed as honorary chief of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department. The American Legion Post # 1734, in Golden’s Bridge, carries his name today. Since the end of World War II, the fire department has participated with that American Legion Post in honoring all of this nation’s war dead on Memorial Day.
One of the few positive effects of the depression was the increase in the building of modern roads sponsored by the government in an attempt to attack the unemployment of the 1930’s. Following World War II, the nation once more prospered. This prosperity made the automobile affordable to millions, as many thousands departed the city using those new highways in search of a quiet home in the suburbs. This brought a tremendous growth to communities like Golden’s Bridge. The large tracts of the land that had once served as pasture land for dairy farms no become ideal for housing developments. Houses, roads, and schools were built at a furious pace in an attempt to keep up with growth in population. Not only did the hamlet grow, but the old village main street stood right in the path of the government’s answer to the automobile age, the super highway. By the late 1950’s, the needs of the fire department had out grown the capacity of the old fire house. In 1961, the department purchased a rescue truck with money it had to raise through carnivals and other activities. Along with two pumpers, the newest a 1946 Seagrave, the department now had three trucks, and only two bays in which to keep them. During that time half of the village had been torn down to make way for an expanding Route 22. Soon the other side village would meet the same fate. The search began for a new home. A site was founded, and late in 1965, the last call was taken at the old fire house. The Ladies Auxiliary, which was formed in the early 60’s (1960), added to the need for larger facilities. How much chance she had seen. How many good men had answered the call and passed through her doors. From a horse drawn pumper in 1910, to modern motorized pumpers equipped with radios, the department went through many changes. Like firemen who had worked there, the old fire house had served steadily and dependably through the best and worst of times. Tomorrow had come; the old fire house was yesterday. When the firehouse was torn down in the spring of 1967, along with the rest of what was once the hamlet of Golden’s Bridge , those who had lived there, worked there, and served there, came to watch the last moments of their town. Dry eyes were the exception, and were not know or understand the loss. There was something special in that old fire house. A bond that only those who have walked its sagging floors, climbed its creaking stairs, and feasted on Charlie William’s boiled hot dogs could share. The site for the new fire house was on Route 138, a mile or so east of the old hamlet. In the coming years, this site would be better serve the fire district because of its centralized location. Along with the new building, the district acquired a new 1000 gallon Mack Class A pumper. The first regular meeting at the new fire station was held on May 3, 1966. Dedication ceremonies were held July 10 of the same year. Of course, for the sake of tradition, a wetdown was held in honor of the department’s new home and new pumper. (For those who were there, but can’t remember, a good time was had by all.) As the population expanded during the late sixties and seventies, so did Golden’s Bridge Fire Department. Because of the lack of hydrants and the inaccessibility to water in many areas, the firemen, using a tank from a 1949 Autocar and the cab and frame of a Dodge oil truck, built a water tanker. This was done with department not district funding and with volunteer labor primarily from the department. The department’s fleet was modernized with another Mack class A pumper and in 1977, a new mini attack pumper. In 1984 rescue 24, an E-One light rescue vehicle equipped with the Jaws of Life was purchased for the department. In 1987 the department added its first chief’s vehicle to its fleet A 1987 Suburban was issued to the chief ending the many years that required the chief to respond to fire alarms in his own vehicle. Then in 1988, Tanker 1 an S&S 33,800 gallon water tanker with a chrome body tank was purchased. An addition was constructed onto the present fire house on route 138 in 1988, with adding of two new apparatus bays, a recreation room, exercise room, and a storage room. In 1989 the department completely refurbished engine 138, a 1968 Mack pumper (which is the members favorite apparatus) and replaced the Chiefs vehicle with a new 1989 suburban. To the increase the EMS service for the community the chief’s vehicle will later be converted in 1991 to a rapid response rescue vehicle for medical services, known as “Rescue 25”. Throughout the years chief’s cars would replace old Rescue 25 vehicles to maintain a newer and up to date vehicle. In 1994 A Mack Class A pumper was replaced with a new 1994 Peirce class pumper with a 1,000 gallon tank. In the following years the fire department needed to replace the 1984 light duty rescue truck with a new 2000 Spartan/Rescue 1 rescue truck, with a complete set of Jaws of Life, heavy rigging and technical rescue capabilities. Today, the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department is well trained and equipped to meet the challenge of preserving the personal safety and property of the citizens it serves. The road to reach the point at which the department stands today was long and hard, yet rewarding by those who have served their community. Blood, sweat and tears would amply serve as a description of much of the sacrifices involved in the building of the department over the past 100 years. Yet the rewards have by far outweighed the hardships. To describe every deed of the fine men who have served the department over the last 100 years would be impossible. Therefore, to single out a few men and their deeds would seem unfair to the many other who served so faithfully. It is the spirit of the men, willing to work together, to risk life and limb, and then to ask nothing more of a reward, than to be allowed to do it again. And then, when the body refused what the heart commands, to pass it on, all that they have built, so their work may be continued. Those men who served the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department today stand proud of their history, proud of the present, and mostly proud of the legacy that they will leave to the future.
|
