Back in 1905 a fire
wrought serious damage to a home on
Old Elm Street near Light Street
which was occupied by the Charles
Kelly family. The citizens of the
Connaughtown section of Plymouth
Township then realized that the
community was vulnerable to fire and
had great need for local fire
protection.
Consequently, John J. O’Neil,
proprietor of the West End Hotel at
Old Elm and Light Streets, organized
a meeting of residents to discuss
fire service for the community. It
was decided that a piece of fire
equipment was necessary immediately.
A committee, consisting of John
O’Neil and Charley Kelly, was named
to carry out the wishes of the
residents.
The committee proceeded to buy a
two-wheel hand drawn hose carriage
and clay couplings for the hose.
This hose carriage was housed in the
carriage house at the West End
Hotel. The committee then had three
fire hydrants installed and
connected to the water mains in the
community. The fire alarm system
established at that time consisted
of a bell, donated by James Beaty,
which was placed on top of a pole at
the West End Hotel.
In November of 1906 the
organizers of the first fire company
in Plymouth Township obtained a
charter in the name of Plymouth
Fire Company No. 1.
Now that the fire company was
formed, the need of a fire house was
discussed by the company members. To
implement this need, Mr. Richard
Wood, the President of the Alan Wood
Steel Company, donated part of the
money for the purchase of ground at
Elm and Light Streets from Patrick
Moriarty for $750.00. Mr. Wood also
donated all the bricks for the
construction of the fire house.
Additional money required was raised
by popular subscription. A marker
stone, hand carved by Robert
Carroll, Sr., was inserted in the
front wall of the building. This
same stone marker is now located in
the wall above the mantel of the
fire place in the social hall of our
current fire station.
Several years later, a four wheel
hand drawn hose carriage was donated
to the company by George Clay
Fire Company of West Conshohocken.
This piece of equipment served the
community well.
With the progress of time, the need
for increased fire protection was
evident. This motivated the fire
company members to take steps to
obtain a motorized fire engine to
augment their hand drawn hose
carriages.
A Simplex chassis was obtained from
Dr. DeCosta of St. Davids. A 500 GPM
bronze rotary water pump, built by
The Hale Pump Company of
Conshohocken, was mounted on the
chassis. The wooden hose body for
the apparatus was designed and
constructed under the supervision of
Samuel Markley, supervisor of the
carpenter shop at Alan Wood
Steel Company. The hose body was
capable of carrying 1000 feet of 2 ½
inch three ply hose, in addition to
an extension ladder, various
nozzles, fire extinguishers and
related equipment. The Lee Tire
Company of Conshohocken donated the
puncture proof tire for this
apparatus. It is interesting to note
that the tires on the rear wheels
were larger than the tires on the
front wheels.
One of the early methods adopted to
aid in financing the fire company
operations was the holding of weekly
dances on the second floor of the
fire house. John O’Brian, Morris
O’Brian, Peter O’Brian, Harry J.
Barrett and Mary O’Neill were the
members of the popular local
orchestra. Another event, held to
raise funds for the company, was the
annual summer “Block Party”. This
event, featuring food, music and
games, was first held in 1914
and continued to be one of our main
fund raising functions until the
1970’s.
During the 1930’s, the fire
company purchased a pumper known as
the Kissell Car. While on the way to
a fire call, the gas tank on this
piece of apparatus exploded injuring
four men that were riding on the
rear. Fortunately, all recovered
from their injuries. This truck was
replaced by a used pumper purchased
from the Brockway Company.
In 1947 a new Ford pumper was
purchased from the Maxim Motor
Company at a cost of $5,200.00. This
unit had a 500 GPM bronze fire pump
built by the Hale Pump Company of
Conshohocken. This piece of
apparatus served the company until
1979.
In the early 1950’s the
membership decided to have the
company’s apparatus painted dark
blue, rather than red, so that the
township residents could distinguish
Plymouth Fire Co. equipment from the
equipment of other local fire
companies when they were responding
to fire calls. The company still
maintains this color on their
equipment.
Since it completion in 1908,
the little red brick fire house,
located at Elm and Light Street, was
expanded twice by the members. In
1955 an additional engine bay was
added to the east side of the
station. This addition would house
our new 1956 pumper that was too big
for the “old” section of the
building. In 1968 the membership saw
the need to expand again. The engine
bays were converted into a new
social hall and meeting room. A new
three bay apparatus room was added
to the rear of the fire house along
Light Street. The new engine room
would eventually house five pieces
of apparatus.
Since 1947, Plymouth Fire
Co. has purchased several additional
pieces of fire apparatus to help in
providing fire and rescue service to
the businesses and resident of
Plymouth Township. The following is
a list of these units:
1956: A 750 GPM International
pumper was purchased from the
Harwick Company of West Point, PA at
a cost of $18,000.00. This truck was
sold to a Bucks County fire
apparatus collector in 1993.
|
1968: A 750 GPM International
pumper was purchased from The Hahn
Motor Company in Hamburg, PA at a
cost of $26,000.00. This truck was
sold to an Alabama Volunteer Fire
Company in 1987. |
 |
1970: A 1957 Dodge Power
Wagon field truck was purchased from
the Gladwyne Fire Co. This truck was
sold to a local business man in
1979.
1973: A 1972 Chevrolet Van
was purchased from a Conshohocken
contractor and was converted to
serve as the fire company’s first
rescue truck. This unit later used
as our first Fire Police truck.
1974: A new 55 Ft. Tele-Squrt
1500 GPM Pumper was purchased from
the Peter Pirsch & Sons Co. of
Kenosha, Wisconsin at a cost of
$77,368.00.
On January 10, 1978 The
Plymouth Fire Co. No. 1 moved to its
present location at 1323 Colwell
Road. After 71 years, we had
outgrown our station on New Elm
Street in the Connaughtown section
of the township. The property was
sold to The Chemical Exterminating
Company. This company still
maintains their business at that
location. Our current fire station
consists of a modern five bay engine
room, social hall, meeting room and
offices.
1979: A new Ford F350 rescue truck
was purchased from The Pierce
Manufacturing Co. of Appleton,
Wisconsin.
1981: A new 1500 GPM pumper
was purchased from The Peter Pirsch
& Co. of Kenosha, Wisconsin at a
cost of $92,000.00. This truck was
sold to an upstate New York
Volunteer Fire Co. in 1997.
1987: A new 1250 GPM pumper
was purchased from the Hahn Motor
Co. of Hamburg, PA at a cost of
$140,000.00.
1989: A new Dodge Van was
purchased from a Local Dealer to
serve as our new fire Police Truck.
The cost of the vehicle and
modifications was $20,000.00. This
unit replaced the 1972 Chevrolet
Van.
1993: A new 105 Ft. Aerial
Ladder Truck was purchased from The
Pierce Manufacturing Co. of
Appleton, Wisconsin at a cost of
$417,000.00.
1994: A 1991 Ford Bronco is
donated to the company by company
member Fred Goethel and is converted
to serve as our first mobile command
unit.
1997: A new 1500 GPM
Rescue/Pumper is purchased from
K.M.E. Fire Apparatus of
Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania at a cost
of $297,000.00.
1999: A contract is signed
with the Pierce Manufacturing Co. of
Appleton, Wisconsin to refurbish the
55 Ft. Tele-Squrt water tower on our
1974 unit and install it on a new
1500 GPM custom pumper at a cost of
$330,664.00. This new unit was
delivered in the summer of 1999.
2001: A new Ford F350 was
purchased through a state contract
to serve as Utility 43
2003: A new Ford Excursion
was purchased through a state
contract to replace the 1991 Bronco
as the command unit for the company.
The Bronco was sold locally.
2006: A new Ford F350 was
purchased through a state contract
to replaced the 1989 Dodge Van as
the new Fire Police unit. The van
was sold locally.
2007: A new Rescue
apparatus was purchased for The
Pierce Manufacturing Co. of
Appleton, Wisconsin at a cost
$577,000.00. To make room for
the new Rescue, The '87 Hahn was
sold to a pharmaceutical fire
department in New Jersey and the '79
Special Service was sold to Whitpain
Township.
2008: An used Ford Police
Interceptor was purchased from the
Plymouth Police Department to serve
as a Duty vehicle for whichever Line
Officer is on duty to respond to a
call.
2009: A new 1500 GPM Pumper
apparatus was purchased for The
Pierce Manufacturing Co. of
Appleton, Wisconsin
Not to be forgotten is the Auxiliary
of the fire company. For over 30
years the Auxiliary has aided our
firefighters in all their
undertakings. The members of the
Auxiliary are a real asset to the
company. Much credit is due the
Auxiliary for their untiring efforts
in past years, all of which has
played an important part in the
history of Plymouth Fire Co. No.
1.
Down through the years the company
members have persevered and devoted
many long hours and unselfish effort
to enable the company to achieve
it’s current first class status.
Plymouth Fire Co. No. 1 is now in
it’s 100th. year of growth and
service to Plymouth Township.
Through community support,
continuous training and much hard
work our members continue to provide
the best in fire and rescue
services. Plymouth Fire Co. No.
1 is proud of it’s heritage. We are
a fire company with a glorious past
and a bright and exciting future. |
