Our History

On January 31, 1911, twenty-one local residents — most of them farmers — held the first meeting to organize what became Friendship Engine and Hose Co. No. 1. Shortly after the company formed, one of its members donated land on Redneck Avenue to build the first firehouse.

The company's first apparatus was a horse-drawn hose cart, and sometime afterward a horse-drawn steamer-pumper was acquired. Old-timers used to tell stories of how, when the fire gong rang, the farmers' horses — still hitched to their work — would charge down the road toward the firehouse, sometimes with the plows still bouncing along behind them.

The Department's original fire alarm system was ingenious for its day: a large steel ring made from an old locomotive wheel, mounted on a wooden arch. Each alarm station had a heavy steel hammer used to strike the ring, and a firemen's code sign told members how many times to strike it depending on where the fire was. This system stayed in use until 1949, when it was replaced by an automatic siren system.

The mid-1920s brought the company's first motor-driven apparatus, which served into the early 1930s. In 1946 the members found themselves needing a replacement pumper. Up to that point the firemen had provided nearly all of their own equipment and furnishings; around this time the Borough began contributing financial support, though it wasn't yet enough to cover a new rig. So the members personally loaned the money to the company to purchase a 1917 Ahrens-Fox pumper.

That Ahrens-Fox became the pride of the entire Department. Famous for outperforming many of the surrounding towns' pumpers, it was a fixture in annual firemen's parades — and a real eye-catcher, because at the time of purchase it was painted an unusual green, and funds weren't available to repaint it red until 1948. It even earned a trophy as the oldest motor-driven apparatus in the parade. It was a gloomy day in 1953 when the firemen finally retired their "work-horse" pumper.

In 1953, modernization arrived with a brand-new G.M.C./Ahrens-Fox pumper, purchased by the Borough with matching funds from Civil Defense — giving the company the latest firefighting technology of the era.

Around 1954, Hose Co. 1 found itself nearly homeless when its Redneck Avenue firehouse fell to the Port Authority's airport expansion. The company took up residence in the rear of the present Borough Hall and operated there until 1969.

On February 10, 1911, a second meeting was held at the home of Richard Oltman on Joseph Street. That gathering of fifteen residents led to the formation of Washington Park Hose Co. No. 2. In 1912 the members bought their first piece of equipment — a two-wheel hose cart, for $45 — and stored it in a barn on the Oltman property. The cart was pulled by hand whenever the alarm sounded.

The first real firehouse came in 1913: a sheet-metal building (roughly 14 by 26 by 10 feet) on the Stanley Kucera property at the corner of Moonachie Road and Joseph Street. That site later became known as the Kerwick property, where the family ran a luncheonette/soda shop and post office — and today it's the location of Bazzarelli's Restaurant. Hose Co. 2 operated as an independent, unrecognized company until 1919, when the Borough formally recognized it as part of the Moonachie Fire Department, though it kept its own identity.

The 1920s were busy. A second, permanent firehouse was built where the present one stands today. Local builder Ernest Bruno donated one lot and the members bought a second for $100; the building measured just 16 by 20 feet. In 1923 the Ridgefield Fire Department donated a hand-drawn four-wheeled hose cart, which served until the company bought its first motor-driven apparatus — meaning no more "running in front" of the rig.

With donated funds, the company bought a new 1926 Model-T truck that served the Borough for more than a decade. The main building of the present-day firehouse was constructed in 1930, measuring 40 by 90 feet and funded mostly through donations. To raise additional money, the Ladies' Auxiliary traveled to New York City in 1939 to appeal to Mayor James Walker; with that support and other fundraising, the company purchased a Reo-model hose truck from River Edge.

In 1946 the company bought a White Seagrave pumper from Belleville. Then in 1955 came its biggest challenge yet: for over a year the members ran dances and fundraisers to put a down payment on a new Oren pumper, then ran weekly bingo for three years to pay it off.