History
The first fire company in Elizabeth, Protection
Engine Co.1 was established on July 4, 1789 at 24 South Broad Street. The
village property owners, discovering that measures were needed in order to
protect their holdings, banded together to form a "Bucket Brigade". Each
resident in the town was required to have at least two buckets, and ladders were
strategically placed in convenient locations. This company, which eventually was
to become Engine Co. 1, operated for over twenty years before it was dissolved.
In 1837, the date from which the Elizabeth Fire Department officially traces its
history, Engine Co. 1 was reorganized. Their first hand drawn pumper was "Old
38" which was purchased from the corporation yards in New York City. In the same
year, Lafayette Hook & Ladder Co. 1 was established at 28 South Broad Street.
The next company to be opened was Cataract Engine Co. 2, established on
April 24, 1838 at 1201 East Grand Street, using "Old 38" as its pumper, While
Engine Co. 1 purchased a Smith hand drawn pumper. Cataract Engine Co. 2 remained
in existence until it was disbanded after taking part in the great fight between
the Fire Department and the Borough Council. Engine Co. 2 was reorganized in
September of 1852, adopting its new name, "Rolla Engine Co. 2" Engine 2's first
home was on Morris Ave, but it soon mover to West Grand Street. When the house
was torn down in 1886, in order to make way for the new Pennsylvania Railroad
Station, the company relocated to 1201 East Grand Street. It was here that
Engine Co.2 acquired the first steam engine ever used in Elizabeth, a Smith
Hand-Drawn Steamer, which remained in active service for 22 years.
Engine Co. 2 was a very popular company, with long waiting lists for admissions to its ranks. This popularity, coupled with the many accounts of the bravery of its members, earned the company its motto, "Rolla to the Rescue". The company held department wide records for making steam, laying hose and throwing a stream. Engine Co. 2 designed the first uniforms worn by firefighters in Elizabeth. At the first company meeting following its organization in 1883, it was decided that all men would wear blue shirts and green coats. At its next meeting, company members adopted a hat called a "Southwester", which was made of tarpaulin, had a broad brim in the back and was similar to the headgear worn by today's fishermen.
In 1841, Washington Engine Co. 3 was first organized at 8 Center Street. It fell heir to "Old 38", which it kept in service until 1859. This company had a precarious history, disbanding and reopening twice, until it was solidly chartered in 1868. It purchased an improved hand drawn engine, a Lafayette # 17, in 1868, and its first steamer two years later.
During this same time, in 1855, "Red Jacket Engine Company 4" was organized. In 1884 its original hand pumper was replaced by a Button Steamer.
Hibernia Engine Co. 5 was organized on March 17, 1866 at 131 Wall Street. The city furnished the company with a steamer in 1868 and the first team of horses was purchased in 1887. These horses were reported to be the best trained team in the area. In fact, Hibernia Engine Co. 5 was the first company to train a horse to hitch up to a hose wagon when an alarm was received.
1089 Magnolia Ave. was the first home of Jefferson Engine Co. 6, which was organized in 1868. The first machine assigned to Engine Co. 6 came from Engine Co. 4 and lasted just over a year. Engine Co. 3's hand-me-down replaced it in 1870 and in 1871 a new steamer was purchased, with a team of horses added in 1882.
During the nineteenth century, there were only two truck companies in Elizabeth. The first of these, Lafayette Hook & Ladder Co. 1, was generally accepted to be the second established unit in the city after "Protection Engine Co.1", with whom they had a considerable rivalry. Its original apparatus consisted of a two wheel frame, similar to a painter's cart, on which ladders were placed. From this hung buckets, axes and hooks. There were no ropes, and the men caught on where as best they could. The first truck was replaced in the late 1840's with one built by Jonathon Harrison of Elizabeth. It was a heavy, unwieldy machine, and carried huge 60 foot straight ladders. This was replaced with a truck from Pine & Hartshorne in 1856 and a Gleason & Bailey in 1892.
The second truck company in Elizabeth was the "Empire Hook & Ladder Co.", loosely organized during the time of the Civil War. In June on 1868 it was disbanded by the order of the Common Council. The present Truck Co. 2 can trace its roots to "Jackson Hook & Ladder Co. 2 which was established in 1868 at 10 Franklin Street. Like its uptown counterpart, Truck Co. 2 was also equipped with a Gleason & Bailey ladder truck in 1892.
On August 1, 1901, at a meeting of the City Council of Elizabeth, an ordinance for the "creation, control and regulation of a paid fire department" was adopted on final passage. The department was permitted to operate under a New Jersey statute entitled "An act to enable cities of the second class of this State to disband volunteer fire organizations and to substitute therefore a paid fire department". In accordance, Acting Mayor P.J. Ryan appointed a Board of Fire Commissioners consisting of five members, with terms of office of one to five years.
The first regular meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners was held at City Hall on September 24, 1901. George J. Murphy was appointed permanent secretary to the Board and Deputy Chief August Gerstung was appointed Chief of the new paid department which was to begin operation as of January 1, 1902.
It didn't take long before the paid department was put to the test. At 0340 hours on January 1, 1902 Box 23 was sounded for a fire in a tenement at 182 Catherine Street. On the response was Engine Co. 2, Engine Co. 6 and Ladder Co. 1. Fire was located on the second floor.