"In the course of History, 132 years are but a short span of
time; but yet a tremendous amount of change has occurred in the past 132
years; and, in no field has this change been more pronounced than in the field of
Firemanics. Indeed, 132 years represents the entire life of the Fire Service in
Alexander, New York.
In 1833, history notes, in the little settlement of Alexander, a
"Fire Brigade" was organized with 12 members. ( This gives rise to our
claim as being one of the oldest organized fire organizations in New York State. )
"These men were equipped with leather fire buckets and axes of appropriate
design." The span from this humble beginning to our present position of a
modern fireproof Fire Truck Garage and 4 modern well-equipped trucks represents our life.
This evolution was gradual but occurred somewhat as
follows:
1842 - Mr. Brainard,
"Principal officer" was authourized to purchase a pump and 200 ft. of hose and
in 1845 - a cart to carry this equipment. 1846 say the purchase of 2 ladders.
Bad fires occurred in 1847, 1853, 1868, and 1870 with the first loss of life recorded in
the 1870 conflagration. The fires continued to plague the community but it was not
until after the very bad fire of Nov. 1917 which consumed 17 buildings that real action on
better fighting equipment was taken. The first piece of motorized equipment was
purchased in 1919 - a Model T Ford Chemical Truck.
1941 - saw the purchase of our
first modern Fire Truck -- a 1940 Mack Pumper. Subsequent purchases include in 1948
an International 1200 gal. tank truck with pump; in 1955 a G.M.C. 500 gal. pumper
with 800 gal tank; and finally in 1963 our most modern piece of fire apparatus.
This final purchase made
necessary larger truck quarters and our present fireproof building at the intersection of
Route 20 and Route 98 was erected. It was dedicated in April 1964.
Other recent dates of interest
would necessarily include: formation of our Ladies Auxiliary in 1954, and erection
of our recent Recreation Hall -- a 70' x 100' all metal building in 1959. This was
enlarged in 1964 with a 40' x 70' addition so now it is 70' x 140'.
The summer of 1965 now becomes
our crowning achievement with our selection as Host for the W.N.Y.V.F.A. Convention."
Since
then, we have had the priviledge to be host of the Convention in
1973 for the Presidency of Jerry Buckenmeyer; in 1981 for
the Presidency of Dan Kelsey; and in 1995 for the Presidency
of John O'Neil. Also, this summer we are one again proud to
host the Convention again for the Presidency of Sam Norris.
We at
the Alexander Fire Department were also pleased to the Home
Company of the 1994-1996 President of the Firemen's Association of
the State of New York, Jerry Buckenmeyer ( the only Genesee County
Volunteer Fireperson to ever serve in this capacity.
)
With
the addition of Number 7, our
current rolling stock includes two pumper tankers, one tanker, and
one ambulance.
