West Keansburg Fire Company #1

History

A VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY IS BORN    

     On or about the middle of October 1924, a group of men got together from West Keansburg, Raritan Township, Monmouth County, NJ. Charles Carr, S.H. Thorne, Jake Smith, Harry Reibold, George Willick, R. Alcock, Duke Smith, Goerge R. Reich, Charles Reich, Fred Reichert, Gordon Walling, Joe Walling, Fred Brasch, Daniel Reilly, to form a fire company. We held meetings in the above houses each week to set up By-Laws and how to make money to get started.
     On February 25, 1925 at the West Keansburg School at 8:00 in the evening, our lawyer, Cecil Ackerson of Keyport, had us sign a paper to incorporate us as a volunteer fire company, which we all agreed to call it West Keansburg Fire Co. #1.
We had tough going at the start as another club, which called it the West Keansburg Civic Assn., was telling all the people in West Keasnburg that the Fire Co. will cost them a lot of money. As we only got $100 from the township for a year, we had to run card parties, suppers, and dances to make money.
     About April, we bought two lots from Charles Carr to build a firehouse to be 35 feet wide and 50 feet long with a side wing 10 feet wide and 50 feet long for the fire engine when we got it. The lots are where the firehouse now stands. The building is made out of hollow tile which we bought from Natco at half price. Joe Walling and Sons did the mason work. All carpenter work was done by carpenters of the Co. and all members. All labor was donated free.

     We used our own cars to carry acid fire extng. to all fires until we got a truck. Our first truck, which was a chemical truck, we bought from No. Bergen. Said truck lasted about 2 years. Then we bought a new Ford Chassis and put the tanks from the old truck on the new Chassis. About 1930 or 1932, we heard about a truck that could be bought for $500. It was a truck with a 500 gal. pump and also carry 200 gal. of water for the booster. About six of us members went to Chapagne, NY to look at said truck, which we bought about a week later. We went back and drove it to West Keansburg after we raised the money from the members, which was paid back to them when we raised money at our affairs through hard work of the members. It wasn’t long when we were out of debt from the money we made at our affairs.
     Every year around the 25th of February, we ran a big card party an dance at the Maker Hotel on Laurel Ave, by the beach. All our prizes were donated from stores in Red Bank, Keyport, Perth Amboy, and Newark, which we wrote to them asking for donations.
     We used to heat the firehouse with oil stoves. Then we bought six tall gas radiators which cost about $600. Our gas bill ran about $50 or $60 a month.
     About a year later, the ladies of the members formed an auxillary and they took care of the kitchen and cooked all the meat and vegetables for our suppers.
     The first five years were the hardest. After that, we had one outing a year as we went to a show and supper in New York; some years in West New York; and once a show in NY and a supper at Gus’s Rest. on Carr Ave., Keansburg. Everybody had a good time and was looking forward to the next year. This brings us up to the year 1940.

From one of the oldest members of the Fire Co.
Past President 1928
Fred O. Reichert