Serving our Community for Over 100 Years

Formation

In the spring of 1924 a group of approximately forty Iselin residents held an informal meeting to discuss their concern for fire protection of their homes and families. On August 11, 1924 their plans became a reality as they organized and called themselves Iselin Fire Company No. 2. They were actually the first "fire fighting" organization in Iselin. At the same time Fire Company No. 1 was organized, but had not obtained the equipment to be considered a "fire fighting" company. It was because the firefighters had to wait for trains to pass before they could cross the tracks delaying the fire fighting, that two fire companies were formed, one on each side of the tracks. Since that time the railroad tracks have been elevated.

Most of Iselin was farm land, with dirt roads that made it difficult to move fire fighting equipment to the location of fires. As years past, the dirt roads became cobblestones and as the population increased, macadam roads were installed, which made the response to fires faster and more efficient.
 

Firehouses

In August of 1924 the first firehouse was built by the volunteers at the rear of the Iselin Hardware Store, located at 1396 Oak Tree Road. It was a one car garage built and paid for by the members at a cost of $150.00.

On September 15, 1924, a month after organizing, the name was changed to the Iselin Chemical Hook and Ladder Company and became incorporated on September 17, 1924. The forty original charter members were each assessed two dollars and additional funds were collected from the community to pay for the incorporation.

A year later, in September 1925, a new location was found at 10 Harding Ave. and a new firehouse was built and paid for by the volunteers at a cost of $3,800.00. On February 2, 1929, the Fire Company volunteers deeded the Harding Ave. Firehouse to the newly formed Board of Fire Commissioners, which had the responsibility of fire protection in Iselin Fire District No. 11. This new governing body was duly elected by the residents of the Fire District and legally entitled to collect taxes to finance fire protection.

In 1956, by referendum, a new firehouse was built by contractors at our present location of 20 Auth Ave. which is known as Headquarters. In 1986, an addition and renovations were completed at Headquarters to provide the required space for a modern fire department.

The Harding Ave. site was sold in 1963 and a one bay Substation was erected at 2 New Dover Road to provide better fire protection for the north end of the Fire District. In 1993, an addition and renovations were completed at the Substation and the Iselin District 11 Fire Prevention Bureau was relocated from Headquarters to the Substation.
 

Members

At the very beginning of the Fire Company there were forty members who elected a chief, foreman, assistant foreman and fire warden as firematic officers. Today the Company consists of 41 active members, 11 life members, and 17 honorary members. There are 7 firematic officers consisting of the chief, two assistant chiefs, two captains, and two lieutenants that are elected by the membership on an annual basis.

Alarms

The first fire alerting system in Iselin was an air whistle, located at 1392 Oak Tree Road. In the event of a fire, the whistle was blown three times in rapid order and repeated until the volunteers answered the call. In 1925, on relocating the firehouse to Harding Ave., a split railroad rim was mounted in a vacant lot at the corner of Oak Tree Road and Middlesex Ave.. The rim was struck with a sledge hammer to alert the volunteers of a fire. In 1927 a siren was donated by Woodbridge District #1 and mounted on top of a tower at the Harding Ave. firehouse.

In 1946 the siren was replaced by an air horn which is still in use today. Also in 1946 alarm boxes were installed in the Fire District making it easy to alert the volunteers by the public by pulling any one of the call boxes. When a box was pulled it would activate the air horn and sound a number of blasts to indicate the location of the call box.

In 1981 all the call boxes were removed due to the excessive number of false alarms transmitted by the boxes and over 99 percent of the residents of the districts have telephones to call in a fire. Today the firefighters carry portable pagers that alert them when there is a fire call.

Hydrants

In the years of 1926 and 1927 the first fire hydrants were installed in Iselin. Today we have a complete municipal water system with hydrants throughout the District.
 

Apparatus

The first piece of fire fighting equipment that the Fire Company used when they started in 1924, was a hand drawn, two wheel, chemical cart with two 50 gallon soda and acid tanks. A hose basket was mounted on top of the tanks to distribute the chemical.

In 1925 a Model "T" Ford truck was purchased by the members of the Company. They built their own fire truck by taking the chemical tanks, hose rack and hose from the hand cart and mounting them on the Model "T". Also they added pails, brooms, axes, and other fire fighting equipment to complete this home-made fire truck. In early 1928 a 500 gallon per minute Boyer rotary pumper was purchased, which was manufactured as a fire truck. This gave us two pieces of modern, up to date fire fighting equipment. These were utilized by the community until 1939.

In 1939 the Model "T" Ford was retired when the Fire Company purchased a GMC Sealand utility truck. The Sealand had a 375 booster tank and power take off pump. During World War II a Barton front mounted pump was installed on this truck, which increased the versatility of this pumper.

In 1951 the Boyer, after 23 years of active service, was retired and a new TASC- GMC, 750 gallon per minute with power take-off booster pump was purchased. A TASC-International, 750 gallon per minute pumper was purchased in 1960. This engine was housed at the Substation on New Dover Road.

In 1964 a TASC-GMC, 750 gallon per minute pumper and cab over engine was purchased to replace the 1939 GMC- Sealand. This 1964 engine remained in service until 1992.

A TASC-Custom, 1000 gallon per minute pumper with 1000 gallon water tank, cab over the engine, jump seats and high pressure fog pump was purchase in 1972. In 1981, a Mack CF pumper with 1250 gallon per minute pump, 750 gallon water tank, cab over engine, jump seats, and high pressure pump was purchased. This was the most expensive pumper that Mack ever built and is still in service today.

In 1992 a Pierce Lance pumper with 1500 gallon per minute pump, 1000 gallon water tank, crew cab that could seat 8 fire firefighters and built in foam system was purchased to replace the 1964 TASC-GMC engine.

Also, the Department has a converted ambulance that is used as a tactical unit, a 1991 van for the Fire Prevention Bureau, and a 1993 Chevrolet Suburban that is used as a chief.s car.

In 1996 a Pierce Lance pumper with 1500 gallon per minute pump, 1000 gallon water tank, crew cab that could seat 6 fire firefighters was purchased to replace the 1972 TASC engine.

The Iselin Chemical Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company has been serving the community for over 88 years. The Company has come a long way since they started with the first hand drawn cart to the present modern fire equipment of today.