NOTE: One hundred years ago fire companies were the center of town. Everyman in town was expected to be a dues paying member, whether they ran with the fire company or not. Fire were much more common then than today with so many houses made out of wood. Plus today, smoke detectors etc. have made a big difference. Fire companies were also the social center of town with parties and dances.
August 26, 1922
GLENOLDEN FIRE COMPANY HISTORY
Organization Has a Fine Home, Clear of Debt and is Attractive
The
fire house of Glenolden Fire Company, No. 1, at Glenolden, is a community house
as well as a rendezvous for the local firemen.
It is an attractive structure of brick and stucco, and cost originally
$10,000. There is not one dollar of
indebtedness against this building, nor the fire-fighting equipment. While the company was organized in 1906, its
home was not erected until 1912, since which period it has undergone extensive
alterations in the way of improvements to its interior and exterior. Besides housing the apparatus, which consists
of a Simplex motor with Hale and 1,000 feet of hose, there is a Ford chemical
truck with two acid and one compressed air tank.
Since
its organization, the Glenolden Fire Company has suffered but one total loss by
fire, and that was its biggest conflagration.
This was during 1916, when the No. 2 stock room of the Mulford
Laboratories burned to the ground. It
was a large frame structure, which lent itself readily to the flames. Twelve fire companies from the county
responded to assist the Glenolden Fire Company at the time, and even a
Philadelphia company, accompanied by a steamer, hook and ladder and hose reel,
made its appearance on the scene.
But
one member of the company has been injured, and this one was Harry Burr, who,
while assisting in fighting a fire in a carload of cinders sidetracked at Oak
Lane, was overcome by the fumes and fell into the car, from which he was
rescued, but not until seriously burned.
When
one of the members of this company was asked by the Times man to designate what
he considered the best piece of firefighting the company had done, he was
without hesitation referred to the fire in the home of Mrs. Emma Laurens,
located on Chester Pike, in Glenolden Borough.
This fire originated from a defective flue in an attic in the third
floor. It was discovered about midday,
at which time few of the company are about.
However, this blaze was stubbornly fought, and what appeared at first to
be a total loss was confined to a partial one.
Mr. Laurens, the husband of Mrs. Laurens, was the first president of the
Glenolden Fire Company.
As
mentioned previously, the fire house is a community center. The Borough Council meets there, as do the
Men’s Club, American Legion, Ladies’ Auxiliary, and several other
organizations. Its second floor contains
an auditorium, club and recreation rooms, which contain pool and billiard
rooms. One of the pool tables is built
after a collapsible arrangement. When
public functions are held in the fire house, this table is folded up and put away
in order to enlarge floor space. From
the notoriety this pool table has earned for itself, it certainly must be some
table in which to shoot the composition balls, particularly when the
re-construction is done in hurried manner, which is more often the case.
The
attractive appearance of the fire house fully emphasizes that a competent House
Committee is in charge. W. Sparks, Harry
Nunally, Aaron Bonsall, Albert Roan and Howard McCarter comprise the makeup of
the House Committee, and when it comes to looking after housing comforts, every
member is found hitting all cylinders.
The present membership of the Glenolden Fire Company totals 300, among whom are twenty uniformed men for parading. The Ladies’ Auxiliary is still presided over by Mrs. Rebecca Flaherty, who organized it, assisted by Miss Murphy.
The
company has always taken an interest in the County Firemen’s Association. Thomas Fitzsimmons, of Glenolden, was one of
its directors for many years.
The
officers of the Glenolden Fire Company are as follows: President, William H. Harrison;
vice-president, Dr. William Elger; secretary, Paul Sibley; treasurer, George B.
Johnson; trustees, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Edward Boyd, Howard McCarter, Edward
Parry, William Denny, Harold Oldmang and Charles F. Eggleston.
Fire chief, F. C. Walls, first assistant, Edward McGuigan; second assistant, Harry Nunally; engineers, Edward McGuigan and William Russell.
DCHPN Monthly
E-Newsletter
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