History of Strinestown Community Fire Co

History

The Early Years…

On October 4, 1953 a group of Strinestown residents scheduled a meeting at 7:30 PM at the Strinestown School to discuss the need and formation of a fire company in Strinestown. The story goes that the organizers of the meeting were patiently waiting for the local residents to attend to show their desire to form a fire company, but the time had come and no one showed up. They decided to wait a while, and their wait paid off. Just shortly after 7:40 one of the organizers looked out the door of the two room schoolhouse and he saw a group of folks walking around the corner, headed toward the school. As the residents continued to file into one of the rooms the first meeting of the Strinestown Community Fire Co. was about to begin. After deciding that a fire company was necessary they decided on a name, the Strinestown Community Fire Co. was born.

Elected to serve as officers until December 1954 were Jesse Smith, President; Robert Wertz, First Vice President; John Crerand, Second Vice President; Russell Strine, Third Vice President; Marlet Sipe, Secretary; Harold Kottkamp; Financial Secretary and Rev. A.E. Martin as Chaplain. On January 25th, 1954 Judge Ray P. Sherwood approved the Articles of Incorporation in the York County Court of Common Pleas.

In June of 1954 the members approved the purchase of a 1954 GMC truck, to be purchased and a fire pump and body built by W.S. Darley & Co. of Chicago, Illinois be added. The total cost would be $9800. On Thanksgiving Eve of 1954 two members arrived home to Strinestown with the brand new fire engine, which they drove from Chicago. The fire call report in December of 1955 showed 12 calls for the year with $29,000 loss. The Township population at that time was 1877.

Where Have We Gone …

Since our beginning in 1953, we can certainly say many things have changed. Not only in the types of incidents we are called to, but with new hazards that develop with the evolution of housing construction, commercial and industrial uses and new vehicle technology.

Our start was in a small two bay building which actually had three trucks squeezed in for quite a while, kind of like sardines in a can and we had the holes in the walls to prove it. In 1980 we moved into our current station designed to hold 6 pieces of equipment, at that time. Our old firehouse was converted into a social hall and is still used for meetings and fundraisers but no longer rented for private functions.

New apparatus began getting bigger and longer and our station needed to be expanded. In early 2003 a 30’ X 62’ addition to our current station was completed. This addition included a basement to be used for storage of equipment and supplies.

In 2005 a three bay post and frame building was constructed at 5 Fisher Drive in Zion View. For many years one piece of fire apparatus was housed at the township building. The space there however was limited to a smaller piece of apparatus. With the new building a newer piece of apparatus, Engine 26-2 is now housed along with Brush 26 and our foam-spill control unit Trailer 26. The Zion View facility is also currently home to our restored 1954 GMC-Darley Engine.

We purchased 4 engines in 55 years of operation, 3 are still in service and the 4th is our retired 1954 GMC – Darley, which has been restored and is used fire safety, demonstrations and parades. It recently won 2nd place in the 2003 York County Firefighters Convention Parade.

Four trucks have worn the designation of “Tanker 26”. The first one was an old oil tanker and for a while you could still see the word “TEXACO” on the side of the tank. The second was a donated chassis and a used tank and pump. In 1977 we ordered our first new tanker, a 1977 GMC-Darley. It served for 22 years until 1999 when our current 1999 Kenworth-New Lexington unit replaced it. This unit nicknamed the “Super Soaker” because of its massive 3700 gallon tank and 2000 gallon per minute pump, won first place awards in 1999, 2000 and 2001 as the best equipped and most functional tanker in York County at the annual firefighter’s convention.

Our first brush truck was a used 1978 Ford F250 donated by a local business. The ladies auxiliary of the Fire Company purchased and donated the tank and pump unit. It was replaced in 1997 with a new Ford F350 chassis donated by Conewago Township. A body was donated by the same local business that donated the original 1978 Ford truck. The Fire Company purchased the pump and tank unit and did most of the work to assemble and equip the truck.

The first service truck a 1969 Chevrolet was an old soda truck that was purchased for $1500 and with some expert help and advice we actually painted it in the fire station. We still find yellow dust on some things from time to time. This type of service unit, with roll up doors was soon noticed around the state and the country and in 1988 Betten body began manufacturing a unit for sale in the fire service. We purchased their first “demo” unit in 1988 for the price of the chassis. The new idea of roll up doors on fire apparatus soon began showing up on all types of units. Today practically every manufacturer now offers some type of roll up doors. We are proud to say it started in Strinestown.

As our needs for equipment grew so did the weight load on the 1988 Betten. It had become underpowered and almost at the legal weight limit. In 2005 plans were developed for a new rescue unit and in May 2006 a new rescue unit arrived at Strinestown. Rescue 26 was purchased with donations from a local businessperson, citizen’s donations, lots of fundraisers and a loan from PEMA.