By Jessica Oates
In the 100 years since Lawrence Road Fire Company was formed, the organization—and firefighting in general—has seen many changes.
In 1914, the Eldridge Park section of the community was growing in central Lawrence Township, and on May 1 of that year, the company was founded to serve the residents in those neighborhoods. The fire company’s motto, Life Value First Always, came from the first initials of the original name of the organization: Lawrence Volunteer Fire Association.
The first firehouse, a small wood-frame building, was built on Lawrence Road in 1915. In 1953, the name of the company was officially changed to Lawrence Road Fire Company, but the motto remains a source of pride and inspiration to today’s firefighters.
In May 2014, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary with a banquet May 3, 2914 at Green Acres Country Club. Almost 200 members and guests attended including Chief Linton Reed, who served as chief from 1958-1969. Congressman Rush Holt send a resolution from the U.S. Congress. County Freeholder Pat Colavita presented a proclamation from the County of Mercer, as did the Lawrence Township mayor.
One of the co-chairmen of the event was Jim Yates, 60, a former chief and president of the fire company. He said he had always had an interest in being a firefighter, and began spending time with the company when he was 14.
At that time, potential firefighters had to be 18 to join the company in any capacity. It wasn’t until later that 14-year-olds could join as cadets, but Yates took every opportunity he could to be involved and learn from the older members.
As years passed, it was Yates who encouraged other members, like deputy chief Michael Byrd, to apply.
“My passion for the fire service started with a movie and a TV show,” Byrd, 41, said. “Tower Inferno and Emergency were my favorites. When I was young I would come to the station every day with my grandpa, and Jim would show me the gear and explain how things worked.”
The company is like family to many of its members, including current Chief RJ Laird and former chief and president John Fleming.
Laird, 28, said his decision to join the company was easy.
“I’m a fourth-generation firefighter. As is the case with many of us here, my family had been involved here for years, and I was visiting when I was still in diapers,” Laird remembers. “My father, maternal grandfather, and maternal great grandfather were all firefighters, too.”
Fleming, also a 100th anniversary co-chairman, said he applied when he was 15 years old. He used to walk by the company every day after high school.
“Some of the older guys talked me into joining. I started hanging out with them and learning a lot of different things. We are a big family here,” Fleming said.
Fleming, 50, has held every rank, was the company’s first black chief, and has been an active member for 35 years.
In the years since the fire company was first formed, though, some of the major changes have included the machinery and technology available. On June 19, 1914, the fire company had purchased its first firefighting apparatus, a hand-drawn 45-gallon chemical tank known as the Champion No. 10, for $375.
To notify members of a fire, three steel locomotive tires were purchased from the Pennsylvania Railroad to be used as fire alarms. To sound the “alarm,” a citizen would take the hammer also located at the alarm post and bang on the locomotive tire.
Things have changed “dramatically” since then, Fleming said.
“Everything is different,” he noted. “From the technologies and equipment we use, to the construction of homes. Synthetic materials that are used today burn much more rapidly and at a higher temperature.”
That contributes to the increase in calls the company receives now compared to back then.
Yates said the company receive about 700 calls per year, in stark contrast with the typical 120 of the past. But the increase isn’t only because of more dangerous building materials — it also has to do with faulty alarm systems, which means every call isn’t always guaranteed to be an emergency.
The firefighters agree that it’s hard to be as involved as they may have been in the past when they knew a call was probably an emergency.
“You tend to start listening to the call to evaluate the situation rather than jumping up right away, because you may get calls from the same address with an alarm system that just hasn’t been fixed,” Laird explained. “Response time suffers, but we don’t want to rush out to a false alarm when there may be an actual emergency to respond to.”
Firefighter training is also much more involved than it was in the past. Firefighters in training spend a minimum of 140 hours learning a variety of different skills — including first response, hazard, and incident response — and training is much more specialized and regulated by the state.
One thing that hasn’t changed too much, though, is the company’s strong volunteer base. The company has more than 30 active volunteers, with one career firefighter.
“It’s tough,” Laird said. “We survive on donations and on people volunteering their time away from their families. In this economy, we see a little less of both, because people are picking up second jobs to make ends meet, which means fewer donations and less time to volunteer. But we are confident that we will always have volunteers.”
Yates said people tend to learn that active members have “two families”—their actual family, and the firehouse family.
“Sometimes there is a clash between where you want to be and where you have to be,” he said. “But we have very dedicated volunteers, and we are always open to new applicants.”
Still, the company is steadfast in its service to the community and is dedicated to protecting its residents. The Lawrence Road Fire Company continues now to operate at its same location with more than 30 active volunteers. Its current apparatus include a Telesquirt 22, Engine 22, Rescue 22, Car 22, Car 22-1, Rescue Boats Marine 22 and Marine 22-1 and a fire safety trailer.
And the company continues to serve proudly, under the motto, Life Value First Always.
Lawrence Road Fire Company celebrated its 100-year anniversary in May 2014. Pictured are past chiefs Robert Hazen, Linton Reed, Richard Farletta, Patrick Kent, Johnathan Fleming, Shaun Dlabik, Ted Clemen, Jr., James Yates and Patrick Quill.,
