Plainsboro Fire Company will mark its 50th anniversary on Sunday, September 26, with a parade and a ceremony to dedicate “Squad 49,” a 2,000 gallon-per-minute pumper equipped with hydraulic rescue tools; and “Tower 49,” a 100-foot tower ladder. Both trucks, approved in the NOvember election, will replace aging vehicles .
Plainsboro Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 was organized on December 1, 1959, by 12 charter members; was incorporated on February 16, 1960, and went into operation on June 18, also in 1960. In its first full year of operation, the company answered 16 calls and held 14 drills.
“Over the course of our 50-year history, volunteer firefighters in Plainsboro have expanded their training and services to meet the needs of a growing and changing Plainsboro Township,” says Rob Brown, fire company president. “This is an opportunity for us to say thank you to the hundreds of men and women who have made the commitment to serve their community and to the township officials, private businesses, and individual residents who have supported us.”
The parade will step off at 1 p.m. from Edgemere Avenue and Pond View Drive and follow Edgemere Avenue to Plainsboro Road and end at the Plainsboro Municipal Complex. Middlesex County Police and the Fire Pipe Band lead the Plainsboro Rescue Squad, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, close to 10 fire departments, and 30 pieces of apparatus in the parade. “It will involve Plainsboro as well as surrounding towns — our mutual aid companies, and end with a brief ceremony at the municipal complex,” says Tom Healey, a Plainsboro firefighter for 21 years. A children’s fire safety house will also be open to provide an interactive fire education experience. The fire company will have mugs and T-shirts available for sale and light refreshments will be available. Many of the older fire trucks are also for sale.
The first truck was a used 1940 American LaFrance 640 gallons-per-minute pumper with a 160-gallon booster tank that was later enlarged to hold 500 gallons of water. The fire company also purchased a Dodge Power Wagon with a 1,000 gallon booster tank and a 250 GPM rotary pump. Walker Gordon Farms later donated a 300 GPM portable pump that was mounted on top of the tank on the Dodge. A 1946 Chevrolet pumper was purchased by the fire company from Forrestal Center and reconditioned by the members.
Howard Grant served as the first chief and the first president of the fire company. The original firehouse was the cinder block building still behind the now-closed Plainsboro Hardware Store, at 607 Plainsboro Road. During the winter months, the building was heated by a coal-fired heater to keep the water in the trucks from freezing.
In July 1962, the fire company moved to its current location at 405 Plainsboro Road on land donated by the Wicoff Family and Walker Gordon. “The carpentry work and masonry work for the new fire house was contracted and paid with donations from the citizens of Plainsboro,” says Healey. “Fire company members did everything else.” Bob Cherrington did the electrical work, and Ted Wagner Sr. did the plumbing work. Simonson Brothers, Princeton Nurseries, Donald Everett, and James Crammer supplied bulldozers and front end loaders to grade the land around the building.
In the early days of the fire company, the alarm was sounded by the stationary fireman on duty at Walker Gordon Farms who would blow the farm’s steam whistle when a fire was reported. Firefighters living in the village section of the township could hear the alarm easily and their family members then relayed the alarm by telephone to members living in outlying areas of the township.
As Plainsboro grew, so did its firefighting resources. In 1965, a 1,000 GPM Hahn pumper was purchased, followed by a Ford Brush Truck in 1968. In 1971, a 1,250 GPM pumper was added.
In the mid-1970s, the Wicoff Family donated land adjacent to the firehouse for an expansion of the station to house the additional equipment that would be needed to protect a growing township. Using a $100,000 donation from Princeton University, which had announced plans to develop Forrestal Center, the fire company expanded the station and purchased a 1977 1,750 GPM Hahn pumper.
Plainsboro soon became one of New Jersey’s fastest-growing communities. To keep pace with the community’s growth, the fire company purchased a used, 100-foot Pierce LTI ladder tower in 1981 and a Chevrolet Step-Van in 1983. In 1986 the fire company added a 2,000 GPM Emergency One Pumper and in 1989 a Saulsbury heavy rescue truck.
“The changes did not stop with additions to the fire company’s fleet of trucks. To keep up with the increasing costs of equipment and services, members of the fire company successfully petitioned the public to create a fire district with the ability to levy a tax for fire protection purposes in 1991 and the Board of Commissioners of Plainsboro Fire District No. 1 was officially created,” says Healey. “The fire company and the fire district work together closely to provide high-quality fire protection services to the citizens of Plainsboro and the surrounding region.”
In 1992 the district purchased its first piece of apparatus, a Pierce 1,750 GPM pumper equipped with a 54’ Squirt boom. In 1997 when the fire company established itself as a regional ice rescue and still water rescue resource, an inflatable boat and a used ambulance were purchased. The district also hired the township’s first full-time, career firefighters, Lee Root and David Seip.
The weight and size of more modern apparatus were taking their toll on a 40-year-old fire station. In 1999, following voter approval, the original firehouse was demolished and a modern station was constructed on the same site and dedicated in October, 2000. “In the interim the fire company operated out of a construction trailer and tents constructed to house the trucks behind the firehouse,” says Healey. “The siren that had alerted firefighters to a call for decades was replaced by a modern radio paging system.”
As the new century arrived, the fire district and fire company hired a nationally known consultant to survey the company’s fire apparatus and personnel and took steps to address current and future needs, with the replacement of the four front-line trucks.
The Plainsboro Historical Society will be on hand following the parade to display the steam whistle, and other artifacts. When the old building was being torn down a coat worn by Rudy Willnetz was found in the closet. Willnetz, a former mayor of Plainsboro, who joined in 1960, is still a Plainsboro fire fighter and plans to be present at the event.
“As we mark the end of our first half-century, we’ll begin the next 50 years by dedicating two trucks that equip us to meet the needs of the community, especially with the pending completion of the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro,” says Chief Doug Vorp. “We’ve always done our best to serve the community with people trained to do the job and the equipment they need to do it. The one constant about firefighting in Plainsboro that has not changed over the course of our history is the group of dedicated volunteers who have made a personal commitment to keeping their neighbors safe.”
—Lynn Miller
50th Anniversary Parade, Plainsboro Fire Company, 407 Plainsboro Road. Sunday, September 26, 1 p.m. Rain date for the parade is Sunday, October 3. 609-799-0492. www.plainsborofire.com.
