Friendship Engine & Hose Company No.1; McKinley Street Fire Station

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FRIENDSHIP ENGINE & HOSE COMPANY NO. 1

Franklin County

Company-14

BOROUGH OF CHAMBERSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT

McKinley Street Station

Franklin County

Company-1;

Station # 2

HOME OF

ENGINE-TANKER 1

ENGINE 1-3

H I S T O R Y

Old Borough Hall Fire Station

Another Picture in front of Old Borough Hall Station in 1800's era.

Thank you to Mr. Fred Sherfy from Dillsburg, PA for providing this picture.

The Friendship Engine & Hose Company, Inc. was formed in the year 1780 and is one of the oldest fire companies in the State of Pennsylvania. From its original birth, the name United Fire Company was the original company name. The company was a bucket and bag operation until around 1800, when a hand carried button engine was secured for better fire protection. The first hand drawn price of equipment was a green gallery suction engine, and was purchased in 1820. During a company meeting in 1830 the name changed from United to the Friendship Fire Company. The name was originated in an unusual manner, when during a hot debate over the selection of a new name, member P.R. Hazlett extended his hand to member W. Reilly and said, "I extend my hand in friendship to all". The name was immediately adopted. The original meeting area was former Newberry's Department Store Building on Memorial Square in downtown Chambersburg. The company has occupied several homes in the past including a building by the corner of South Main Street and West Liberty Street, the present day Borough Hall (police station), East Point Station and its present location at 261 East McKinley Street Fire Station. Originally, there were 5 different stations in the Borough of Chambersburg. The Friendship Fire Company No. 1 was the 1st fire company in Chambersburg in 1780. During that era, there were feuding amongst the members and several members decided to break away and form there own, new companies. Over the year's several fire companies were formed and remain today. The Junior Hose & Truck Company No. 2 was mainly young fireman who were housed on North Second Street. The Good Will Steam, Fire, Engine & Hose Company No. 3 was stationed on East Catherine Street. The Franklin Fire Company No. 4 was housed on North Franklin Street. The Cumberland Valley Hose Company No. 5 was housed on Broad Street and became in existence with the Cumberland Valley Railroad nearby. The CV's assisted with fire protection with the Cumberland Valley Rail road and used to put their apparatus on train cars and respond to major fires throughout the area over the rail lines. Each of the stations protected their own "turfs" of the borough. In 1959, the Borough of Chambersburg built a new station on East McKinley Street to house the Good Will Fire Company and they left there East Catherine Street home, which was torn down. In the early 1970's, the Borough of Chambersburg Council elected to hire an outside firm to come to Chambersburg and perform a Fire Department Study and make recommendations to Council on a new mission direction to explore for the fire department. In 1973, the Borough of Chambersburg hired a paid Fire Chief (William E. Sheppard, Sr.) to mange the department. One of his missions, and recommendation of the study, was to consolidate some of the stations in the borough. During the mid-1970's major changes were made to the department structure, with created, as could be expected, tremendous turmoil as stations were being consolidated. The effect of these changes still have some animosity present today. During this era of the mid 70's, the Friendship Fire Company was moved from their station at East Point and moved into the Good Will Fire Company No. 3 station at 261 East McKinley Street; today's present location, with an addition to the station being built on. Both the Junior Hose & Truck Company No. 2 and the Cumberland Valley Hose Company No. 5 were both closed and a new Headquarters Fire Station was built at 130 North Second Street. As with then, and still today, the "Chambersburg Fire Department" is comprised of these (5)-five fire companies. Member's can join only (1) company and are considered a member of the department and company they join. If a member chooses to leave one of the CFD companies and transfer to another company, they must resign the original. You can not belong to 2 CFD companies at the same time.

Union Soldier standing in front of Fountain

on Chambersburg's Memorial Square

The Friendship Fire Company was the first CFD company to have horse-drawn equipment. In the year 1871, the company purchased an 1864 Ameasheag Steamer from Meadville, PA and was used until 1911, when the company became motorized with an American LaFrance Combination Chemical Truck. This was bought at a price of $5,500.00. This piece of apparatus was nicknamed "Cootie" and was used until 1930, when it was replaced with an American LaFrance City Service Truck for the purchase amount of $ 10,550.00. During the scrap drive of WWII, the Friendship Fire Company gave the 1911 American LaFrance truck to help with the war effort. In October 1952, the Friendships replaced the city service truck with a 500 gallon American Fire Apparatus, mounted on a Ford Chassis, for $ 11,000.00 The fire company, at the same time, purchased and placed into service, a Dodge Panel Truck for $ 4,000.00, used for rescue and salvage operations, which was the first type in Franklin County. They ran from "Mountain to Mountain" for serious accidents and also had a dive team. In March 1962, the company placed into service a new American Apparatus, 750 G.P.M. engine on a Ford Chassis, which was purchased from the Glenn D. Culbert Fire Equipment Company and was in service until 1989. The Friendship Fire Company owned a 1970 Ford F-600 Fire-Rescue Squad that was bought from the Red Lion, PA Fire Department in March of 1989. This unit served the community for several years until it was sold, after a discussion, in 1996. After a couple of year's from this point, it was decided the company purchase another emergency vehicle to serve the community and company recognition, which brought Special Unit-1. More detailed information on SU-1 is listed further down the page. SPECIAL UNIT 1 was placed officially out of service and began taking equipment off on 1/19/2006, making room to the newest addition; Engine-Tanker 1.

The McKinley Street Fire Station is staffed by an "ALL- VOLUNTEER" force who responds to emergency and non-emergency calls primarily protecting our "1st due" areas in the South and East ends of the Borough of Chambersburg. We also respond to all other areas of the borough on structural assignments, and as needed on other calls. We are the station (engine company) who handles all engine mutual aid calls to our surrounding departments.

The Chambersburg Fire Department houses the following apparatus at the respective stations:

-Headquarters Fire Station : Engine 1-2, Truck-1, Ambulance 1-7, 1-8, 1-9

-McKinley Street Fire Station : Engine 1-1, Engine 1-3 (reserve), ENGINE-TANKER 1, Fire Police-1

-Franklin Street Station : Engine 1-4 (The Franklin Street Station (www.sta4.com) owns their building and own equipment primarily protecting the surrounding townships around the Borough of Chambersburg limits. They house a borough engine there, through agreements, with a paid apparatus operator. This purpose has been due to railroad tracks that used to run through the center of town. Residents in the West end of the Borough was concerned of fire protection should a train be going through town, blocking access. A couple of years ago, these tracks were abandoned and removed taking that concern, and the actual need for a borough engine at that station away. Over the years, there has been discussion, and believe ultimately in the near future, the borough engine (Engine 1-4) and paid apparatus driver/operator may be removed from that station and relocated.

On any "Local Alarm" response (ie: auto/vehicle accident, auto/vehicle fire, brush fire, trash/dumpster fire, and these type calls, only (1) engine from the 1st due station is dispatched along with the ambulance. On "1st alarm" assignments (ie: fire alarms, inside investigations, etc.) the 1st due engine, truck and ambulance is dispatched. On structure type fires the whole department is dispatched.

Being VOLUNTEER, as with any volunteer company, we can not guarantee a 24/7 response rate. To ensure quick response is given to the our community; more importantly our "1st due" response area. A policy is in place that we adhere too. When a driver/operator is on station, a phone call to our county communications center is made advising that "Engine 1-1 is On-Duty". Communications from that point will dispatch Engine 1-1 alone on any calls that it is due on for its areas. When a driver/operator is leaving, another call is placed to communications advising that "Engine 1-1 is Off-Duty", at this point, any calls in our 1st due area, communications will dispatch our tone and, at same time, dispatch the next due engine (usually Engine 1-2) from one of the other stations. This ensures an immediate response, and if a driver responds to the station, may mark up on the air, on-duty, and go responding to the call also. So far, this has proven effective. On any Mutual-Aid calls to our surrounding departments, Engine 1-1 is the primary engine to handle these calls. If the engine is "Off-Duty" communications will still dispatch our engine, Engine 1-1, and give it till the counties fail time of (3) three minutes to respond. If Engine 1-1 does not go responding at the fail time, Engine 1-2 may respond, if available. For engine transfers (stand by at another station), Engine 1-1 is dispatched and if fails, the department fails. Engine 1-2 does not handle transfers.

East Point Fire Station

Our company is proud to own a traditional piece of firefighting apparatus. This unit is an 1850 White Swan Hose Reel. It was made by the late Mr. John Jeffries of Philadelphia, PA, a fire apparatus manufacturer. This grand old piece of equipment survived, and helped fight, the Burning of Chambersburg in 1864 by Confederate soldiers. The old hose reel has seen many fires, participated in many parades and displays and has claimed many awards over the years. The old hose reel may be seen on display at the Chambersburg Fireman's Museum during a scheduled appointment.

The most modern piece of apparatus that the company owns is a 1980 GMC Mini-Pumper that is known as Special Unit-1. A more detail description is listed below.

1850 White Swan Hose Reel

Though the engine housed at the McKinley Street Fire Station, is owned and maintained by the Borough of Chambersburg, the members take great pride in this unit. This unit is known as "ENGINE 1-1". At one time, there were 5 borough engines in service. 3- 1st due engines and 2- reserve. The numbering of these engines was based on their respective station housings. To explain, all of the engines began with a "1" designating the company number for our county and the 2nd number for the specific unit. In other words, Engine 1-1 was/is housed at the McKinley Street Station because of Friendship Engine & Hose Company No. 1. Engine 1-3 is housed at McKinley Street as a reserve engine because of the Good Will Fire Company No. 3 occupying McKinley Street.

Engine 1-2 is housed 1st due at Headquarters Fire Station based on the Junior Hose & Truck Co. No.2 is located there. Former Engine 1-5 was the reserve engine at Headquarters Station because of the Cumberland Valley Hose Co. No.5 is located at Headquarters. Finally, Engine 1-4 is housed at the Franklin Fire Company No.4.

Today the department has 3- 1st due engines and 1-reserve.

Engine 1-1

The people at McKinley Street take pride in Engine 1-1 and the numbering system associated to it. Engine 1-1 is a 1996 Spartan Advantage Chassis that was upgraded to appear as a Gladiator Package. This unit was rehabbed at Fire Cab and took about 1 1/2 years to complete. The fire body and pump are the original from 1977 when new as a Pierce Hendrickson. During the rehab, several alterations were made to the fire body such as a transverse compartment by the pump panel, the driver side upper compartment doors were changed from a double-door style to a single pull-up. The rear compartments were modified as one large rear compartment area. The pump was upgraded from a 1250 G.P.M. to 1500 G.P.M. Compartments were mounted underneath for cribbing on both sides. After the unit was rehabbed, the Friendship Fire Company owned an Amkus Rescue Tool and was mounted in the rear compartment areas; however, at one point, this engine was relocated to run as Engine 1-4 for about a year, which there was a great deal of turmoil over this temporary move, and the tool and equipment was removed and sold. Today, these compartments are used for additional space for fire suppression equipment.

Special Unit-1 is a 1980 GMC 4x4 Mini-Pumper. In 1998, an advertisement was seen in the "The Pennsylvania Fireman" Monthly Booklet of this vehicle for sale by a department in Washington County, Maryland (Boonsboro, MD). This was noticed on a Sunday evening and a phone call made to the Fire Chief of this department, asking questions about the unit, price, etc. The next day, a trip was made to this company to look over the vehicle and inspect it. It was found to be in excellent condition. Our regular company meeting was the next night on Tuesday and arraignments were made to have this unit brought up to our station for our members to view. That evening, the membership determined a price and made an offer to the representatives who were still at the McKinley Street Station. Those representatives stepped away a moment to discuss the offer and came back with positive approval. The company then went back and resumed the meeting and approved the purchase. The unit remained at the station that evening, as the representatives also brought a utility vehicle along for transportation back home, should the purchase occur. The unit underwent a paintjob, etc. and was placed in-service a few weeks later. It was decided at that time to paint the unit yellow and stripe it CFD appearance to reflect a department resemblance and fit into the "scheme". Sometimes this appearance does cause some animosity, as other mutual aid departments and members of the community believes this is just another "tax-payer" piece of apparatus, when in fact, it is strictly supported through company fund raisers, donation, etc. The only thing we receive from the borough is the fuel and some equipment. Discussions have been made to repaint the unit to show its uniqueness from the rest of the borough apparatus and give it a company appearance, probably White w/ Blue Scotch lite. Members have been discussed the possibility of purchasing a engine, or preferably an engine-tanker. Though it could be used for calls within the borough, the hopes are to be added to surrounding mutual aid departments to increase our responses and increase volunteer morale. This was further moved and a used Engine-Tanker was finally purchased in late 2005, with more detail listed below.

The Friendship Engine & Hose Company strives to effectively and efficiently serve the community and is proud to continue providing protection for over 225 years.

SPECIAL UNIT 1 was sold and went to VERMONT in 2006. The Company purchased an Engine-Tanker and placed it in-service on March 31, 2006. For more information on this unit, please see the APPARATUS PAGE.

For more information regarding the addition of ENGINE-TANKER 14, please see the APPARATUS PAGE.

On March 1st, 2007 the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services (911) finalized and approved our companies new designation. Effective that date, any and all apparatus (specifically the Engine-Tanker) will be known as Franklin County Company-14. (Engine-Tanker 14).

BLASTS

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