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THE HISTORY OF
TOMS RIVER VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY No.1
PART I: THE BEGINNINGS
It was December 23, 1895, just two
days till Christmas. The people of the Village of Toms River, Ocean
County, NJ, were busy preparing for the holiday, each of them not
anticipating the chain of events that were about to happen that
would change their town forever.
According to a newspaper article
published in the December 26, 1895 edition of the New Jersey
Courier, a maid by the name of Kate Kinney, was working in the
kitchen of the Main Street home of Captain E.M. Lonan, who was then
Superintendent of Ocean County’s Public Instruction. At about 7:30
pm, an oil lamp “flared up.” Miss Kinney threw a shawl over the lamp
in an attempt to smother the flames The lamp then "exploded,"
setting her clothes and the kitchen on fire. Panicking, she ran, her
clothes on fire, next door to the home of Dr I.C. Schureman. Mrs
Smith, the doctors house keeper, wrapped a comforter around Miss
Kinney to smother the flames
At the same time, George Applegate and
Barzillist Hyers were walking along Main Street and rushed to the
aide of the woman, yelling "FIRE" as they ran The alarm spread fast
and soon other towns people were rushing to the scene. Because of
the grave injuries to Miss Kinney and the pain she was suffering, no
one noticed the fire until it totally involved the kitchen and began
spreading to the main house. As the townspeople arrived, they knew
that a bucket brigade would not be able to extinguish the fire in
the Lonan house. Instead their only hope was to keep the fire from
spreading. They set about placing ladders against the houses on
either side of the Lonan house and began dousing them with buckets
of water. Wet bed quilts and carpets were hung on the more exposed
parts of the house. Soon the main part of the Lonan house became
well involved and the fire blazed up through the roof. The heat was
intense, but this did not stop the firefighters from climbing on the
roofs of the exposed house, with buckets of water, to cool the wood
shingles and siding. Wet carpets were held up to shield the
firefighters from the heat. Every well and cistern in the
neighborhood was used for water Even a small hand pump, (used to
wash carriages) , was employed to keep a steady stream of water
playing on the gable of the Applegate House, which was on the north
side of the Lonan house. A bucket brigade kept a tub of water full,
as a man operated the pump by hand
When store keeper Will Frost heard the
fire alarm, he telephoned Frank Stanwood in Island Heights. In eight
minutes, the Island Heights Fire Company, with their Howe Chemical
pumper were on their way. It took the Island Heights company 40
minutes to pull the fire engine the three and one half miles to Toms
River. By this time the Lonan house was burnt to the ground, however
the fire engine was put to work wetting down the ruins and a blazing
tree that was endangering the Applegate house. Thanks to the efforts
of all persons involved the houses on either side of the Lonan house
had been saved. Miss Kinney, who was taken to the Lane's residence,
was attended to by Drs. Schureman and Disbrow. She died the next
day, Christmas Eve, at around noon.
That night, in the hopes of organizing
a fire company, William Fisher (who was involved in the firefighting
effort) wrote down the names of all the men that were very active at
the fire. Mr. Fisher, who was the editor and owner of the New Jersey
Courier, knew that they had been lucky that only Lonan house was
lost. He realized that if a wind had been blowing, they could have
lost more, maybe even the whole town. He also knew that since the
town was chosen as the county seat in 1850, the number of homes and
businesses was growing significantly and, because there was no
organized fire fighting in town, the insurance premiums were
climbing. A fire company was a must.
In the early morning hours of December
26th, the towns people were awaken by a cry of "FIRE" This time a
vacant building on Water Street across from Horner Street was
burning. Again the citizens found themselves using buckets and
ladders to protect the homes of friends and neighbors against a
fierce fire. Soon an adjacent vacant building was involved but the
firefighters were able to save the homes of Captain Horner, John
Robinson and Elwood Slawter. The townspeople fought bravely again,
but they had enough.
A meeting was set for Friday, January
l0, 1896, at the Cowperthwatt's Exchange on Main Street. Many of the
young men that had fought the two fires attended, along with the
older residences of town. Dr. Rem L. Disbrow was chosen to run the
meeting and William Fischer was chosen to take the minutes. There
was considerable discussion as to the best way of fighting fire, but
it was finally resolved to organize a fire company. Two committees
were formed, one to secure membership and one to draft a
constitution and by-laws. Another meeting was held on Wednesday
evening, January 15, 1896 where the constitution and by-laws were
read and adopted and a list of "75 of the best men in town" was
submitted. An election was held and the following were elected for
the year:
President Dr. Rem. L. Oisbrow
Vice President Hon. Adolph Ernst
Treasurer Thomas B Irons
Secretary William H. Fischer
A committee was formed to select 25
active firefighters from the list. The remainder would be
contributing members, who would help raise the funds needed to
support the company. The secretary was also instructed to look into
the laws that were related to starting a fire district.
On Friday, January 17, 1896 a third
meeting was held at the Cowperthwait Exchange where the 25 active
members were selected along with the firematic officers for the year
as follows:
Chief E.J.
Wirth
Assistant Chief
W.S. Roberts
Foreman Clark B.
Rogers
Assistant Foreman Robert I.
Holman
At the forth meeting, on Friday,
January 24, 1896, it was decided to purchase buckets and ladders for
immediate protection and to look into more expensive apparatus at a
later date. The membership dues were set at this meeting at 20 cents
per month. The following meeting, Friday, January 31, the company
reported that 100 buckets had been ordered and that the Presbyterian
church had agreed to the use of the church’s bell as a fire alarm
for the time being. A rope was hung on the outside of the church so
that the townspeople could ring the bell when there was afire.
Part II Coming Soon |
