A Brief History of the

Terryville Fire Department

 

For many years prior to the organization of a local fire department, Terryville had several homes destroyed by fire.  In 1910 three homes burned to the ground on Allen Street and Pearl Street.  Men volunteered to try to extinguish these burning homes.  The men fighting the fire used any type of large receptacle available to hold water.  They hung wet blankets out of the windows of a burning building in a gallant attempt to slow the spreading fire.  Other volunteers came forward throwing water onto the side of a home near one of the burning houses.  As the fire continued to rage out of control more volunteers appeared attempting to extinguish a fire that had spread to the roof of the St. Casmir’s Church.  The Bristol Fire Department was called to help fight the fire.  The Bristol fire fighters responded with a horse-drawn steamer.

At a Town meeting held in March 1911, the first officers of the local sixty member fire brigade were elected.  Andrew W. Grannis was elected Fire Chief, William H. Hustice was elected Assistant Fire Chief, and John A. Blum was elected Secretary/ Treasurer.  Two weeks later at a special Town meeting it was voted to name this fire brigade The Terryville Fire Department. Hence, the Terryville Fire Department  was established.

The first piece of equipment the Town purchased for the Terryville Fire Department, in 1911, consisted of two 35 gallon soda & acid tanks, mounted on a two wheel cart.  This non-motorized equipment, which was purchased from The American LaFrance Chemical Company, had on it a hose reel with 600 feet of hose and 110 feet of ladders.  To house this hand-drawn piece of fire equipment, the Town built an addition to the Town Hall.

In 1916, the Town purchased for the Terryville Fire Department its first motorized fire apparatus which was a Hupp Rockwell Touring car.  This car had a flat body.  Mounted to the body were two 35 gallon soda & acid tanks and 600 feet of 2 1/2 inch hose.  As time went on, the fire fighters realized that with the added equipment, the weight on this car was getting to be too much.   In 1918 the Town purchased another motorized fire apparatus for the Terryville Fire Department.  This was a long-bodied Federal truck.  All the hose, ladders, and other equipment were carried on it.  In 1920, at a Town meeting it was decided that the fire department needed a pumping engine.  A petition was circulated before the Town meeting and $25,000 was appropriated to build a fire station and to purchase a Reo 350 gallon Hale Rotary pumping engine and a Reo ladder truck from the Combined Hook & Ladder Company which was based in Providence, Rhode Island.

Having only one pumping engine was presenting another issue.  On numerous occasions a second fire call was received while the fire fighters were extinguishing the first alarm.  There was a need for a second pumping engine.  In 1928, the Town purchased a standard-built 500 gallon Hale Rotary pumper with a 100 gallon booster tank from the Buffalo Fire Appliance Corporation.  The Terryville Fire Department was on its way meeting the fire protection needs of the community.

Presently the Terryville Fire Department is a well equipped, highly trained and dedicated fire service organization, protecting the lives and property of the residents in the Town of Plymouth.   The following is a preview of the Terryville Fire Department:

·        Currently there are 93 men and women in the Terryville Fire Department.

·        There are three fire stations: the Terryville HQ station on Harwinton Avenue, the Plymouth station on Main Street, Plymouth, and the Fall Mountain station at the intersection of Allentown Road and Town Line Road.

·        There are four companies in the Terryville Fire Department: three engine companies and one ladder company.

·        The fire apparatus in the Terryville Fire Department consists of: