On January 3, 1901 twenty seven concerned citizens formed the New Hartford Volunteer Fire Department to
protect the Village of New Hartford from the ravages of fire. On January 21, 1901 the village board agreed to
furnish the fledgling fire department with four rubber coats, six lanterns, furnishing from the hosecart and
acquire a suitable building as a hose house. Permission was given by the Presbyterian Church to use their bell
in case of a fire. So started the journey of 100 years of dedicated service to our community.
In reviewing our old records we thought we would list some of the past events that will give the reader a
taste of times gone by.
January of 1912- Treasurer reported a balance of 22 cents.
September of 1921- The Chief noted complaints of some firemen entertaining girls and playing the piano until
2 or 3 in the morning. Motion carried that the piano was to be played only from 7:30 to 11:30 PM.
January of 1987- The total number of calls for the department since its begining is 5277. Fifty-two percent
have occured in the past five years.
Click here for a breakdown of responses
In 1901 the department answered three alarms. By the end of the century's first decade, the total would be
12! That's an average of 1.2 calls a year. The scale would rise rapidly in the years to come. By the time the
century neared it's close, our running total would be 19,277 calls. (1901- 1999)
Today the alarm sounds on the average of 2 1/2 times per day. New Hartford's firefighters are summoned
80 times each month. At close to 1000 calls a year, the firefighter of the 21st century will surley be
answering their neighbor calls more often then they answer their own front door.
Our mix of calls have also changed dramatically. In the early days the calls were for fires only. Today we
answer calls for fires, medical emergencies, Haz-Mat, wires down, etc. Our percentage of medical calls is a
bout 70 to 80% of all our calls. We probably should be classified as a emergency services department.
