History of Company #1

Manhasset was protected by the Hill and Valley Fire Department from 1904 to 1912, when the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department was formed.  The Hill and Valley units became Sections One and Two; the predecessors of Company designations. 

Company One is quartered at 35 Bayview Ave; its third location.  The original firehouse was on Plandome Road near Town Hall.  The second house was next door to the current firehouse in what is now the American Legion building.  We have been in our present quarters since 1951.

We’ve come a long way since members had to drag the “Man Killer”, a hand operated pumper, to the fire.  Water had to be drafted from a well or pond and the firefighters pumped the handles up and down to supply the hose lines.  Able-bodied onlookers were expected to take a turn as five minutes was considered an extremely long time to man the pumps. 

Due to the rural nature of the District, we had no need to switch to the steam engines which were popular from about 1880 to 1925.  Company One went directly from hand pumpers to gasoline power.  Many pumpers came and went over the years, but there was only one “Big Bertha”.  Old Engine 12 was the Secretariat of fire engines; a 1000 GPM pumper that could deliver water for a week straight without showing any sign of strain.  She was 10’6” from the steering wheel to the hood ornament.  A man 6’4” could stand at the front bumper and not be visible to the driver.  Bertha was delivered in 1940 and as far as we know, she’s still putting out fires in rural Pennsylvania today.

M-LFD Co. 1 now responds with two Class “A” pumpers.  Engine 8711 is a 2006 KME 1500GPM pumper and Engine 8712 is a 2013 Spartan ERV 1500 GPM pumper.  We also have our Special Operations rig: Rescue 8713, which is a 2001 American La France with a 250 GPM pump.  Rescue 8713 responds to all rescue calls.  With the equipment stored on the apparatus and the training level of the members, Rescue 8713 can handle elevator and water emergencies, confined space/high angle rescues and a myriad of other operations.  Rescue 8713 also responds as a F.A.S.T. unit to neighboring fire departments.