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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
BINGHAMTON FIRE BUREAU
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Chief
Charles Hogg
As with most of America's
fire departments, Binghamton's began in 1834 as a volunteer
organization. On May 3rd of that year the trustees of the
village voted to establish and organize fire and hook and
ladder companies. By June 30th sixteen citizens had accepted
appointments. After a somewhat dubious beginning, the
village purchased the first real piece of firefighting
equipment in June of 1836. Eight hundred dollars was raised
to purchase a small "button" hand powered fire
engine.
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An additional $250.00 was
spent to buy land and erect an engine house on the present site of the
Broome County Court House Square.
The Village of Binghamton continued to grow and consequently the fire
load, necessitating the formation of additional volunteer companies.
The loosely organized companies then began electing a chief annually
with the first recorded chief, Peter Miller, being elected in 1842.
Two years after Binghamton obtained status as a city in 1867, the City
of Binghamton Fire Bureau was formed under the leadership of Chief
Erastus R. Campbell. On October 1, 1911 the department became
fully paid with a complement of 91 officers and firefighters with
Charles N. Hogg as the Chief. The bureau continued to grow in size
and modernized with motor driven apparatus. The horse drawn equipment
was phased out by 1922. With the building of the station at 259
Conklin Avenue in 1929 the bureau reached its maximum size of 186
men operating nine engine companies, three truck companies and one
heavy Rescue Company out of nine stations.
The bureau remained relatively unchanged until the late 1950's
when the population began shifting to the rural areas of the county.
Although the bureau began to downsize in relation to Binghamton's
shrinking population, the scope of its operation expanded. In
September of 1981 the ambulance was transferred from the Police Bureau
to the Fire Bureau. In addition to providing ambulance
service, a "First Responder" program was initiated. By
having cross-trained Firefighter/EMT's responding from each station,
in addition to the ambulance, medical assistance began reaching
patients in approximately three minutes of the 911 call. To meet the
growing needs of the City, the Hazardous Material Response Team began
operating in May of 1988. In 1996 the EMS program was upgraded to
provide ALS level of service. Initially, twelve Firefighters were
trained as Paramedics.
Today's Fire Bureau has evolved into a modern multifaceted emergency
response force providing firefighting, emergency medical services,
hazardous materials and rescue coverage. If it isn't directly related
to law enforcement, it is the Fire Bureau's job to provide
assistance.
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