Written by Jack Healy

In the early days of the village, fires were few and there was seldom  a need for a organized volunteer fire company.  In the early 1890’s the nearest fire company was in Amityville.  Fire fighting was a matter of hand labor.  The alarm for help was sent to Amityville, but in most cases before the horse drawn apparatus arrived the fire was extinguished or had destroyed the building.

In 1896 a house owned by a William Crawford, located on Merrick Road, west of the South Side Hotel and across the road from where the second Seaford school house was located, went on fire.  When the alarm was spread a bucket brigade was quickly formed and some of the volunteers, in their excitement carried feather beds and like articles out of the building while others threw breakable goods out of the windows.  This hastily formed group of volunteers efforts were futile and the house was completely destroyed by the fire. This was the first major fire experienced by the village in many years.

According to historical records of Seaford, sometime around 1896 the need for fire protection started to materialize, but it would take another four years before a volunteer fire company would be formed in 1900.

Over the next four years no major fires were reported in Seaford, but a fire on Merrick Road in the village of Massapequa in 1897 or 1898 broke out in the Massapequa Hotel.  This was a four story structure that accommodated about eight hundred guests during the summer months.  Word of this fire spread so rapidly that in a short time about a hundred volunteers from Massapequa and Seaford had formed a bucket brigade extending from the Massapequa Creek to the hotel.  The filled buckets were passed from hand to hand until the last man in line splashed what water was left on the fire.  No one know how many buckets were passed but the volunteers managed to extinguish the fire.

In 1900 Mrs. Ann Ryan's, who is credited with the formation of what is now know as the Seaford Fire Department, home was struck by lighting and was partly destroyed by the ensuing fire.  Mrs. Ryan then with the aid of Otto Hasnader formed the Seaford Hook Ladder and Engine Company in the same year.  The charter members of the fire company were:

John T. Baldwin          Otto Hasnader
O. D. Baylis                Fred Hawxhurst
Stephen Day                E. B. Mansfield
George Gehling            Wm. Garnett Payne
Martin Haff                 Coles Powell
Townsend Haff            Ansel Raynor
George P. Rohr            Smith Van Nostrand
Thomas Roberts           Charles R. Verity
Curtis Smith                 E. F. Verity
George W. Smith         Charles Wanser
Jesse I. Smith              Gilson Wanser
N. T. Smith                 G. L. Weeks, Jr.
Seaman Smith

Otto Hasnader was chosen captain of the fire company and Mrs. Ryan organized the women of the village as an auxiliary to assist the fire company.

The first alarm system for the Seaford FD was the “fire bell” which was used to alert the community of an emergency.  The “fire bell” was actually a drive wheel that was bent by the blacksmith into the form of a circle and suspend from a post.  When ever there was an emergency Al Bahr or his wife Vera would go to the fire house and strike the bell with a hammer.

The first piece of fire apparatus for the Seaford  Hook Ladder & Engine Company was a hand drawn Holloway Chemical Fire Engine, manufactured in Baltimore Md.  This type of fire engine was reportedly first manufactured in 1876.  When this engine was purchased it cost nine hundred dollars which was obtained by holding many fund raising functions in the community.  This fire engine is still in the possession of the Seaford FD.

Meetings of the fire company were held in a small building owned by Mrs. Ryan, on Merrick Road and the fire equipment was kept in a building located behind the third Seaford school house., which was located on Jackson and Waverly Avenue.

In 1921 the Seaford Union Free School House on Waverly and Jackson Avenue, , which was originally constructed in 1893, is donated to the Seaford FD and moved, a couple hundred feet to Southard Avenue, in 1922.  In 1921 the Seaford School District donated the old school house, which was originally constructed in 1893, to the fire company. The land that the building was moved to was donated to the fire company by Mrs. Ryan.

The first chief of the Seaford F. D. was William Stahl who served in this capacity from 1910 until 1937.

By 1922 the realization that a legally organized fire department was need in Seaford had materialized.  The volunteers of the fire brigade and the Board of Trade (Chamber of Commerce) held the biggest event ever conducted in the village.  The event was the unveiling of the World War I Memorial.  Later that year a carnivals were held on Labor Day and another carnival on July 2nd & 3rd in 1923 to raise funds for the volunteers.

The formation of the Seaford Fire District and the Seaford Hook Ladder & Engine Co. 1, Inc. as we know it today started in 1924 and approved by New York State in 1926. In anticipation of growth the fire district purchased land behind the original fire house west on Southard Avenue.

The first hook and ladder truck for the Seaford FD was a horse drawn vehicle.  Because the fire department did not have any horses it was the responsibility of one of the members to bring a horse to the fire house when they were responding to a house fire.

Fire Commissioner Griffin Baisley in 1936 replaced the “fire bell” with two siren one mounted on fire headquarters and the other north of fire headquarters.  The sirens were installed by Harold Van Nostrand, a local electrician, who later became the department’s chief in 1944.

Commissioner Baisley also has two telephone lines established so fire calls could be called into the department.  These lines were placed in the homes of William (Bill) Buchanan and Charles (Charley) Kiefer.  It was the responsibility of these individuals after they were called to come to fire headquarters and activate the siren.  It was at this time that the Seaford Fire District starts the construction of  fire wells to provide water in the event of a fire. Over 30 fire wells were dug which provide 350-400 gallons of water per minutes to the fire engines. The first fire hydrants were placed in the district until 1929 by the New York Water Company. Who initially installed about 25 hydrants.  From 1951 on is when most hydrants were installed.  As each large tract of land was built on new hydrants were installed.  From 1951 to 1955 is when most of the current fire hydrants were placed in the Seaford Fire District.  There are currently 190 fire hydrants and 39 Blow-off hydrants in the Seaford Fire District.  The only change in the design of the fire hydrants was from a two hose hydrant to a “streamer hydrant”.

It was in 1937 that the Seaford FD hosts the Annual 4th of July Parade in Seaford.  The parade started as fire headquarters north to Waverly Avenue, east to Seamans Neck Road, south to Merrick Road, east to Washington Avenue, north to Hickory Street, east to Jackson Avenue and south to Waverly Avenue and back to fire headquarters. There were no parade during World War II.

The Freeport FD Band would march each year in the parade and then give a concert in front of the fire house.
 
 
 

In 1967 the Seaford FD turned the parade sponsorship over to the Seaford community which held its first parade in 1968.

Fire Alarm Boxes were placed in the fire district in 19XX and would continue in use until 1958.  For the purpose of these new alarm boxes the fire district is divided into four sections.  Now in addition to the siren a fire horn is sounded.  When an alarm was sounded it would give the location of the emergency by identifying it with a horn that consisted of a three digit number.  The first digit would identify the location as follows:
1 meant that the emergency was south of Merrick Road
2 meant that the emergency was between Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway
3 meant that the emergency was between Sunrise Highway and Clark Street
4 meant that the emergency was between Clark Street and Jerusalem Avenue

Starting in 1958 the fire alarm boxes are discontinued and replaced with the activation of the siren and horn by; a telephone call from the New York Telephone Company.  This is later changed so that the Nassau County Fire Board activates the siren and horn when an emergency; is called in by; telephone.

In 1964 a fire dispatcher was now on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The Wantagh FD’s dispatcher all alarms for the Seaford FD by the use of the siren and the horn until 19xx.. Now all members of the Seaford FD are issued pagers which advises them of the type of emergency and its location.  The use of the fire horn is discontinued but the siren is still activated in the event of an emergency.

The Seaford FD Exempt & Benevolent Organization was formed in 1952 under the advise of Frank Pollina of Franklin Square Fire Department.  The Exempts then purchased the property where the new Seaford FD Headquarters will eventually be built and the Seaford FD donated their current fire headquarters and land to the Exempts.

In 1960 the Seaford FD holds it first annual fund drive. Then in 1964 the Annual Fund Drive for the first time mails it brochure to the residents and business in the Seaford Fire District. .  All of the envelopes that were mailed had to be addressed by hand.

For fifty years the Seaford F. D. occupied the old school house until 1972, when a modern brick structure is constructed on the west side of Southard Avenue across from the old fire house.  Chief of the Department at this time was Robert Fischer.

In 1974 the Seaford FD Exempt & Benevolent Organization donated old fire headquarters and $10,000 to the Seaford Historical Society.  The money was to be used to move the old fire headquarters back to it former location in 1921.

The Seaford FD holds the first Christmas Tree lighting in 1974, a tradition that has continued for the past twenty five years.

Also in 1974, a major step in the treatment of trauma patients, was instituted by the then Chief of the Department John Annitto,  when the “cardio alert” system was installed on ambulances of the department.  The “cardio alert” system was designed to provide two-way voice and EKG telemetry between the patient and the hospital.  This was the forerunner of today’s highly sophisicated monitoring system which is in all of the Seaford FD ambulances.

Since 1910 there have been thirty three Chiefs of the Department.  The current Chief of the Department is George V. Kern and the number of volunteer firefighters has grown from twenty-five in 1900 to seventy five in 1998.

Management of the Seaford Fire District is by a board of fire commissioners who are elected by the resident of the district.

Due to the dedication of the Seaford FD’s members, the Board of Fire Commissioners, the residents and businesses of the community your fire department can provide state-of-the-art emergency medical service and fire fighting equipment.

Let us all remember that this emergency service which is provide to the Seaford Community 24 hours a day seven days a week is furnished by a group of highly trained men and woman volunteers who live in our community.
 

Time Line

1900-1928 The first alarm system for the Seaford FD was the “fire bell” which was used to alert the community of an emergency.  The “fire bell” was actually a drive wheel that was bent by the blacksmith into the form of a circle and suspend from a post.  The bell was sounded by someone hitting it with a hammer.

1921 The Seaford Union Free School House on Waverly and Jackson Avenue is donated to the Seaford FD and moved, a couple hundred feet to Southard Avenue, in 1922.
.
1926 The Seaford Fire District and the Seaford Hook Ladder & Engine Co. 1, Inc. is approved by the state of New York and forms the boundaries for district as we know them today.

1928-19XX Fire Commissioner Griffin Baisley replaces the “fire bell” with a siren which is mounted on fire headquarters and is activated by the pressing a button on the front door of the building.  Commissioner Baisley also has two telephone lines established.  These lines are placed in the homes of William (Bill) Buchanan and Charles (Charley) Kiefer.  It was the responsibility of these individuals after they were called to come to fire headquarters and activate the siren.  It is at this time that the Seaford Fire District starts the construction of  fire wells to provide water in the event of the fire.  Fire hydrants had not been placed in the district until 19XX.  Over 30 fire wells were dug which provide 350-400 gallons of water per minutes to the fire engines.

1937-1967 The Seaford FD hosts the annual 4th of July Parade in Seaford.  The parade started as fire headquarters north to Waverly Avenue, east to Seamans Neck Road, south to Merrick Road, east to Washington Avenue, north to Hickory Street, east to Jackson Avenue and south to Waverly Avenue and back to fire headquarters.The Freeport FD Band would march each year and then give a concert at the end of the parade.There was no parade during World War II and in 1967 the Seaford FD turned the parade sponsorship over to the local community which held its first parade in 1968.

19XX-1958 Fire Alarm Boxes are placed in the fire district.  For the purpose of these new alarm boxes the fire district is divided into four sections.  Now in addition to the siren a fire horn is sounded.  When an alarm was sounded it would give the location of the emergency by identifying it with a horn that consisted of a three digit number.  The first digit would identify the location as follows:1 meant that the emergency was south of Merrick Road2 meant that the emergency was between Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway3 meant that the emergency was between Sunrise Highway and Clark Street4 meant that the emergency was between Clark Street and Jerusalem Avenue.

1952 The Seaford FD Exempt & Benevolent Organization was formed under the advise of Frank Pollina of Franklin Square Fire Department.  The Exempts then purchased the property where the new Seaford FD Headquarters will eventually be built.  The Seaford FD donated their current fire headquarters and land to the Exempts.

1958-1968 The fire alarm boxes are discontinued and replaced with the activation of the siren and horn by; a telephone call from the telephone company.  This is later changed so that the Nassau County Fire Board activates the siren and horn when an emergency; is called in by; telephone.

1960 Seaford FD holds its first fund drive

1964 present A fire dispatcher is now on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The Wantagh FD’s dispatcher now dispatches all alarms for the Seaford FD by the use of the siren and the horn.
.
19XX All members of the Seaford FD are issued pagers and the use of the fire horn is discontinued.  The siren is still activated in the event of an emergency.

1972-present The Seaford FD moves across the street to its modern fire headquarters.

1974 The Seaford FD Exempt & Benevolent Organization donates old fire headquarters and $10,000 to the Seaford Historical Society.  The money is to be used to move the old fire headquarters or old schoolhouse back to it former location.

1974 Seaford FD host the 1st Annual Christmas Tree Lighting.

1974 Chief John Annitto has the “cardio alert” system installed in all SFD ambulances.