fire company

Plainsboro Fire Company

Plainsboro Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 was organized on December 1, 1959 by 12 charter members. The fire company was incorporated on February 16, 1960 and went into operation on June 18 that year.

The first truck was a used 1940 American LaFrance 640 GPM (gallon per minute) pumper with a 160 gallon booster tank that was later enlarged to hold 500 gallons of water. The fire company also purchased a Dodge Power Wagon with a 1000 gallon booster tank and a 250 GPM rotary pump. Walker Gordon Farms later donated a 300 GPM portable pump that was mounted on top of the tank on the Dodge.

A 1946 Chevrolet pumper was purchased by the fire company from Forrestal Center and reconditioned by the members.

Howard Grant served as the first chief and the first president of the fire company. In their first full year of operation in 1961, members responded to 30 calls, including 14 drills.

The original fire house was the cinder block building still behind the Plainsboro Hardward Store. During the winter months, the building was heated by a coal fired heater to keep the water in the trucks from freezing.

In July 1962, the fire company moved to its current Plainsboro Road location on land donated to the company by the Wicoff Family and Walker Gordon.

The carpentry work and masonry work for the new fire house was contracted out and paid with donations from the citizens of Plainsboro. Fire company members did everything else. Bob Cherrington did the electrical work. Ted Wagner, Sr. did the plumbing work. Simonson Brothers, Princeton Nuseries, Donald Everett and James Crammer supplied bulldozers and front end loaders to grade the land around the building.

In the early days of the fire company, the alarm was sounded by the stationary fireman on duty at Walker Gordon Farm who would blow the farm's steam whistle when a fire was reported. Firefighters living in the village section of the township could hear the alarm easily. Their family members then relayed the alarm by telephone to members living in outlying areas of the community.

As Plainsboro Township grew so did its firefighting resources. In 1965, a 1000 GPM pumper was purchased, followed by a Ford Brush Truck in 1968. In 1971 a 1250 GPM pumper was added.

In the mid-1970s, the Wicoff Family donated land adjacent to the fire house for an expansion of the station to house the additional equipment that would be needed to protect a growing township. Using a $100,000 donation from Princeton University, which had announced plans to develop Forrestal Center, the fire company expanded the station and purchased a 1977 1750 GPM Hahn pumper.

Plainsboro's location soon made it one of the fastest growing communities in New Jersey. To keep pace with the community's growth, the fire company purchased a used 100' Pierce LTI ladder tower in 1981 and a Chevrolet Step-van in 1983.

In 1986, the fire company added a 2,000 GPM Emergency One pumper and, in 1989, a Saulsbury heavy rescue truck.

The changes did not stop with additions to the fire company's fleet. To keep up the increasing costs of equipment purchases and services, members of the fire company successfully petitioned for the creation of a fire district with the ability to levy a tax for the fire purposes in 1991.

In 1992, the district purchased its first apparatus, a Pierce 1750 GPM pumper equipped with a 54'Squirt boom. In 1997, with the fire company established itself as a regional ice rescue and still water rescue unit and the fire district purchased ice rescue and water rescue equipment, an inflatable rescue boat, and a used ambulance for use as a special services truck.

Since its creation, the fire company has worked closely with the Board of Fire Commissioners to maintain the high standards of fire protection in Plainsboro Township. In 1999, following voter approval, the original Plainsboro Road station was demolished and a state-of-the-art fire station was constructed in its place to house the wider and heavier trucks in service today and to meet the future needs of the fire service in Plainsboro Township.

While the past 40 years have witnessed incredible changes in the Plainsboro Fire Company, its equipment and its station, one thing has remained constant: When the alarm sounds, a group of dedicated volunteers responds to help their neighbors and serve their township.

Plainsboro's First Used Fire Truck

This truck was purchased second hand from the Pennington Fire Dept. It was 1941 American La France with a 50 gallon tank at 750 gallons per minute. The photo was taken in Pennington and is not dated, but assumed to be 1959/1960.

Plainsboro's First New Fire Truck

A Ford Hahn Truck purchased new, that had a 500 gallon water tank and 1000 feet of hose. It is pictured at the 1962 fire house, but the photo is not dated. John "Junior" Wills is pictured in front