Department History

Our Beginnings

The oldest fire company in Newtown had its beginning in 1803, when the town refused to grant a request for $100 for a fire engine. Elijah Nichols was subsequently appointed as “chimney viewer” or fire warden, an office that was provided for at the annual town meeting and for which no pay was given. Since the town would not appropriate the money for an engine, each member of the company was duty bound to provide buckets and ladders of their own. The company held many benefits to raise money and in 1883 a sum of $600 was appropriated for the purchase of a hand-drawn Hook & Ladder truck from the Holloway Company of Baltimore. In September of that year, a State Charter was granted to the “Newtown Hook & Ladder Company”, and the company has been in service ever since.

Our Equipment

A hand-pumped fire engine and hose cart were purchased in 1901 to supplement the ladder cart. In later years a Model T Ford was used to tow the pumper hose and ladder carts. The Model T was also loaded with soda acid fire extinguishers that caused some concern when sudden stops and turns had to be made.

In 1931, a Maxim Fire Truck (500 gpm, 60 water) was purchased and was the pride of the company until it was replaced by a 1952 Maxim pumper (750 gpm, 300 water). That pumper was replaced in 1968 by a newer model Maxim pumper (1000 gpm, 600 water). Also purchased that year was a 65-foot aerial ladder truck built by American La France in 1944. This truck was replaced in 1976 with a Seagrave 100-foot aerial ladder truck. The year 1968 also saw the purchase of a 1963 Ford pickup truck to be used as a utility truck.

In 1978, the company saw the need to expand. A new mini-pumper (450 gpm, 250 water) was purchased from the Pierce Manufacturing Co. and the Seagrave Corporation delivered a pumper (1000 gpm,1000 water) to replace the headquarters engine in 1979. The newest piece of apparatus to be purchased was a rescue truck built by Pierce.

Over the years, Newtown Hook & Ladder has been a progressive firefighting company. To meet the changing times in the fire service, the company adopted the Plectron home alerting system in 1956. Hook & Ladder was one of the earliest companies in Connecticut to adopt this system. In 1974 the company purchased the Hurst Rescue Tool, one of the first in Fairfield County. In 1978, to meet the demand for better water supply for firefighting, 5” large diameter hose (LDH) was put into service. With the advancement in electronics and other technologies, Newtown Hook & Ladder purchased its first Thermal Imaging Camera in the spring of 1998, and we currently operate with four cameras. We currently operate with state of the art radio communications, next generation Self Contained Breathing Apparatus and Firefighting gear.

Our Chiefs

1883-1884

John H. Blackman

1884-1901

Unknown

1901-1902

Levi C. Morris

1902-1927

Patrick H. Gannon

1927-1931

John A. Carlson

1931-1940

Walter Glover

1940-1946

Fredrick Mayer

1946-1947

Walter Glover

1947-1949

Fredrick Mayer

1949-1954

John Quibick

1954-1974

Lee Glover

1974-1978

Kenneth Pelletier

1978-1981

Joseph Wupperfeld

1981-1983

William McCarthy

1983-1986

Millard Goodsell

1986-1993

Mike McCarthy

1993-1993

Tim Gies

1993-1994

Mike McCarthy

1994-1997

Steve Murphy

1997-2005

Dave Ober

2005-2007

Ray Corbo

2007-2009

Dave Ober

2009-2013

Jason Rivera

2013-2017

Ray Corbo

2017-2023

Chris Ward

2023- Present

Ray Corbo