1st Truck – Chevrolet
Nearly four months after becoming an official borough, Dalton was hit by tragedy. In the wee hours of May 26, 1895, a train engineer aroused the sleeping neighborhood with his whistle to the “Great Fire.” A large bucket brigade instantaneously assembled, but it was too late. An entire block burned to the ground including a general store, lumberyard, bakery and hardware store.
It became obvious that Dalton needed a fire department. Citizens raised money through a country chicken dinner and the Dalton Fire Company #1 was born. Initially, it was comprised of just one rickety two-wheeled cart and a siren call that had the telephone operator rounding up volunteer firemen through a party phone line.
The two-wheeled cart is still in the fire department, owned by the fire department today, serving as a reminder of the challenges and difficulties that had to be overcome for the company to arrive where it is today – an expansive department that answers over 200 calls a year in Dalton and the surrounding communities.
Dalton Fire Company
Other info:
Dalton Fire Company
County Station Number 5
Charter Date: March 16, 1921
Original Name and Charter Date:
Dalton Fire Protection Association
Chartered: 1898
1898 – Received a donated hand drawn hose cart from the Scranton Fire Department
1921 – Purchased and new Chevrolet Chemical Engine
1927 – Purchased a new Selden/Buffalo Type 50 Engine 250/100
1927 – Traded in the 1921 Chevrolet for the 1927 Buffalo.
1950 – Purchased a new Ward LaFrance Type 58T Engine 500/300
1956 – Purchased a new Ward LaFrance Type 44T Fireball Engine 750/500
1957 – Sold the 1927 Selden/Buffalo Engine to the Clarks Green Fire Company
1971 – Purchased a new Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador Engine 1000/750
1971 – Sold the 1950 Ward LaFrance Engine to Newdale Fire Department in North Carolina
1972 – Purchased a used 1964 International Mini Pumper 250/250 from Endicott Johnson Shoe Company
1st Ambulance – LaSalle
1989 – Purchased a new International 2600/4-Guy Tanker 1000/1650
1991 – Sold the 1964 International Mini Pumper to a local farmer
1993 – The 1971 Ward LaFrance Ambassador was refurbished by New Lexington Fire Apparatus, adding high side compartments
1997 – Purchased a new International 4900/4-Guy Engine 1250/750/30B
2003 – Purchased a new Seagrave 75′ RM Ladder 1500/400
2005 – Acquired a used 1986 Chevy pickup from the DCNR and was made into a Brush Truck 250/150
2005 – Sold the 1997 International 4900/4-Guy Engine to Union City Ambulance and Rescue
2009 – Purchased 2010 Pierce Contender 1500/1000.
2009 – Removed the 1997 Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador from Service.
2014 – Traded in 2000 Road Rescue Ambulance and purchased a 2014 Chevy G4500 P&L Custom Medallion 170 ambulance
3rd Truck – Ward LaFrance
