Warminster Fire Department

Our History

History of Warminster Fire Company No. 1

Founded in 1927 

An organizational meeting of the Warminster Fire and Improvement Association was held at the Johnsville station of the Reading railroad on Thursday evening at 7 o’clock on July 28, 1927.  The guest speaker for the evening was Mr. Herbert, Fire Marshall of Montgomery County.

The reason for this meeting was to call attention to the need of a fire company in Warminster Township.  Around midnight on a previous evening, the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Tressider had burned to the ground.  Since there was no official fire company at the time, the local citizens of Warminster tried to fight the fire with buckets and garden hoses.  Later, a group of men in Warminster Township came forth who were adamant about the need for fire protection for its citizens.

 At the meeting, the evening was spent listening to Mr. Herbert discuss the requirements of fire fighting.  That night they held elections for a temporary Chairman and Secretary until the next meeting which was to be held on August 4, 1927, at which time regular officers would be elected and a committee would be appointed to get a State Charter.  Mr. Roy Lishman filled the chair position and John H. Malarkey was elected Secretary.  After these positions were filled, the registration of the fire company’s members took place, which numbered twenty eight.  The rest of the night was used to discuss how to go about starting a new fire company. 

The following members are the founding fathers of Warminster Fire Company No.1:

The first elected officers of Warminster Fire Company No.1:

The first Fire Chief of the fire company:

The first Board of Directors of the fire company:

The first fire company business meeting was held at Mr. Richard Ware’s home on Street and Mearns Road in Warminster.

It is interesting to note that on Nov. 21, 1927 fire buckets were obtained and that these buckets were painted green by Mr. Wallace.

The first truck that was used by the Warminster Fire Company was a Buick that was donated by the Buick dealer in nearby Hatboro, where Mr. Richard Ware worked as an auto mechanic at the time. 

The first fire truck that the members purchased was a 1918 G.M.C. 500 gallon pumper with hard rubber tires and a right hand drive. It carried 350 feet of fire hose, and nine sets of boots, fire helmets, and coats.

Since the Warminster Fire Company did not have a fire house at this time, they kept the fire truck in Mr. Harry Danz’s two car garage at the corner of Madison Ave. and Olive St. in Warminster.  This was the very first fire station of Warminster Fire Company No.1.  Mr. Harry Danz was able to obtain a wheel rim from an old railroad engine wheel from Midvale Steel Co. with a Willow Grove coal and lumber truck.  It became the first fire alarm when put on a tripod and hit with a large hammer. 

The first fire house was a one story frame building that was built by the firemen at the present site, located at the corner of Madison Ave. and Ivy St. in Warminster Township.  The original ground was donated by member Joseph Hallowell in 1927 to Warminster Fire Company for the station.  Later, there was a second parcel of land along Ivy St. that was sold to the Warminster Fire Company by Harry Wambold for the sum of $25, who then donated the twenty five dollars back to the fire company.  The members started the building in 1927 and completed it in 1928.  The old frame building which had been added to in 1946 was razed in 1966 and replaced by a new $80,000 fire station. 

In 1958 because the west end of the township was growing so rapidly a building was erected to house a fire truck on Norristown Rd. at Birch.  This building was replaced with the present structure in 1970.

In February 1960, a Cadillac Ambulance was purchased by the fire company and the Ambulance corps, which operated from the Central Engine House, was born. The Ambulance Corps operated two modern ambulances and answered more than 1200 calls per year before separating from the fire department in 1973.

The main fire station at Madison Ave. and Ivy St. (Station 90) was razed in 2005.  A new, two-story station with five apparatus bays was built at the same location.  The new station was completed in 2006.