Historical Annotations

· 1874: Lancaster's first fire department, the Rescue Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, was born.

· 1881: Cayuga Engine Company Organized

· 1882: Fuller Hose Company # 1 Organized and Disbanded

· 1885: Eagle Hose Company Organized

· 1889: Citizens Hose Company Organized

· Flames made the headlines in the 1890s. On April 4, 1894, fire broke out in the barn of Mrs. E. Mosack, at the rear of her butcher shop on Central Avenue. Fanned by a high wind, the flames quickly engulfed all of the buildings on the west side of Central Avenue between East Main Street (Broadway) and West Main Street, then swept down the south side of West Main Street to Jacob Stephan's store, where they were halted by a heavy brick fire wall. However, a wind shift carried the fire across Central Avenue to the east side, where three buildings were consumed, thence around the corner to the north side of Broadway. Since there were no water mains and no fire hydrants at that time, the blaze was out of control until Buffalo firemen, who had been called upon for help, arrived with their apparatus to assist the local department. The house and barn of Dr. Samuel Potter, located about where the Bimbaum furniture store now stands, were the last buildings to be destroyed. Damage was widespread, and was estimated at $100,000.

· 1894: Alert Hose Company Organized

· 1896: Protective Hose Company Organized

· 1896: Cayuga Engine Company Disbanded

· 1896: Alert Hose Company Disbanded

· Another section of the Central Avenue business district was destroyed by fire on October 21, 1896. The flames broke out in an unoccupied soap factory on Central Avenue, completely destroying it, and spread to Maute's hardware store, Balthasar's hotel, and a barn at the rear of the Cushing Block. Total damage was estimated at $45,000. This second conflagration in the heart of the business district in a little over two years sparked a public demand for water mains and fire hydrants which the Village Board could not ignore, and before 1896 came to an end, water mains were being laid in the downtown area. In 1900, the water mains were extended, and fire hydrants installed, on all populated streets in the Village.

· Other fires that made history during the 1890s were the ones that destroyed Soemann's brewery at East Main and Court Streets on September 16, 1894, and Cushing's ice house on Lake Avenue on August 17, 1898. The plant of the Lancaster Machine Knife Works on Court Street burned to the ground on March 12, 1899.

· Fires again raged in the community in the early 1900s. On February 3, 1902, flames destroyed the main building and two greenhouses belonging to S. B. Smiley.

· On November 20, 1902, the plant of the Depew Knitting Mills was completely razed.

· 1903: Soemann Hose Company Organized

· 1904: Lancaster Chemical Company # 1 Organized and Disbanded

· 1905: Soemann Hose Company Disbanded

· On December 10, 1909, a disastrous fire severely damaged the American Malleables plant on Central Avenue, causing damage estimated at $200,000.

· The gayest and most colorful celebration in the history of the Village up to that time was held from July 27 to August 2, 1913, when Lancaster observed its first Old Home Week, in conjunction with a convention of the Western New York Volunteer Firemen's Association. The newly completed brick pavements on Central Avenue, West Main Street, Aurora Street, Broadway, East Main Street, and Church Street were flanked with decorated columns, and exhibited with pride to the thousands of visitors who thronged to Lancaster to attend the convention and join in the Old Home Week celebration.

· One of the few community advances during the "depression" years was the construction in 1936 of the "Broadway cut-off," a strip of road and bridge which linked Aurora Street to Central Avenue, and eliminated the necessity of routing traffic over crowded West Main Street. Designation of Broadway as U.S. 20 followed the opening of the new highway link. But the new road was severely damaged a year later when, in the afternoon and evening of June 21, 1937, the worst flood in the history of the Village wreaked indescribable havoc in the area along Cayuga Creek. According to published records, the creek, after several days of rain, suddenly went on a rampage, reaching a depth of from 18 to 20 feet over the low water mark, and damaging or destroying every thing on its banks. Much damage was done to pavements, sidewalks, water mains, sewers, and real property on Park Boulevard, Colonial Avenue, Cayuga Avenue, St. John Street, Broadway, Aurora Street, St. Mary's Street, Walter Street, Legion Parkway, Oakwood Avenue, Lake Avenue, and Pershing Avenue. Rescue boats plied the flooded streets, and residents of the inundated areas who did not flee in time to escape the rising waters were rescued from their homes by firemen and other volunteers. A bridge of fire ladders was the escape route for one family from their home on Walter Street. The Memorial Building on Legion Parkway was badly damaged, and houses were washed from their foundations on Lake Avenue, St. John Street, and Broadway. The Village sewage treatment plant on Broadway was inundated, and equipment in the Department of Public Works buildings on the same site was severely damaged.

· An appeal for the construction of flood control works to prevent a recurrence of the 1937 disaster was made to state and federal authorities, but the outbreak of World War II delayed action on domestic problems of this type. After the war, the Lancaster project was again pressed for recognition, and, through the combined efforts of local, state, and federal representatives, the Cayuga Creek Flood Control Project was completed by the U.S. Engineers in 1948 at a cost of about $1,000,000 in federal, state, and Village funds.

· A new $80,000 post office building was built on the Broadway Cut-Off in 1938, and, in 1939, the old fire hall and the Village Inn were torn down to clear a site for the $127,500 Municipal Building, which was erected in 1940.

· October 7, 1943 - An exploding tar barrel sent shoppers and residents of the business district scurrying for cover as a blast shook the district, caused when workmen prepared tar for the roof of the Lancaster theatre Building.

· In 1949, Lancaster observed the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the Village. Directed by an energetic Centennial Planning Committee, composed of people from all walks of life in the Village, the celebration was held during the week of July 17th to 23rd, and attendance at the well-planned, week-long program of events eclipsed any in the history of the Village up to that time. The growing pains of the century-old community were forgotten during a week which began with Sunday reunion services in all churches; progressed with a variety of events from Monday to Friday, which included daily parades in all categories; and ended on Saturday with a feeling of regret at having to leave the past and face the future again. Centennial committee members declared that the Volunteer Firemen's Parade on Friday eve ning, which attracted thousands of visitors, was the largest and longest parade in Village history.

· On April 12, 1950, a disastrous fire ruined the interior of the Memorial Building on Legion Parkway, causing damage estimated in excess of $50,000. When fire insurance recoveries on the Village-owned building proved to be insufficient to cover the loss, members of Washington Post No. 287 of the American Legion, occupants of the building, pledged themselves, through the sale of bonds and otherwise, to underwrite the balance of the repair cost, and restoration and remodeling were completed before the end of 1950.

· Elimination of the grade crossings of the New York Central, Lehigh Valley, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Erie Railroads at Central Avenue, which had been planned prior to World War II, became a major post-war project in the summer of 1950. Bids on the project, which was jointly financed by New York State and the four railroads involved, were opened in July, and work began in August. Local traffic was rerouted over temporary access roads as more than half the length of Lancaster's main north-south artery of travel was torn up. Many landmark buildings were either razed, or moved to new locations on side streets off Central Avenue, among them the old North End Fire Hall, which was moved from Central Avenue to a new location on West Drullard Avenue.

· On February 21, 1954, fire destroyed the interior of the Western Auto Store on West Main Street, in a building which once housed the Lancaster postoffice. The brick walls of the building resisted the spread of the fire to adjoining structures.

· A night fire on October 19, 1956, damaged Young's Mill, on Court Street next to the Erie Railroad. The main ladder of the aerial ladder truck operated by Rescue Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was wrecked at the blaze, and the use of a crane was required to remove the broken ladder from the roof of the building after the fire. The tall, frame structure, which housed the Natura Milling Company during World War I, and is now occupied by Knauber's Planing Mill, was not seriously damaged. Mechanical damage to the ladder truck was said to monetarily exceed fire damage to the building.

· An overheated hot water tank was the cause of a $3,000 blaze at 18 Division St., Lancaster. The house was vacant at the time, and neighbors who spotted the smoke turned in the alarm. Fire Chief Gene Meyers examined the damage.

· On June 21, 1960, a spectacular fire destroyed the Grimesville Inn, a large frame building on the east side of Central Avenue next to the New York Central Railroad right-of-way. The old building, which was a North End landmark, had not been used as a hotel for years, and was last partially occupied as a field office for engineers during the construction of the Central Avenue Grade Crossing Elimination Project in 1950-52. Cause of the fire was uncertain, but it was generally attributed to a grass fire, which spread out of control along the railroad right-of-way.

· A fire that was to alter the destiny of the entire downtown commercial area occurred on March 5, 1961, when flames were discovered in the rear of the Oelkers Furniture Co. building on the north side of West Main Street. Reported late in the afternoon, the blaze threatened to engulf all of the buildings on West Main Street, as volunteer firemen from the Village and seven other departments fought to bring it under control. The demand for water to control the blaze was too great for the water mains and hydrants in the area, and firemen resorted to pumping water from Cayuga and Plumbottom Creeks, which were near flood stage at the time after an early thaw. Following a lengthy battle, during which the entire business district was threatened with destruction, the flames were finally extinguished. The Oelkers store was destroyed. Badly damaged were the Panzica Fruit Market and the Central Machine Co. Other businesses suffering damage were Cammel's Meat Market, the Lancaster Variety Store, and Repka's Super Mart.

· The fire dealt a severe blow to the downtown business community, which was already badly hurt by the opening of the D & L Plaza. Ruins of the Oelkers building were razed and carted away. There was no talk of rebuilding it or some of the other badly damaged structures, and the gravity of the situation was apparent to downtown merchants and Village officials. To make matters worse, fire insurance underwriters decided that the lack of an adequate public water supply during the Oelkers fire had contributed to the tremendous financial loss, and a sharp increase in fire insurance rates was threatened unless immediate steps were taken to provide additional water for fire-fighting purposes. Then it was decided to investigate into a new Federal program called Urban Renewal, originally intended to rebuild blighted residential areas, but later extended to include deteriorating business districts.

· Two 1965 fires in the Village destroyed commercial buildings-the Tudor Jones Warehouse on July 26, and Sergi Brothers Contracting Company on October 2.

· By the end of 1967, Lancaster's downtown looked like a bombed-out area with huge gaps between the buildings that had been allowed to remain standing. Another disastrous fire damaged the interior of the Memorial Building on Legion Parkway on January 3, 1968.

· On July 29, 1968, ground was broken for the construction of a new North End Fire Hall, to replace the old building which was moved from Central Avenue to West Drullard Avenue in 1950.

· Contracts were awarded for repairs to the fire-damaged Memorial Building in August 1968. On November 13 of the same year, ground was broken for the construction of a one-million gallon water tower at the intersection of Aurora and St. Mary's Streets, to satisfy the demands of fire insurance underwriters for an additional water supply in the downtown area.

· In the spring of 1969, demolition of buildings on West Main Street was resumed. Unplanned demolition by fire took place on September 5, 1969, when an early morning blaze destroyed the main buildings of the Weil Lumber Co. at North Aurora and Mechanic Streets.

· On November 9, 1969, the new North End Fire Hall was dedicated.

· On Good Friday, March 27, 1970, an afternoon fire which appeared to be a minor cellar blaze developed into a conflagration which destroyed the large apartment building on the north side of Broadway near School Street, historically known as the Dykstra Block. Efforts of local and Mutual Aid fire companies from surrounding communities were in vain as the flames crept up wooden partitions in the multi-story building and enveloped the roof. The ruined brick shell of the building was later demolished, and the property is now the site of the Lancaster Library.

· On May 23, 1970, a gasoline blaze at the Bolender gas station next to the Lancaster Town Hall was extinguished before a tank truck loaded with the fuel could explode.

· On July 29, 1971, a night fire threatened the Ukrainian Hall on Walden Avenue, but was brought under control after causing moderate damage. A spectacular afternoon fire on September 7 destroyed several buildings and some equipment of the Gilano Paving Company on St. Mary's Street at the west village line.

· May 15, 1989, careless smoking was blamed by officials for a fire shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday that caused $20,000 in damages to a two-family home at 3539 Walden Ave., Lancaster, village police reported. A pet cat perished in the fire that started in a chair in the living room of the upper apartment occupied by Charles Hess, police said. The names of the occupants of the lower apartment were not learned. Everyone in the dwelling got out safely, police said.

· September 16, 1991, firefighters responded to a mid-evening structure fire at Visone Construction, 70 Sheldon Avenue. An employee was using a welder to repair a tank containing diesel fuel. The tank ruptured, and the fuel ignited and spilled onto the employee. The employee was engulfed in flames, suffering third- and fourth-degree burns from which he died. The building quickly became consumed with fire, spreading throughout the structure.

· March 11, 1993, voters in village elections Tuesday in Depew and Lancaster will decide whether to authorize retirement benefits for volunteer firefighters. The Lancaster Fire Department is mailing a letter signed by five of the seven Village Board members urging voters to "consider this proposal carefully," and pointing out that the "Fire Department is finding it increasingly difficult to attract new members" and retain existing members.

· April 10, 1995, when it was founded in 1885, Lancaster's Eagle Hose Company had a dozen members, including Henry Robinson. Today, nine of his descendants are involved with the fire company, and together the family has accumulated 284 years of service.

· September 7, 1995, the Lancaster Fire Department will dedicate a plaque at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in front of 31 Central Ave. in Lancaster to commemorate the home of the town's pioneering firefighters. The building at 31 Central Ave. was once known as the Truck House and was occupied from 1880 to 1895 by various fire companies, including Rescue Hook and Ladder, Cayuga Engine Company and Eagle Hose Company.

· On February 2, 1998, a gas explosion extensively damaged a house in the Village of Lancaster at 9:40 p.m.

· On April 15, 1998, a fire heavily damaged St. Basil the Great Byzantine-Ukrainian Catholic Church at Walden and Central avenues in the Village of Lancaster this morning. Lancaster Fire Chief Gary Heim estimated damage at $40,000 to $45,000. One firefighter suffered a back injury in a fall from a ladder. The blaze was blamed on an electrical malfunction. Heim said there was fire damage to the basement and sanctuary in the rear of the two-story brick church, built in 1955, and heavy smoke damage throughout.

· On December 11, 2003, Lancaster firefighters responded to a structure fire at Stanzko Automotive, 161 Central Avenue.

· January 21, 2004, there are questions Wednesday night about a suspicious fire at a popular restaurant in the Village of Lancaster. The overnight blaze severely damaged the kitchen at Eddie Ryan's.

· On August 21, 2004, firefighters responded to a well-involved duplex fire at 107 Livingston.

· On September 11, 2006, fire swept through the building housing the Tattered Cat antique shop during the early morning at 213 Central Ave., destroying it and five apartments – three of them occupied.

· October 12, 2006, The October 12 storm kept Village of Lancaster firefighters busy throughout the week. Over five days, the Lancaster Fire Department responded to over 150 requests for assistance. The bombardment of alarms included an assorted mix of responses. Everything from carbon monoxide detector activations, traffic control, utility shut-off’s, welfare checks, mutual aid assistance, and fire alarm activations to structural compromise, live power lines down, transformer explosions, structure fires, natural gas leaks, and box alarms.

Lancaster Village firefighters provided stand-by crews for five days and four nights to cover the volume of calls. The Village Emergency Operations Center, initially established at the Municipal Building, needed to be relocated due to a fire early on during the storm. A problem with the emergency generator caused a fire to break out in the basement. The fire was quickly extinguished and ventilated, with assistance from Town Line and South Line Fire Departments.

Another fire, on Central Avenue, involved a commercial building with apartments. Arriving first on location, Assistant Chief James Robinson declared a working structure fire. Heavy smoke rolled across Central Avenue as residents were being evacuated. The fire, originating from a fireplace within a second floor apartment, quickly extended through the apartment and into the attic. Lancaster firefighters were aided by crews from Bowmansville, Depew, Millgrove, Town Line, and Twin District. Crews remained on the scene for several hours.

A number of calls involved live power lines and requests for utility disconnect. The falling trees and power lines posed a significant concern for the public and for first responders. They were snapping and falling all around us. Utilities were a concern for many residents as flooding became a factor; firefighters aided by disconnecting power and gas to homes. Carbon monoxide detector activations were primarily attributed to generators being placed in or too close to the home or due to low batteries.

Many roads became impassible, which hindered operation of emergency response vehicles. Live power lines, phone cables, downed trees and limbs posed significant hazards to responders and equipment. There became a period of time when fire trucks were unable to navigate safely and it became necessary to use four-wheel drive vehicles. For streets where these vehicles could not travel, the fire department resorted to use of four-wheel all-terrain vehicles operated by Village firefighters.

The fire department spent a considerable amount of time performing welfare checks on residents, including the elderly and at-risk population. Firefighters provided transportation for many who needed to seek emergency shelter, which was established at the Central Avenue School.

· On December 28, 2006, a Sawyer Avenue man was pulled from his burning apartment after fire ripped through his bedroom and forced four other residents from their apartments. Assistant Fire Chief Scott Kuhlmey was the first to arrive at 94 Sawyer Ave. about a minute after the emergency call came in around 8 a.m. He saw smoke from outside the building and entered when a tenant unlocked the door. Four residents escaped safely, but a fifth was trapped. Kuhlmey went to the second floor to find a door ajar and fire inside the room. He had to force the door open because the victim was lying behind it in a pile of clothing and other items. The Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps took the victim to Erie County Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition after suffering burns and smoke inhalation.

· February 25, 2008, The bright red and white boxes with peaked “roofs” once dotted street corners throughout the area — providing a lifeline at a time when few people had telephones at home to report fires. Today they are a casualty of the 911 emergency system and the ubiquitous cell phone. Sometime in the next 90 days, the Village of Lancaster will likely become one of the last suburban municipalities to bid a fond goodbye to an American icon: the street corner fire alarm box.

· On May 23, 2008, a neighbor called 9.1.1. to report possible smoke coming from a vent at 139 Irwinwood. The Fire Department was alerted and on arrival, observed heavy smoke coming from the multi-family residence. As the first arriving trucks approached, fire was visible from the garage and the street quickly became consumed with smoke. All occupants were later accounted for and were not home at the time of the fire. One dog was rescued from the fire and was given oxygen. Damage was estimated at $50,000 to the structure and $20,000 to the contents.

· On November 6, 2008, a passer-by who stopped and banged on two second-floor apartment doors has been credited with helping get everyone out safely from a fire that extensively damaged a Walden Avenue apartment house Lancaster police and fire officials said. Everyone escaped safely from the four apartments at 3439 Walden Ave., as firefighters responded to an 8:49 a. m. alarm. Officials are investigating a possible electrical cause for the blaze.

For additional historic information, read “From Buckets to Diesels: The Story of the Lancaster Fire Department”