In 1912, a Borough resident named William Flynn, owner of the Spring Grove Hotel, made a suggestion to a group of residents that there was a need for a local fire department. The group approved the idea, and one week later, in the Borough Hall, the first meeting was held. At that meeting, the group organized by electing the first officers; William Flynn, President; Maurice Klega, Secretary; Thomas Woods, Sr., Treasurer; and Thomas Kay, Fire Chief.

They began their fundraising efforts with William Flynn and Benjiman Hay going to West Easton business owners by horse and buggy to solicite money. On speaking to Mr. Evan Chipman, owner of Chipman Knitting Mills (now Reda Sprots Group property) he quickly donated $500.00. They next approached Mr. Elder of the Ingersoll Rand Corporation on Lehigh Drive (now Alstom Power Generation) who matched the Chipman donation. Their last stop of the afternoon was to the Adamson Chemical Company, which donated $250.00, for a first day total of $1,250.00. With this inspiration, they held bazaars, shooting matches and carnivals to raise enough funds to purchase the first fire apparatus. A "VIM" truck was purchased in Philadelphia. This apparatus served until 1916, when a new Dodge was purchased and equipped as funds became available. This resulted in Borough residents finding their fire insurance rates drop from $1.05 to seventy cents.

The fire company was incorporated on June 04, 1930 as the SAFETY FIRST VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY #1, of WEST EASTON, PA. With new members joining at every meeting the Borough Hall became too small to accomidate them. A building committee was formed to draw up plans for a new building. The building (which is currently the Social Hall and Banquet Facility) was dedicated on September 04, 1931. The building received renovations and expansions in 1952, 1983 and 1990 to bring it to it's current state.

With the completion of the building, they began pursuing the purchase of a newer, modern fire truck. In 1940, a new Hahn pumper was purchased, which compared to the best on the market at that time. During the 1940's firemen Charles Bogusky, Thomas Seip and James VanNorman attended the Easton Fire Department's Training Schools. During this period, the High Pressure Fog Nozzle was put on the market for fighting flammable liquid and chemical fires. The first oil pit fire training in this area was conducted in West Easton, as part of the Easton Fire Department's Training School. The pits were constructed by the West Easton Firemen on what is now the Borough Park. They also provided the oil to burn. Firemen, both paid and volunteer, from throughout this area attended these training classes over several years to learn how to extinguish these types of fires with the high pressure fog nozzle.

During the 1950's and 1960's Fire Chief Lewis Link became the first West Easton Fireman to attend the State Fire Academy in Lewistown. During the early 1950's with fire schools warning of the dangers of toxic gases from buring plastics, the Ladies Auxillary purchased the first two Scott Air Packs for the firemen. In the late 1960's, firemen encouraged by Fire Chief William Mostow, joined the Lehigh / Northampton County Fire Chief's Association in hopes of making improved fire training available locally. A committee of four: Gene Brown from Dewey Fire Company in Hellertown; Irv Good from the Bethlehem Fire Department; and Thomas Seip and William Bogari, Sr. from West Easton, went before the Northampton County Commissioners and successfully had $3,000.00 placed in the annual County budget for fire training purposes.

In 1964 the Borough purchased a Mack Pumper to replace the 24 year old Hahn. A Fire Training facility was constructed in 1965 on land owned by Ingersoll Rand along Lehigh Drive. This facility has a smoke house, ladder tower and fire hydrant, and is still in use. Firemen began attending the Northampton County Fire School in Washington Township during the 1970's and Fire Chief William Bogari, Sr. began sending more firemen to the State Fire Academy in Lewistown for various classes during the 1980's. In 1983, after several years of fundraising, the Fire Company purchased a Pierce Mini-Pumper, and for the first time in our history, there were two pieces of fire apparatus. Our 75th Anniversary was celebrated in August 1987. A weekend of festivites included a Banquet on Friday, Parade on Saturday and Open House and the Dedication of our new Pierce Pumper on Sunday.

Fire Chief William Bogari, Jr. has continued the traditions set by previous officer by making our firefighters highly trained and skilled in all aspects of the service we provide to our community. Firefighters can take any training they desire, above and beyond the minimum requirement. Often weekend classes throughout the State are attended, some firefighters even take vacation to attend weekday classes at various academies. In 1992 we took over providing Rescue services. Extensive training and equipment purchases made it necessary for another vehicle purchase. In 1996 a Pierce Saber Rescue Engine was purchased to replace the Mini-Pumper. This was a new era for our Fire Company, now having two fully equipped Class A Pumpers.

Over the years there have been various ways of alerting firemen of a fire. In the beginning, the boilerman of Chipman Knitting Mills would sound the whistle between one and ten times, each number representing a particular area of the Borough. The firemen closest to the firehouse would bring the truck and the rest would run directly to the area. In the 1940's a compressed air horn was installed on the firehouse roof. It was connected to the Wilson Borough Fire Department's dispatch center. When they received a report of a fire they would sound the horns. A direct phone line went from the firehouse to the dispatch center so the firemen could call to get the exact location of the fire. These horns are still in service to this day. In the 1960's the Plectron was developed. Several were purchased and put in the homes of key firemen, and as monies became available more units were purchased and eventually every fireman had one in their home. We are now dispatch by the Northampton County 9-1-1 Center. Every firefighter has a Minitor and/or Plectron receiver, and the old air horns are activated by a Plectron receiver with a seperate tone.

Information for this page was obtained, in part from the Diamond Jubilee Program of August 1987 in a "HISTORY" article written by Thomas Seip and Charles Bogusky.