Probably no other single organization reaches as deeply into the life of the community as the volunteer fire department. After a disastrous fire in December 1891, concerned residents gathered at the general store and the opinion was unanimous that a volunteer fire company should be formed at once. From this impromptu meeting emerged Hose Co. #1, forerunner of the Ridgefield Park Volunteer Fire Department.
In early 1892 Friendship Hook and Ladder Co. #1 was formed, followed by Overpeck Engine Co. #2 in 1905. Westview Hose Co. #3 was organized in 1906. In 1910 Hazelton Heights Fire Co. #4 was formed, but with the purchase of a hand-drawn hook and ladder truck in 1912, the company became Hook and Ladder Co. #2, which it was remained ever since. In 1911, at a meeting to discuss fire protection for the section south of the present Route 46, Active Chemical and Hose Company was formed, now known as Hose Co. #4.
The Ridgefield Park Fire Department today is one of the finest volunteer fire departments in the State of New Jersey and Bergen County. In a recent study, the Ridgefield Park Fire Department is rated as one of the best departments in response, training and overall coverage in Bergen County. The six fire companies remain manned by all volunteers. Over the years the Fire Department has fought a number of major blazes within the town - in February 1953, Park Lumber Company at the foot of Mt. Vernon St.; New Year's Eve, 1964, Appalachian and Hudson Lumber Company on Industrial Avenue (firefighters were on the scene of this blaze for over three days); July 1965, Euckers Restaurant; and February 1994, House Explosion on Winant Avenue (NJ Route 46).
The six companies own and maintain the buildings that the fire equipment is housed in. Training is on-going, coupled with company and department drills, to insure the Village will always be adequately protected. This group of about 100 members is on-call twenty-four hours a day.
Four Village fire fighters have died in the line of duty. In April, 1914, Conrad Scherrer, Jr., a charter member of Overpeck Engine Co. #2 was killed when he was thrown from a new firetruck being tested in New York City. On February 4, 1969, Walter Dille suffered a fatal heart seizure while at a fire on Seventh Street. Firefighter Gary Molitor suffered fatal injuries in an accident while responding to a fire at Winant Avenue and Main Street August 8, 1972. Firefighter and FBI agent Leonard W. Hatton Jr. of Hook and Ladder Co. #1 was killed on September 11, 2001. He was rescuing people in the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed on that tragic day.
The Ridgefield Park Volunteer Fire Department covers an area of about 2 square miles with about 14,000 residents. It also provides mutual aid assistance for many neighboring towns and cities. These cities are as follows: Bogota, Little Ferry, Teaneck, Hackensack, Moonachie, South Hackensack, Englewood, Bergenfield, and on occasion Ridgefield, Edgewater, and Fort Lee. As a whole, the department averages about 400 fire calls a year. |
