About Us

By 1916, the Bellport Fire Department entered a new era with the purchase of its first motorized fire truck. A Reo motor truck was purchased from the William L. Mantha Company of Bayport for $1,045. Additional equipment, including chemical tanks, was purchased and sent to Bellport, where it was installed at C.K. Shaw’s Blacksmith Shop. This marked an important shift from hand-drawn equipment to motorized fire protection.

In 1921, the department awarded a contract to the Sterling Siren Company for a siren to be installed on top of the bell tower. The siren sounded for the first time at noon on Sunday, March 5, 1922. The alarm button was placed in the local telephone office at the corner of New Jersey Avenue and South Country Road. When an emergency call came in, the telephone operator would sound the alarm and then go to the truck house to tell the responding firefighters where the fire was located. Later that same year, on October 28, 1922, the Engine Company was organized, with Clarence Hawkins serving as Foreman and J. Nelson Hawkins serving as Assistant Foreman.

In March 1924, the department purchased a 350-gallon pumping engine from American La France at a cost of $6,000. The truck included a chemical tank, hose body, and 1,000 feet of 2 ½-inch hose. That same month, the department contracted with Karlson and Lee of Riverhead to install four wells in strategic areas of the village at a cost of $330 each. These wells helped provide a local water source for firefighting and served as an early step toward the more developed water systems used later. In 1925, the district expanded this system further by installing 27 additional wells throughout the fire district.

Even with new pumping equipment and wells, the older chemical trucks remained valuable. In November 1925, an early morning fire at Lucas Drugstore on the corner of Station Road and Main Street showed the continued importance of the REO chemical truck. When the department’s pumper was unable to draw water from a nearby well, firefighters relied on the chemical truck. Its tanks were recharged more than twenty times during the fire by a bucket brigade using water from a horse trough. Although the building suffered heavy damage, no one was injured.

The need for reliable water access remained a major issue. In 1928, money was authorized for the rental of fire hydrants, but a dispute with the Great South Bay Water Company delayed their use until June 1931. In 1930, when a fire broke out in a barn near Bell Street and Brown’s Lane, only the chemical tanks could be used. The barn was a total loss, and local stories recall firefighters being further challenged when fireworks stored inside the barn ignited, sending roman candles and skyrockets in every direction.

During the 1930s, the department continued expanding and improving its equipment. In 1931, a Fire Police Squad was created, with two men from each company appointed by the Chief. That same year, a Mack fire truck with a 350-gallon-per-minute pump, chemical tanks, and hose body was purchased. In 1932, a secondhand Pierce Arrow car, formerly used as a “rum runner,” was converted into a racing vehicle for tournaments. In 1935, a Chevrolet chassis was purchased and completed by American La France as a hose truck, which served the department for many years and is still used today in parades and funerals.

By the mid-1930s, the department had outgrown its original truck house. Discussions and rough plans for a new firehouse began in 1935. In October 1936, plans were approved, and a special election authorized a $20,000 bond for construction. In 1937, bids were received, with Armstrong and Piermann submitting the low bid of $17,946, narrowly beating Robinson and Watkins by only $39. The original truck house was moved to the rear of the property facing Woodruff Street, where it remained until 1975.

On February 11, 1938, the new firehouse was dedicated. This marked a major milestone in the department’s growth, giving Bellport a more modern and permanent home for its members, equipment, and expanding role in the community.

By 1938, the Bellport Fire Department had transformed from a small volunteer company with hand-drawn equipment into a modern fire department with motorized apparatus, improved water access, organized companies, and a new firehouse built to support the growing needs of the community.

The 1960s brought major changes and challenges to the Bellport Fire Department. As telephone systems modernized, emergency calls were no longer handled by local Bellport operators. In June 1961, calls began being routed to an answering service in Patchogue. By July 1968, emergency calls were routed through the Suffolk County Yaphank Fire Control Center, marking another major step in the modernization of emergency dispatching.

One of the most serious fires in Bellport’s history occurred in March 1963, when Bellport High School made headline news throughout the United States. The school, located at the corner of Station Road and Kreamer Street, held nearly 1,000 people when a fire broke out in the auditorium shortly before the end of the school day. The fire began in a backstage area and quickly spread into the cockloft, where it attacked the old, dry timber above the auditorium. From there, the fire moved toward the gymnasium cockloft through openings in the fire wall.

The evacuation began quickly, but a group of about forty students and teachers became trapped on the second floor when dense smoke filled the stairwells and blocked their exit. As they retreated, smoke spread through the hallway, and many students were overcome. Arriving firefighters, school workers, and bystanders raised ladders to the second-floor windows and began rescuing students and teachers. Firefighters found several victims unconscious and had to lift them through the windows to rescuers outside.

Thirty-seven people were hospitalized, with three listed in critical condition. Some of the worst injuries were suffered by two boys who either jumped or were pushed from second-story windows and landed on the concrete below. Chief Robert Terwilliger, along with approximately 500 firefighters from twelve departments, battled the fire well into the evening. After the fire, the water department estimated that 1,118,000 gallons of water had been pumped into the building. Without the actions of firefighters, school personnel, and community members, the loss of life, injuries, and property damage could have been far worse.

The Bellport High School fire also influenced the department’s future equipment decisions. In 1964, Bellport became the second fire department in Suffolk County to own a snorkel truck. After seeing Westhampton Fire Department’s snorkel truck operate at the 1963 school fire, Bellport purchased a 75-foot aerial platform truck built on an International Harvester chassis. The truck was assigned to the Hook and Ladder Company as 5-1-13.

The snorkel truck did not have its own pump and relied on the department’s 1947 American LaFrance pumper to supply water. It also had no roof over the cab because it would not have fit inside the firehouse. Before the truck could be delivered, the firehouse doors had to be altered to make room for it. Despite these challenges, the snorkel became an important and versatile piece of equipment.

The snorkel was useful not only for structural firefighting, but also for community service and special operations. It was used as an aerial observation platform during large brush fires, helped string Christmas lights on the village tree, and was even used once to fill the tender of a steam locomotive at the Bellport Railroad Station.

The 1960s also saw continued improvements in communication and department operations. In 1968, the first home alert receivers, known as Plectrons, were purchased. These receivers helped notify members who could not hear the fire sirens from their homes. Each year after, more units were purchased so that most firefighters could receive alarms directly. In 1969, the department also changed its bylaws so that the Chief’s election would be held in December instead of April.