BALDWIN FIRE DEPARTMENT

Hose Company No. 2 was organized on January 20, 1913. George W. Miller was elected Foreman and William H. Gaillard, Secretary, with twenty-nine members sworn in. Charles Coakey, a local carpenter, built the firehouse in the summer of 1913 on property donated to the Baldwin Fire Department by the Baldwin Harbor Realty Company on Church Street and Verity Lane. In the fall of 1913, a minstrel show was conducted to raise funds for the Company. Thirty-five dollars and forty-five cents was raised. Valentine Johnson was appointed to see that the gaslight in front of the firehouse was lit each night. Plumber Wilbur Langdon installed a hot-air furnace for $35.00. The firehouse was usually heated for three months of the year, December to February. A janitor was paid $35.00 for his services. The house-warming party for the new firehouse, called a “smoker,” was held on Saturday evening, March 7, 1914. The pipes and tobacco for the party cost $4.75 and William R. Massie was chairman of the event. The bell on the Methodist Church on Church Street was used to signal fires. William Gaillard was elected and served as Chief for three years. 

A carnival was run in July of 1914 and netted the Company $274.10. That August, a committee was appointed to investigate the matter of acquiring an alarm system for Hose Company No. 2. An electric siren was tested and found to be unsatisfactory. A 36” steel alloy bell was purchased from Montgomery Ward and installed in the belfry of Hose Company No. 2’s firehouse. 

The first apparatus utilized by Hose Company No. 2 was a horse-drawn wagon with hose and ladders. The exact date that this apparatus was placed into service is unknown. However, a Company picture taken in 1915 illustrates Hose Company No. 2 in service with this type of apparatus. In February of 1916, Hose Company No. 2 appointed a committee with the power to purchase a Mercedes Simplex touring car with chain drive with four forward gears and two reverse gears. A butcher in Port Washington had converted this vehicle into a delivery truck. He had traded this car into the Ford Motor Company for a Ford “pickup” truck. Eddie Bedell and William Massie went over to Port Washington and examined the car. They test drove the vehicle to Great Neck and back. They told the dealer it was a gamble to buy the car, as it would cost quite a bit to fix it up. They offered the dealer $100.00 for the vehicle. The dealer wanted $200.00 for the car, but when Eddie Bedell got through telling him what it would cost to put it in A-1 condition, they paid $135.00 for it. The following is an excerpt from the history of B.F.D. Hose Company No. 2’s first motor apparatus story by William R. Massie, Chairman of the Apparatus Committee: 

This apparatus carried seven men. In July of 1919, a siren was purchased for Hose Company No. 2’s apparatus for $33.00. On August 8, 1921, a new GMC truck was approved for Hose Company No. 2 and put into service in the Fall of that year. The bell was removed from the old truck and put on the new GMC. In December of 1928, the fire district proposed a new firehouse, and the old firehouse was torn down. The fire truck was kept in Eckhardt’s barn during construction. The new firehouse, as we know it today, was constructed at a cost of $12,000. The new firehouse was opened in April of 1929 and the dedication took place in August. Hose Company No. 2 donated the old fire bell that rang atop the old firehouse to the Calvary Protestant church, where it remains to this day. In July of that year, the annual 

At the September 1932 Company meeting, Hose Company No. 2 voted to start a first aid unit. The First Aid unit went into service in January of 1933. In May, Hose Company No. 2’s Captain Howard Smith, appointed four men headed by Hose Company No. 2’s member, Dr. Frank Musso, a local pharmacist, to respond to emergencies. Thanks to the dedication of the members of Hose Company No. 2, Baldwin at last had its first ambulance. The sick and injured no longer had to wait forty-five minutes for the Meadowbrook Hospital ambulance to respond. The First Aid Company was officially established in May of 1938 as a separate Company from Hose Company No. 2. Dr. Frank Musso was appointed its first Captain with twelve members from other companies. They put into service a new 1938 Mack First Aid truck in June of that year, replacing the open-sided ambulance. It can be said that the members of Hose Company No. 2 are the “Fathers of First Aid.” 

From these humble beginnings Hose Company Two has continued to grow. By the year 2021 The Company has continued to protect the entire town but will always be the “South House” as the members call it today as they protect the south end or Baldwin Harbor with great pride and commitment. Originally known affectionately as” The Clam Diggers”. They today still stick to their Baldwin Harbor roots while maintaining a highly trained crew of aggressive and dedicated Firefighters. Hose Two, “The Deuce” protecting the town for over 100 years.