The Northpole Fire Company, Inc. began as the Calcium Fire Department and held it's first meeting on January 8, 1953. It was located on Sanford Corners Rd. in Calcium, NY (Town of Leray). In June 1953, attorney Giles drew up paperwork to make the Calcium Fire Department a "Corporation". A short while later, Calcium Fire Department incorporated. In 1957, the Calcium Fire Department received a check for $300.00 for fire protection from the Town of Leray. In 1958, Calcium expanded to the Town of Pamelia and signed a fire protection contract for $275.00.
On July 12, 1959, on the site of the current Northpole Fire Company, Inc. there was a house and a barn. These structures were burned under the supervision of Instructor Francis Brown.
In September 1960, the first Pit Roast Beef Barbeque Dinner was held as a fund raiser.
In October 1960, the Town of Pamelia Board proposed increasing our contract $500.00 per year if we put a fire station at Northpole (Northpole was a geographic location/reference for law enforcement agencies that is the area where the current Northpole Fire Station lies). Additionally, in 1960, the Town of Leray formed a Fire District and we also extended our Corporation in the Town of Pamelia to include the Black River Rd. There was a great deal of discussion held at the time about building a fire station in the Northpole area. In May 1961, it was estimated to cost $1,800.00 to build a 30' X 30' fire station. In the same month, Dayton Priest offered to lease us the land to build a fire station on NYS Route 37. Construction on the new Calcium Station #2 began. In December 1961, a roof top siren was purchased from Evans Mills for $40.00. This roof top siren still sits on this building and is in service today. Ultimately, on January 1, 1962, Calcium Station #2 on State Route 37 in the Town of Pamelia was opened.
Twenty years later, in August 1982, member John Allen made a motion that we purchase a metal building from Ft. Drum for $101.00. In February, 1984, we made a purchase offer on the Hawks property for $19,000 (our current location) and we took Title of the property on June 6, 1984 and construction began on the new Fire Station (later to become the current Northpole Fire Company, Inc.). On September 23, 1985, we took an F.H.A. loan to put up the new building. Finally, on April 1, 1986, the building was completed and ready for BINGO. The first Bingo game was held June 11, 1986 and the Hall was dedicated in a formal ceremony on June 7, 1987.
On January 1, 1988, we moved our Corporation headquarters from the Town of Leray to the Town of Pamelia. On December 7, 1987, Bill Hermann made a motion which was second by Gerry Reff to rename the Corporation "Northpole Fire Company, Inc.". This new name was to take effect on January 1, 1988. The original Calcium Fire Company remained in it's current location on Sanford Corners Rd. under the direction of the Fire District of the Town of Leray.
In 1989, Northpole purchased it's first 1500 GPM Engine from E-One out of Ocala Florida. It remained in service for 24 years until May 21, 2013 when Westville, Ok Fire Department purchased the truck. It was shipped out to them on May 23, 2013.
In 1996, the Department purchased it's second E-One Custom 1500 GPM Pumper which was set up as the primary attack engine. In addition, it responded to all MVA's because it carries the auto-extrication equipment. It was the primary attack engine until the new Sutphen Engine was put in service on December 29, 2012. At that time, Engine #2 became a back-up engine and water supply engine.
In 1998, the Department purchased a Heavy Rescue truck which was utilized to respond to all EMS calls, transport firefighters, carry extra cribbing for MVA's, as well as a cascade system for filling air packs at fire scenes. This truck was also equipped with a 20 KW PTO generator with two, 200' cord reels and telescoping lights.
Our fleet of apparatus quickly grew and our truck bays were extremely tight and space was becoming an issue. We had two Engines, one Heavy Rescue and one 5000 gallon Tanker. As a result, in November 2002, we signed a contract with DEW Builders to build a new station on the same property next to the Bingo Hall. One year later, in November 2003, we moved into our new and current location and the Bingo Hall remained for banquets, large group gatherings and Fundraising (Bingo). Bingo remains our major source of revenue today.
In 2004 our fleet expanded with the purchase of 32-7-1 (Utility truck). This vehicle is a F350 4WD Powerstroke Turbo Diesel pick up truck which is used for EMS calls, trainings, and for hauling the four wheeler/trailer to wildland fires. About a year later, we purchased the four wheeler and put a 16 gallon water tank sprayer on the back. This was a major step forward in progress for fighting wildland (grass) fires. No longer did we need to carry the very heavy, metal water tanks on firefighters' backs.
By 2007, the Town of Pamelia was implementing a new water system which included fire hydrants in many parts of the fire protection area. The old 5000 gallon tanker was aging and was not NFPA compliant. As a result, we sold the aging tanker to a farm in southern Jefferson County and purchased a much smaller 2000 gallon tanker made by S&S.
The past decade has seen some dramatic changes in our economy as well as the fire service. Firefighters are expected to do a lot more with a lot less. There are ever increasing demands and training requirements being placed upon us by NFPA as well as new laws and standards. We strive to meet these needs and balance that with costs of maintaining our equipment. Additionally, volunteers are not as prevalent as they have been in the past and volunteer departments no longer see the waiting lists of members that they once enjoyed. As a result, Northpole decided to consolidate it's fleet of apparatus by selling the Heavy Rescue Truck as well as the older 1989 E-One engine. On April 14, 2012, the Heavy Rescue (32-6-1) was sold to Remsen Fire Department in Oneida County. In exchange, we developed a truck committee and ultimately purchased a new 8-Man Cab Rescue Pumper from Sutphen Corporation. We took possession of the new engine (32-1-1) on December 18, 2012 and it was officially put into service on December 29, 2012. The old 32-1-1 (1989 E-0ne) was decomissioned the same day. Ultimately, the 1989 E-One pumper was sold to Westville, Ok Fire Department on May 21, 2013.
