Charter Members

Founded: April 1941

The Origin of the Sennett Fire Department

As told by Raymond Borst in 1995

I fought my first fire in Sennett on April 11, 1941, fifty-four years ago. I remember the day because it was my daughter's fourth birthday and the day we moved to our present home. On that day my new neighbor, Stuart French, had started a fire in the dried grass between our places and the fire was out of control when we drove in and he was busy trying to put it out with a burlap bag. I immediately grabbed another bag and helped him and without stopping for formalities, he said "I'm Stuart French" and I said "I am Ray Borst" as we went on pounding out the fire. I have always considered that as the start of the idea of a Sennett Fire Department. 

At that time the City of Auburn decided not to let the city fire department to go outside of the city. That meant that Sennett and the other towns had no fire protection. Ed Harding worked part-time selling fire equipment and learned that the old 1925, I think, fire truck from Wolcott was for sale for $1,000. 

One day five of us, Stuart French, Ed Harding, Marty Lind, Ned Brown and I met on my back porch to discuss the idea of purchasing the truck. A thousand dollars was a lot of money then and it still is. We decided to buy it but had no money. 

We contacted everyone in the town and actually raised that amount. The next problem was where to keep it. We immediately thought of the town hall at the four corners of the Hamlet that had a vehicle bay. The town fathers did not like the idea because I think they thought it threatened their political rule. However, when I said that we could keep it in one of my barns but it might be difficult to get it out in the winter, we were allowed to use the town hall. 

We then put out a call for volunteers and in a short time we had over twenty willing men. We worked out a call system with the wives each calling four or five others. With a group of new firefighters we organized and elected a fire chief, Ed Harding, with Stuart French as assistant chief. We had our meetings upstairs in the old town hall where on cold nights we would stoke the wood stove to keep warm. 

Once and a while I would set fire to the dried grass on one of my fields and checked the time it took for the truck and men to arrive, hook-up the suction hose in the brook and start the water flow. By this time we had acquired a few Indian back packs for such fires. At one time the local paper sent out a photographer who took a picture of the truck and firefighters putting out the fire. 

By now our department was operating very efficiently but we realized that we were not giving the east end of the town good service. We were supporting the department with dinners and other fund raising efforts. We needed a better truck and a location more central in the town. The only way to accomplish this was to set up a fire district and this we did. Then we purchased a lot on Franklin Street Road, hired Beardsley to design a firehouse which was constructed at a total cost of less than ten thousand dollars! A public election was held for five commissioners. Among those elected were Marty Lind, Bert Westlake and me. Off hand I do not remember the other two. 

And that is the humble beginning of the magnificent firehouses and equipment of the present Sennett Fire Department. 

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