Fire Rescue News - Cologne Volunteer Fire Company to celebrate its 50 years of service
Saturday Sep 25th 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Cologne's Fire house (Staion 18-5)
The Cologne Volunteer Fire Company is celebrating its golden anniversary, and its firefighters can tick off the many changes in Hamilton Township during the past 50 years. What started as a group of volunteers who wanted to make a difference after a forest fire has evolved into a community fixture.
The Cologne section used to be covered by the Germania Volunteer Fire Company in Galloway Township, but that all changed in....Continue Reading
1958 when a large blaze damaged the community from Cologne to Leipzig avenues, said Assistant Chief Bill Will, 72, and Robert Hare, 77, a founding member and retired Lenox China shipping department worker. Will said other nearby volunteer fire companies got into a dispute over who covered the territory. In the meantime, about a dozen Cologne residents, some who had experience with the U.S. Forest Fire Service, ended up battling the flames themselves.
"That's how we got involved - we put the fire out, and we decided to get the ball rolling," Will said.
Hare and Will said about 35 to 40 people showed up for their first meeting. The Cologne Volunteer Fire Company became incorporated on Feb. 17, 1960, and the firehouse on Cologne Avenue was built mostly through community donations and volunteer work. "It was hook, crook, borrow and steal," Will joked about the donations. "If it wasn't tied down, we got it." The company started out with one fire truck donated by the Laureldale Volunteer Fire Company, Will said, and other apparatus were purchased later on.
Will credits the founding members for having the foresight to create the company and help it get established. "Looking back at the early days, the company had a 10-cent pool to pay the electric and heat bills," Will said. "Thank God for Laureldale for donating the first piece (truck)." Will noted the firehouse has expanded through the years, and it now includes a softball complex, which has since been donated to the township.
Chief David Elkner, 52, a 26-year veteran, said the Cologne Volunteer Fire Company is very important because even though its coverage area spans 8.4 square miles, the neighborhood is one of the most populated sections of Hamilton Township, with many housing complexes and shopping malls. The company has about 39 active members, four of whom are women. The ladies auxiliary, which is a separate organization, has about 40 members who help out by holding fundraisers for equipment and firehouse furnishings.
Demand for services grew exponentially as the township became less rural and the population boomed. The Cologne Volunteer Fire Company handled 65 calls in 1984, Elkner said. Now, the company averages about 300 calls per year, with the highest being 450 calls in 2006. Elkner noted that firefighters today have to respond to a wider range of emergency calls beyond fires, such as car accidents, power line problems, elevator entrapments and animal rescues.
Some of the more grueling fire calls the Cologne company answered in recent years include the June 9, 2004, fire at the American Auto Salvage and Recycling, also known as Joe's Junkyard on Route 50, which raged for 12 hours, and the Sept. 10, 2007, fire that destroyed the former Wheaton plastics factory on Mill Street in Mays Landing. Elkner said he is thankful no Cologne firefighters have died in the line of duty.
The golden anniversary celebration Sept. 25 will feature a fire truck show and a display of memorabilia, such as old drills, nozzles and other fire equipment. Air fresheners in the likeness of the company's mascot, a skunk called Miss Cologne, are being sold. "It's basically to let the community know we've been here for 50 years and will still be here another 50 years," Elkner said about the celebration.
Contact Michelle Lee: 609-272-7256
