 |
Home | |
Calendar | |
FAQ | |
Contact Us | |
 |
|
| ||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Village News | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Original First Fire District Dissolved After Merger of Two Villages The origin of the Pelham Fire Department dates back to February 20, 1893 with the establishment of the First Fire District that encompassed the Villages of Pelhamville and Pelham Heights. These Villages were not incorporated until 1896, and hence to constitute the Fire Department a legal entity had to exist. With the foresight of William H. Sparks, the six residences in the "Heights" were included and the Fire District was formed. Much of the discussion leading up to this development was held in the General Store owned by Jacob Heiser at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street (now Lincoln Avenue). Neither Village had jurisdiction over the autonomous Fire District; the five Commissioners and the Treasurer wee elected by the voters who were required to have lived there for at least thirty days. Each year the Board of Commissioners originated a budget which was presented to the Town Board for inclusion in the Town budget which was in turn submitted to the Westchester County Board of Supervisors for approval and when this was accomplished, assessment was made against the property holders and collected by the Town Tax office. The legal name was held to be "The Fire Department of the First Fire District of the Town of Pelham, New York." This proved to be rather unwieldy and after the Incorporation of the two villages in 1896, the name was informally accepted as "The Pelham Fire Department." Other name changes also occurred in 1896, to wit: Pelhamville became North Pelham and all that land between the railroad and Colonial Avenue became Pelham, commonly called "Pelham Heights." The merger of these two Villages into the single Village of Pelham in 1975 put the Fire District in a bind whereby state law required that it forfeit its independent status and submit to the code of Village law. After some opposition, including a lawsuit brought by the Board Commissioners (for clarification), resistance ceased and the Department became a Village Fire Department with Deputy Chiefs and two members elected by each of the three Companies. They prepared a budget for the approval of the Village Board, including funds for needed equipment and salaries of the nine career Firefighters. The three operating Volunteer Companies of the Department are Liberty Engine and Hose Company No. 1, Relief Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 and Pelham Hose Company No. 2. The two first-mentioned Companies were formed concurrently with the original Department in 1893. Pelham Hose Company No. 2 was formed in November 1911, as a need arising from the rapid growth of the "Heights" Village from which its Membership is largely recruited. |
|||
|
|||
© 2004 Village of Pelham. All rights reserved |
|
