The War Years

The onset of World War II placed a heavy burden on the fire company. Like departments across the nation, Bel Air saw many of its members leave either by volunteering or being drafted into military service. This created a serious strain on the company’s available manpower. During these years, elections of officers were suspended, and the officers then serving remained in place until further notice. Over the course of the war, the fire company lost more than 40 members to military service, employment at government installations, or work in defense plants.

One of the company’s first wartime actions came in January 1942, when it established a 24-hour guard at the firehouse. This was prompted by an act of suspected sabotage at the Elkton Fire Department on January 10, 1942, when 600 to 700 feet of hose were reportedly doused with sulfuric acid and rendered unusable. In Bel Air, each fireman took his turn standing night guard at the station. Everyone was expected to help, and most did so with very few excuses.

During the war years, the firehouse also served as a blackout shelter and as a location for public first aid drills.

In April 1943, a public meeting was held at the Harford County Courthouse to address the dangerous shortage of firefighters throughout the county. Representatives from Bel Air, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Jarrettsville, Abingdon, and Delta-Cardiff all reported critical manpower shortages, especially during daytime hours. It was suggested that one full-time paid firefighter for each company could help relieve the burden. This arrangement was intended to be temporary and to end once the national emergency was over and volunteer members serving in the military or war industries returned home. Bel Air Company President and Harford County Fire Coordinator Frank L. Hiser was instructed to survey the county companies and determine the cost of hiring one paid firefighter for each department. The subject arose again at a public meeting on April 23, 1944, although it is not known whether county funding was ever provided for this purpose.

Bel Air did, however, pay some daytime engine drivers using funds provided by the Town of Bel Air. Among those paid to help staff the apparatus were Joe Gray, H. Amig, and Frank E. Hiser.

To help address the shortage of available members, the fire company also introduced the concept of “Auxiliary Firemen” in 1942. Under this arrangement, local men who were not members of the company and who had remained at home during the war would respond when they heard the siren. They would report to the station, wait roadside to be picked up by responding apparatus, or go directly to the scene. They worked under the command of company officers and members on scene and provided valuable assistance during the war years. Many of them later joined the company as full members. Because manpower was so limited, a few women also assisted by driving the ambulance, although they were not permitted to become members, as fire service membership at that time was restricted to men.

Despite the severe personnel shortage, the company continued to respond to grass and field fires. At times, only one or two members answered these alarms. They would pick up Indian tanks and rakes from the firehouse and respond in their personal vehicles. These men sometimes traveled as far as Towson or Middle River to assist the State Forestry service. The state paid the fire company 80 cents for the first three hours and 20 cents for each additional hour, and the company in turn paid the firefighters.

In 1943, the State Office of Civil Defense offered fire companies a 500-GPM trailer pump at no cost. Harford County applied for and was approved to receive seven units. Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Edgewood, Abingdon, and Jarrettsville each received one, while Bel Air received two. Designed to be towed behind automobiles, these trailer pumps were modeled after similar equipment used during the London Blitz. Although originally intended for possible air raid operations, by the time they were issued their primary purpose had shifted to supplementing regular firefighting operations. Each trailer carried a motor, a 500-GPM pump, suction hose, and several small firefighting tools mounted on the exterior. Bel Air’s two trailers arrived in March 1944 and served the company for several years. Their final disposition is not known.

Also in 1943, the fire company erected a new flagpole in front of the firehouse. It displayed both a large American flag and a service flag. The service banner bore a large blue star in honor of the 30 fire company members serving in the armed forces and a gold star in memory of Sergeant Meredith Chambers, the first fireman from the company to make the supreme sacrifice.

In 1944, the fire company purchased a 1939 Dodge 4x4 two-ton World War II surplus chassis. A 660-gallon tank was donated by the Corbin Fuel Company, where it had previously been used on a horse-drawn kerosene wagon. Fire company members performed all of the work needed to place the apparatus in service, including mounting the tank. When first used, the tanker towed a 1944 Civil Defense trailer equipped with a 500-GPM pump. Later, company members modified the unit by adding a 500-GPM front-mounted pump. The tanker carried little equipment beyond a few hand tools, hard suction hose, and rolled sections of 2½-inch hose. It was placed into service in late 1945 and answered its first alarm on November 15, 1945, to a fatal house fire on the Hughes property near Darlington. The unit served until March 24, 1953, when it was sold to the Level Volunteer Fire Company, a newly formed department for which it became the first piece of apparatus owned.

By 1947, the company was again evaluating the need for a larger pumper. On January 24, 1947, it signed a contract with the Mack International Motor Truck Company for a new pumper at a cost of $12,275. The unit arrived in Bel Air in March 1948 and answered its first alarm on March 19, 1949, for a fire at the Hitchcock residence near Fallston. The pumper was equipped with a Hale two-stage Class A 750-GPM pump, a 400-gallon booster tank, a rear-mounted booster reel carrying 250 feet of ¾-inch hose, 1,200 feet of 2½-inch hose, 600 feet of 1½-inch hose, a 24-foot wooden extension ladder, and a 14-foot wooden roof ladder. It also carried all necessary appliances and tools. After delivery, it was fitted with a special ladder rack over the hose bed to carry a 35-foot extension ladder. This rack had previously been removed from the 1938 Mack when that apparatus was sold.

The addition of more apparatus once again created a need for more space. By 1947, the company had four pieces of apparatus and had outgrown its quarters. In November of that year, the fire company sold the portion of the station bordering Louis Hollander’s property. Hollander had purchased the original Main Street station years earlier, and the proceeds from the sale helped finance the renovation and expansion of the remaining firehouse. Up to that point, apparatus had exited through an alley between Main Street and Bond Street. The planned renovation would provide a separate bay for each piece of apparatus and reorient the station so that apparatus would exit directly onto Bond Street. Rather than move the hose tower a second time, the company decided to demolish the existing tower and construct a new one as part of the renovation.

Work on the new hose tower began in June 1948. Once it was completed, the old tower was demolished and renovations to the building continued through December 1948. Final touches were completed in January 1949, and an open house was held on February 22, 1949, to allow the public to tour the new firehouse. Improvements included individual apparatus bays, new offices, shower stalls, gear rack space, and a recreation room. The new Bond Street-facing bay arrangement allowed apparatus to exit more efficiently than the earlier alley-facing design. An asphalt apron extended from the bay doors to Bond Street.

In August 1948, two-way radio communication was introduced to Harford County fire companies. Radios were installed in the company’s apparatus and operated on the same frequency as the receiver at the County Jail and the county police cars. This allowed direct communication between fire companies and other emergency units throughout the county. Before radios were installed, once apparatus left the station, there was no direct way to communicate with it. At times, responding engines would be flagged down by a passerby simply to be told that the firehouse had called and said the apparatus was no longer needed.