History of New Ipswich Fire Department
by Hazel Cotzin in 1975
Happy New Year - 2025
Here is a newspaper article written almost 50 years ago…
Published Sept 10, 1975 - Nashua Telegraph
The "History of the New Ipswich Fire Department" was the topic presented by James Albree at the New Ipswich Historical meeting recently. Albree, who is a 30-year member of the Fire Department and has taken an interest in the history of the department, has done some research for his presentation. In his 30 years he has worked under four Finnish fire chiefs Otto Wiseman, Carl Sillanpaa, Ted Karnis and the pre- sent Sulo Kolapakka Jr. The art of fire fighting has come a long way since the first New Ipswich Fire Department was organized in 1833 when a group of 45 men met and pledged $207 to purchase some fire equipment to protect lives and property from fire. The committee purchased a Holland and Spooner hand pumper which it received on April 7, 1835. This pumper was to be called the Southern Hero 3 and was housed in Smithvillage on the west side of the bridge by the present pond. Its first captain was Harry Batchelder. The Tiger 1 was housed in the center of town, between the Bullard house and the William Thayer home which was the old Preston house. Another pumper called the Water Witch was purchased and kept in Bank Village. The personnel of this station used to have pumper practice at Prestons Pond on the road leading to the Souhegan Country Club. This fire company was notified of fires by the ringing of the bell in the old Columbian Mills in Highbridge. 5 HOUSES BURN In 1872 the mill in Highbridge and five houses burned to the ground. The fire started on a very windy day and sparks were carried from the mill across to the mill houses. All three pumpers in town were pulled to the fire scene by horse teams. The men were notified of the fire by the continuous ringing of the Congregational Church bell. The building in which Tiger 1 was housed was moved over to Manley Road and used as a private school house in 1868 and in 1886 it collapsed. Then a building that had been built as a meeting house was moved from near the center cemetery to the present site of the police station. It was remodeled to house the Tiger 1 and the town lockup. It remained the same structure until 1948 when it was remodeled under Chief Sillanpaa to house two engines. In 1926, Chief Albro Balch, who served as chief from 1920 to 1944, placed an article in the town warrant to look into the purchase of motorized fire equipment. At the town meeting in 1927 the town appropriated $4,000 to buy a truck. [missing segment suggests something about Robert Walker]... Wood Turning Mill, and also a selectman at that time, suggested that a Wachusett Truck manufactured in Fitchburg be purchased, it was. He had owned a Wachusett truck for his business and knew they were reliable, so the town had its truck by March, 1928. The Tiger 1 was then moved to Smithvillage, and stored with the other two pumpers, the Water Witch was moved there in 1926 when the building it was stored in was sold at auction. In the town warrant of 1928 an article was inserted to disband all three fire companies and re-organize into one company with a central station in the center of town because a motorized fire truck could cover the entire town. LARGER FIRES Some of the larger fires recorded in New Ipswich in the past included the 1901 Congregational Church, struck by lightning on June 2 and burned to the ground. Water was pumped from cemetery pond but there was so little pressure that it could not be put out. In 1907, a four-apartment tenement house owned by Columbian Mills burned in Highbridge, water was pumped from the Mill Water Wheel Pond. In 1929, the Homestead Inn across from the Baptist Church burned to the ground on Christmas Eve. Greenville sent assistance. In 1930, the A.F. Walker wood turning mill burned to the ground. In 1940, there were three fires in three weeks on Route 123, starting at Stacy's Cider Mill just over the Ashby line, then the Albro Balch Lumber Mill and a mile up the road, the barn owned by Philip Thayer, were believed all to be set. In 1941 the Appleton Academy building was completely gutted by fire. There were many more during the years and the people became more conscious of the seriousness of fires. In 1948, when Sillanpaa was fire chief, a 1948 Ford Classic was bought and the men in the department built a tank wagon holding 700 gallons. This of course meant enlarging the fire house and that was done by the men in the department. This resulted in removing the old jail cells and placing steps to the second floor in the rear of the building. The building remained this way until the middle of the 1950s when a new wing was added to the fire house and a new truck was purchased from the Farra Company in Massachusetts. As one drives through town on Route 123-124 they will now see a three-bay modern brick building which can house many pieces of equipment. The new fire station is large enough and has adequate space to serve the community for many years to come. And it has the latest equipment. A LONG WAY Albree, in his talk, stated that the ways of fire fighting have become more professional. All members of the department take various training courses for all types of fires and disasters. New Ipswich belongs to two mutual aid associations, the Southwestern, out of Keene, and the Souhegan Valley from Nashua. This arrangement is far greater than a community going it alone in an emergency. With this type of aid and the latest equipment, one does not have to worry about losing everything they have in a fire. With all the equipment including some tankers the men have re-built, New Ipswich has over 12,000 gallons of water which could hold out quite a while during fighting a fire. At a recent meeting of the department, it was voted to split up into three groups which would each have its own captain. To follow tradition, these groups are appropriately named the Tiger, the Water Witch and the Southern Hero. They share the duties of the department such as janitorial, organization and refreshments Albree showed some old pictures of the Fire Department and equipment and gave a demonstration of how the "Old Water Witch" was used at fires. The old Water Witch is stored in the Historical Building. During his years with the Fire Department, he toured many fire departments in Europe. He has been named an honorary member of the London Fire Brigade and received a badge from it and another one from Stockholm, Sweden. He also was presented with a Battalion Chief hat and badge from Copenhagen, Denmark. In closing his talk, Albree told of a humorous (not at the time) incident which happened when he first became a member of the fire department and was working at Walker's Mill. "It seems there was a fire call to Wheeler Road and all the firemen dashed to the fire in their old Model A's and Model T's from various sections of town," he said. "When they got there, ready to put out the fire, there was no fire truck! They were then known as the New Ipswich Cellar Savers."
James Roger diary entry
January 2, 1909 (Saturday)
Hard frost fine day, cool west wind. David packing ice at Joe’s. I took Hamish to Greenville for noon train. He did not feel well this morning, but felt better when we got to Greenville. Berkely met him there. I brought grain, bought hoof pad for Pete, brought laundry. I swept Church and lit fire in cellar. Miss Palmer left this afternoon.
Nice history of the Fire Dept.