The Hinsdale Fire Department has consisted in some form since the mid-1800s. The earliest mention of the department comes from the 1850s, when a two-bay engine house was built on Canal Street, around number 63 on today’s maps. Named Hope Engine Company No. 1, the building housed an engine, hose, ladders, and other early firefighting tools.
Between then and 1879, these is no information available about the Hinsdale Fire Department. That year, the town report listed the department had a membership of 43 firemen and had one engine housed at the Canal Street engine house. An 1884 Sanborn map shows an additional department building, a headquarters, located at 104 Bridge Street (modern day Depot Street), although it’s unclear what was kept there as only one engine was listed on the map. It may have been in the early stages of use as the department asked the town in the mid-1880s for money to complete the bottom part of the hose tower.
By 1889, the department had grown its apparatus roster by adding a hook and ladder company and multiple hose companies in addition to the engine company. In 1892, the department had the following in service:
- Headquarters located at 104 Bridge Street (modern day Pleasant Street)
- This most likely housed the hook and ladder and a hose cart (Hose 2).
- Engine House No. 1 located at 13 Canal Street.
- Hose House No. 1 located at 248 Main Street.
The entirety of Canal Street was not shown on the Sanborn map of 1892, but we can assume that an additional hose cart was located at 63 Canal Street.
In addition to the Hinsdale Fire Department fleet, many of the mills in town (for example, the Haile and Frost Manufacturing Company) also had their own fire suppression equipment and would offer their hose carts to the department when needed. It should be noted that the town department only seemed to respond to incidents in the village area; it was most likely the part of town with the most settlement.
By 1910, the department was operating one hand engine, five hose carts, and one hook and ladder, all moved by hand when alarms rang out. Hose House 1 was still located at 248 Main Street. Hose House 2 was located at 13 Depot Street (renamed from Bridge Street by this point), as was the engine and hook and ladder companies. Hose House 3 was located at 13 Canal Street, and Hose House 4 was located at 63 Canal Street. It isn’t known where the fifth hose cart was stored, but by 1924 the department had declined to only four hose carts. Sometime after this, hose carts went away as the department became fully motorized.
In 1924, the department listed a payment to American LaFrance, and raised $4,000 for a new fire truck, but no information is available on either. It’s possible that Federal Garage, Inc. and Foamite also were involved in this new truck. The Sanborn map also lists a Dodge 1 ½ ton combination hose and chemical auto truck with Graham bodywork on the roster.
In 1937, the department purchased a Seagrave engine. In 1948, they purchased a Farrar engine.
By the 1950s, the department had outgrown their existing quarters and, in 1953, the town erected a new fire house on the same location as the previous three-bay station. They joined the SWNH mutual aid association in the 1950s (likely 1954) and added an additional Farrar engine in 1959. Eight years later, in 1967 the department added a Chevrolet/Farrar engine as Engine 1.
A fourth Farrar joined the fleet in 1972: Engine 4, built on a 1971 Chevrolet chassis with a 750 GPM pump and 1000 gallon tank.
In the early 1970s, Rescue Inc. started providing EMS transporting services for the town. It’s unclear who served as the contracted ambulance service prior to the change to Rescue Inc.
The town sold an engine in 1978 (unsure which engine or to who) prior to the delivery of a 1979 Chevrolet/Farrar engine with 1000 GPM pump and 4,000’ hose reel which would serve as Engine 2.
The department purchased a Pierce Lance engine in 1989 for Engine 5; it had a 1500 GPM pump and 1000 gallon tank. Somewhere around this time a 1952 Jeep Power Wagon ex-military forestry unit was put into service as Engine 6.The following year a 1990 Ford F-350 brush truck was added to the roster as Engine 7. It had a 500 GPM pump and 300 gallon tank.
In 1991, the department purchased a 1960 Maxim 85’ mid-mount ladder truck from Brattleboro, Vermont for a dollar, giving Hinsdale its first aerial device.
The department bought a 1998 Pierce Dash at the turn of the millennium, with 1500 GPM pump, 1000 gallon tank, and 50 gallons of foam. It was placed into service as Engine 3.
In 2010, a Pierce Arrow XT was purchased for Engine 1, replacing the 1972 Chevrolet/Farrar. This truck was bid out but it’s not clear who purchased it. The 1968 Chevrolet/Farrar was then transitioned into brush service for the department, likely replacing one of the Jeeps.
In 2013, a GMC/Reading service truck was put into service as Utility 1. Upon its delivery, the 1972 Chevrolet/Farrar was moved to River Road (at the highway department complex). While the unit wasn’t technically out of service, it was essentially retired from department use.
In 2017, a local resident brought the spotlight back to the Hope Engine Company house on Canal Street after she discovered it was in danger of being torn down to make room for business expansion. Citizens raised money to facilitate moving the top half of the dilapidated building to Main Street near the police station. It was moved in November of that year. While initial plans were to turn it into a museum at a more-permanent location, as of 2023 this had not happened. The building currently sits on a private lot on Depot Street.
In 2021, the 1968 Chevrolet/Farrar brush truck was replaced with a 2021 International HV507/Unruh Fire unit with 750 GPM pump and 800 gallon tank. This would be designated Brush 1. In 2024, the 1972 Chevrolet/Farrar that retired as Engine 4 was sold to a private owner through the GovDeals website.
