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Address:
Main Firehouse 26-28 Carey Avenue PO Box #294
Butler, NJ 07405
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Emergency Dispatch Phone: 911 or 973-838-0063 or 973-838-4100 (Police)
Business Phone: 973-838-0063
Fax:
Department Web Site: Have you tried our monthly Pasta Dinner? Every second Wednesday from 5 to 7pm at the banquet room of the Main Firehouse on Carey Avenue. Take-outs are available by calling 973-838-0551 after 3:30pm on those days
Related Web Site:
Email: KinneyHose@hotmail.com
About Kinney Hose Co. No. 1 of the Butler NJ Fire Department:
Kinney Hose Co. No. 1 of Butler Fire Dept. proudly protects 7500 people living in an area of 1.97 square miles. We operate out of Butler's Main Firehouse which also houses Kiel Hook & Ladder Co. and Pequannock Engine & Hose Co.; Bartholdi Hose Co. 2 has its own firehouse. stations that protect a primarily residential area. Our department is a public department whose members are on a volunteer status. Kinney Hose Co. No. 1 is one of four volunteer companies that compose the Butler Fire Department founded in April 1902, which also includes Pequannock Engine & Hose Co.No.1, Kiel Hook & Ladder Co.No.1, and Bartholdi Hose Co.No.2. Patch requests should be addressed to the Butler Fire Dept., PO Box 22, Butler NJ 07405. The Borough of Butler was incorporated on March 13, 1901, although the Butler Post Office has existed since 1881. Until 1901, the 1.97 square mile community had been a neighborhood of Pequannock Township which was incorporated in 1740. Other municipalities or parts of that had been part of Pequannock Township at one time or another include Town of Boonton, Boonton Township, Denville, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Montville, Riverdale and Rockaway Township. Butler NJ was named in honor of Richard Butler, president of the town's major industry, American Hard Rubber Company, which manufactured products under the Ace trademark such as combs and bowling balls. He was also the Secretary of the American Statue of Liberty Committee headed by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Because of this, Richard Butler formed a close personal relationship with Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the Statue of Liberty sculptor. Many say that without Richard Butler's efforts it is unsure if the fundraising would have been completed to erect the great lady in the harbor on its pedestal. Kinney Hose was organized on April 30, 1902 and is named for Francis Kinney, a tobacco millionaire whose company produced Sweet Caporal cigarettes in the late 19th century. Kinney's 8 square mile family estate Smoke Rise received fire protection from Butler until Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Company was formed in 1930. Francis Kinney was known for his philantrophy to many local organizations including Butler Fire Department. Our meeting night is the last Monday of each month. Pequannock E&H was actually Butler's first fire company being organized on April 25, 1902. It is so named for the Pequannock River and because Butler Borough had been a part of Pequannock Township until 1901. Pequannock's meeting night is the first Monday. Kiel H&L was also organized in 1902 and is named for Butler Borough's first mayor, William Kiel. Kiel's meeting night is the third Monday. Bartholdi Hose was organized in 1907. It is named in honor of Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. He was a personal friend of Butler's nomendor Richard Butler. Bartholdi's meeting night is the fourth Monday. A fifth company, Decker Hose Company, existed from 1908 until 1920 when it was disbanded. Decker Hose was stationed in the barn of Charles Decker at 116 Kiel Avenue. Ours is a municipal department of the Borough of Butler. Each company may have a maximum of 25 active members. Kinney Hose is currently assigned a 1996 E-One Cyclone. It replaced a great 1975 Young Bison which is now in service in Talbot County, Georgia, along with its twin that had been assigned to Bartholdi Hose for the same length of time. As a company, not at taxpayer expense, we own and have been restoring the 1954 Ward LaFrance 750 gallon per minute pumper that served us until 1976. Butler's largest fire began just after midnight, February 26, 1957, when one of the nation's largest rubber reclaiming mills (Pequanoc Rubber Company, Main Street) was destroyed by a $17 million blaze (a loss of about $100 million in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation). The mill occupied the site on upper Main Street, an irregular shaped complex 600 feet by 300 feet and 3 to 4 stories high; it produced over 100 tons of reusable sheet rubber daily from 200 tons of scrap. One Butler Heights resident remembers the fire being so bright she could read a newspaper in her yard at 3am at a distance of 1 mile. The glow reportedly was visible for 100 miles, mutual aid response was required by volunteer fire companies from 55 municipalities during the initial hours and then in shifts over the next week. New York City Fire Department, 30 miles away, offered help when observing the bright glow. The only time that our Ward LaFrance was shut down during the disaster was on the third day for a quick oil change. This fire was the feature article in an edition of Fire Engineering Magazine several months later. Our oldest member is now at least 134 years old. The Wooden Fireman is an 8 foot tall woodcarving of a Civil War era fire chief. He stood guard on the balcony of the old Butler Main Firehouse and Borough Hall from April 2, 1910 until June 27,1980, when removed for restoration. Since October 1982 The Wooden Fireman has been on display in a specially designed window at the new Main Firehouse. Recently, a Little Miss Liberty statue has taken over the old balcony location of The Wooden Fireman with the re-location of Butler Police Department to the refurbished old borough hall and firehouse. Originally, The Wooden Fireman was atop the Firemen's Insurance Company building in downtown Newark from 1868 until 1909. It was through the effort of John Williams that the statue was presented to Kinney Hose and subsequently loaned to the entire Butler Fire Department. While transporting the statue to Butler, a group of Bloomfield firemen tried to steal it but were unsuccessful, however in the process the left leg was broken and lost, requiring a replacement to be made by a local woodcarver who used the right leg as a pattern thus making two rights a wrong. All of Butler's fire companies have always been very active in our state firematic organizations such as New Jersey State Firemen's Association, New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association and the New Jersey State Fire Chief's Association. We are also very active in the five county regional North Jersey Volunteer Firemen's Association, with one of our Kinney Hose members serving as Recording Secretary since 1980, one member as Chaplain, and two members as appointed Executive Board members (one of those past Corresponding Secretary for over 10 years). NJVFA has a web site http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/NorthJerseyVolFire. If you would like to contact us by email, we would be happy to hear from you. Please send it to RLDean@aol.com
Department Type: All Volunteer
Services Provided:
- Firefighting
- Hazardous Material Response
- Vehicle Rescue (Extrication)
- Search & Rescue
Number of Stations: 0
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