Department History

HISTORY OF THE OAKLAND VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

1909 - 2007

Early in an evening of November 1903, Oakland was startled by the cry, "Calder’s barn is on fire!" The immense barn and cow hovel, atop the knoll in the rear of what is now the parking lot for the Copper Tree Mall, which used to be the Oakland Academy, was ablaze throughout the superstructure. The townspeople assembled in haste, and although their efforts to save the barn were futile, they managed to save the fine horses and all but two of the forty blooded cows stabled there. Bucket brigades and hard work saved the surrounding buildings, which were in great peril from the intense heat and flames. It was the worst fire Oakland ever had to that date, and it brought about a wide discussion that a regular fire company should be organized, now that Oakland had become an incorporated borough.

However, six years elapsed before anything was done about it. In the administration of Mayor Amos W. Hopper, on June 10, 1909, a meeting was held in Ivy Hall at which time a volunteer fire company was formed. Ludo W. Wilkens was named Chief; Aaron G. Henion, Assistant; Ernest L. McNomee, Deputy Assistant; Henry R.Hopper, President; and Harry E. Ferrell, secretary. Ivy Hall was located on Ramapo Valley Road, directly in front of the old section of Valley School. There are still traces of the foundation there, the building itself burned down many years ago.

Other charter members of the company as recorded are Abram Carlough, William Carlough, George Courter, David C. Bush, Charles Carlough, John H. Eve, Daniel J. Fox, Aaron G. Garrison, Thaddeus A. Garrison, John G.A. Johnson, Frank Merrion, James E. Munn, Frank D. Pulis, Vernon Schultis, Andrew I. Spear, Jacob Van Blarcom, John Waggenhoffer, Robert H. Wheeler, Sr., and Guy Yeomans.

The need for some equipment became apparent, and by sponsoring dances and oyster suppers, the men raised $210 and purchased a 50 gallon chemical tank mounted on wheels, which held a soda-acid solution. Although the tank was usually hand drawn to a fire, occasionally the firemen were able to muster some horsepower. A 1920 Chalmers automobile was later donated to the fire department by Mrs. Remington Vernam to draw the cart around the borough. While the 1920 Chalmers proved useful in speeding the apparatus to a fire, it also presented new problems. There were occasions when the tank was upset in turning a corner too fast, and the men found themselves without an extinguishing agent to fight a fire. Two and one-half gallon fire extinguishers were spotted in various homes throughout the borough to aid in fire fighting. This eliminated the need to carry extra equipment on the wagon. The men also purchased three large iron locomotive rings. These rings were erected on posts in several parts of the borough and when struck with sledge hammers, acted as fire alarms. This constituted Oakland’s first alarm system. Two of these rings are still within the Borough, one hangs outside the Yawpo Firehouse, and the second is in the Hiawatha Firehouse. It was lost for many years, until the developer working at the Chapel Hill development found it while excavating, and gave it to the Fire Department. The third ring was located in Oakland Beach, which many years ago was a swimming beach on the Ramapo River, at the end of Bailey Ave. This ring, which while it was hanging, and no longer used as a Emergency warning system, was often rung by Oakland youth, they made great noise that carried far. Through time its exact location was forgotten, it may still be there, buried under the dirt. One of the rings was recently included in a stone memorial at Station 2 on Hiawatha Avenue.

On June 1, 1911, a committee of firemen was appointed to supervise the erection of a fire house, to be paid for by the borough, on a lot already purchased by the firemen from David C. Bush. Gideon DeWitt was the builder of the fire house, but many of the firemen contributed to the building with labor.

In December, 1911, an ordinance was passed establishing an official fire department in Oakland. It was on New Year’s Day, 1912, that Edward Day Page, Oakland’s second mayor, officially received the deed to the firehouse property and took possession on behalf of the borough.

Shortly thereafter, the ladies of the community organized a Ladies Auxiliary, which conducted many social affairs, largely for the purpose of raising money for the fire department. The ladies were successful in raising money to purchase a large bell, to be used as a fire alarm. Cecelia Munn, Nellie Hopper and Cora L. McNomee were the committee appointed to purchase the bell. It was intended to be hung in the belfry atop the firehouse, but its 1,280 pounds was found to be too heavy for that purpose. The bell was therefore erected in a heavy wooden frame at the railroad crossing of what is now Ramapo Valley Road, and it was used as a fire alarm until 1925. In 1936, the heavy bell caused the rotted posts to break off, and the bell was removed to the grounds of The Ponds Memorial building, which is now the Oakland Public Library. The bell had lain there neglected for 16 years until firemen enclosed it in a housing as part of the borough’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1952.

A record big fire occurred in 1916 when by a strange coincidence, the barns of Charles H. Sheffield and Edward D. Page caught fire almost simultaneously in different parts of the borough. Both were large fires and the firemen found themselves helpless with only a small chemical tank and few extinguishers on hand. Both barns were destroyed.

Shortly thereafter, the borough purchased a 1917 Ford Model T truck for the fire department. The only equipment carried on this truck was approximately 30 chemical fire extinguishers. Miss Hazel Sanders, who lived across from the fire house for a number of years, would often start the truck by hand-cranking it and drive it at many of the fire calls. There was one instance when Miss Sanders and two lady-friends put out a small brush fire before the firemen could answer the alarm. The Ford couldn’t carry many firemen, for if more than three or four men jumped on, the rear of the truck would scrape along the ground, especially when crossing the railroad tracks or when it hit a bump in the road.

In 1920, interest in the fire department began to lag, and more often than not, a quorum could not be obtained for meetings. For a period of 30 years Oakland had practically no growth. Families would move in as others moved out, and the population figure remained almost stationary. For a while, it appeared as if the fire department was about to revert to the days prior to 1909.

Harry Gale McNomee was instrumental in enlisting the interest of many men in the community and the fire department began to grow by leaps and bounds. In 1935 Mr. McNomee became fire commissioner, the only exempt fireman ever to hold the office. He served five years, during which time many highly useful facilities and pieces of equipment, both for fighting fire and for the protection of the firemen, were purchased.

By 1925 the department had grown to such an extent that the firemen petitioned the borough, under Mayor A. Hobart Walton, for another motor truck but with a pumper attached, so that water could be pumped from brooks, streams, ponds or other sources of water. An electric siren was installed on top of the fire house to supplant the bell, as modern methods proved more efficient.

In 1922, the borough meeting place, Ivy Hall was destroyed by fire, and the Mayor and Council were faced with the problem of having a place to meet. In 1925 they decided to double the size of the fire house, and the upper floor was used for a number of years as a public hall and as municipal headquarters. The fire house was the only building in the borough capable of holding any of the social functions of the various organizations, and at one time it was the only building large enough to be used for voting purposes. During the winter the building was heated by a coal stove, which was nightly stoked by William Klee, a local resident, who walked "uptown" to take care of the fire and custodial service of the building. At this time the town also did not have a Headquarters for the Police Department, so the firehouse also had jail cells in it. If someone got locked up, off to the firehouse they went for the night.

Minstrel shows, dinners and club parties were often held there in addition to meetings of the various organizations. It was even used as a gymnasium by the Oakland Academy and many basketball games were held on the second floor. In 1938 the stage in the back of the room was torn out, windows put in and the front part of the big second floor partitioned off for the use of the library. In 1959 the library still occupied part of the fire house.

With the purchase of the 1944 Buffalo, a 750 gpm pumper, some alterations to the fire house were necessary before the truck could be housed there. The flooring was reinforced and the doors widened and the pumper was moved from its temporary quarters at the Water Department garage. In 1954 the need for more room became apparent with the purchase of additional equipment, and the firemen banded together in an effort to add additional rooms to the rear of the firehouse. Four small rooms were added to include a workshop, lavatory, kitchen and dining area. Even so, the firemen feel that the present quarters were inadequate to handle the tons of equipment housed there, and plans were being made for the erection of a new fire headquarters in the near future.

Another big fire occurred in 1925 when the English Tudor home of Edward D. Page was completely destroyed. The house occupied the hilltop a few hundred feet north of the Ramapo Mountain Lakes club house, at that time a two-car garage with a workshop in the rear and living quarters above.

The only water obtainable was from a private reservoir, which supplied the large manor house and the out buildings. The property had been sold after Mr. Page’s death to Mount Melchesidech, a seminary for about 25 students preparing for priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. The seminary was headed by the Rev. Father O’Callahan.

The cause of the fire was unknown and despite the efforts of the Oakland firemen as well as companies from Pompton Lakes and Wyckoff, who had been called upon for help, the destruction was complete except for a small chapel adjacent to the big house, used by the students for worship. The lovely manor house was never rebuilt and the estate was sold for real estate development.

One of the greatest assets for the fighting of fires was the completion of the municipal water system in 1931, under Mayor Peter Edward Demarest. Approximately 8 miles of 6-inch and 8-inch water mains and about 80 hydrants were installed. In fact, this brought about a complete revision of fire fighting methods. In 1959, there were 35 ¼ miles of water mains in the borough and approximately 250 hydrants used by the fire department. Today there are 60 miles of water mains not including the new development, Ramapo River Reserve and there are over 500 fire hydrants within the town.

The difficulties of fighting fire without water was never better demonstrated than in the case of the home of Charles H. Sheffield about 1926. Early one morning, fire broke out in the attic. The home is 413 Ramapo Valley Road, just north of the Ramapo Valley Road railroad crossing. The blaze had gained considerable headway before it was discovered, but the firemen tackled the job with a will. Even with chemicals and the help of the Wyckoff firemen, who had been quickly called, little progress had been made when the sulfuric acid gave out. Chief Parmley, of Wyckoff, had a 10 gallon glass jug of acid in the Wyckoff fire house. Paul H. Schoor volunteered to get it with his truck and three other volunteers, they drove at high speed to Wyckoff and brought back the needed acid, perhaps one of the wildest and fastest rides ever made between the two towns – with the danger of breaking the big glass container and burning up the truck constantly haunting the firemen. The wild ride saved the day and the flames were extinguished with only the attic and the roof destroyed.

During the years of World War II, the complement of the fire department diminished to about eight active firemen. There were often only two firemen in town during the daytime working hours, which posed a problem. It became necessary for the department to enlist the aid of volunteers, in the vicinity of a fire, for assistance. It wasn’t a strange sight to see women riding the fire apparatus with the firemen to many of the fires. A fire reserve was organized among the older residents, to assist the fire department in the event of any enemy air raid. It was their duty to extinguish small brush fires caused by bombings. Fortunately, their services were never needed and they disbanded when the war ended.

The first recorded fatal fire in Oakland occurred on March 4, 1942, when a fire was discovered in the home of Osmond Edward Saunders. When the firemen arrived, flames had engulfed the entire building. Every effort was made to save Mr. Saunders, who was alone at the time, but the intense heat and flames drove rescuers back. The fire completely destroyed his home. The house, which was built entirely of redwood and creosoted. This, in addition to a high wind, hampered firemen in every way. The heat was so intense that iron railings were bent into all shapes, and panes of glass melted. The Franklin Lakes fire department was summoned by Chief Harold J. Munn to assist Oakland by fighting the field fires started by flying firebrands. The alarm was sounded at 3:00 a.m. and firemen remained until 10:30 a.m., when the body of Mr. Saunders was recovered in the debris.

In 1946, in the administration of Mayor Gerard Grootendorst, the firemen received a small compensation for personal clothing damaged while fighting fires. The amount granted by the Council was on a pro rata basis of $25.00 for 100 percent attendance of fires.

On November 11, 1950, at 4:30 a.m., the home of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hone was destroyed by fire. A delayed fire call brought firemen to the scene too late to do much more than prevent the fire from spreading. The Hones had lost all of their possessions but the night clothing they were wearing at the time of the fire.

Largely through the efforts of the Welfare Department, under Mrs. Eleanora M. Pringle, many residents donated clothing and furniture to the family. The fire department, under Chief Lester W. Marion, rallied in this effort and in addition to collecting the furniture donated, firemen gave their time to clean the debris left by the fire. A benefit dance was also held by the fire department, and all the proceeds of the dance were donated to the Hone family. Many building contractors donated labor and materials at cost to build a new home for the family. Oakland showed its community spirit, in an all out effort, towards the needs of one of its less fortunate residents.

On October 6,1952 the fire siren was replaced on the firehouse. An article in the " Paterson Morning Call" read as follows. The new fire siren is scheduled to be installed atop the firehouse today. Fire Dept. committee chairmen Herbert Toy warns residents not to think the town is on fire today when the siren may sound off at length. The siren is being installed by the company from which it is being purchased, and before the installers pull away from the job, extensive tests will be made, therefor announcement of the exact time for the testing cannot be made as it will depend on when the job is finished. Toy anticipates it will be some time in the morning. The new siren can be set for two, four, or six continuous blasts and each of the settings will be tested as well as distance at which the siren can be heard. Under present plans, two auxiliary smaller sirens are slated to be installed, one at each end of town, for a complete coverage of alarm. Oakland is a very long, relatively narrow, and mountainous so that it is calculated that no siren can be heard all over town, hence the plan for the main siren and two auxiliary sirens.

A telephone alarm system was installed in 1952 for the purpose of expediting fire calls. Telephones were placed in the homes of the fire chief, assistant chief, police department, civilian defense director and fire house. This system employed the use of a button on each telephone from which all the sirens in the borough could be sounded.

Prior to this installation, when anyone dialed the Operator to report a fire, she would ring the telephone in the store of Arthur Seel, Sr., located near the fire house. Rather then calling the operator first, residents often called Mr. Seels business directly, by dialing #5831, to save one step of the process, at that time there was no need for a prefix, it was a 4 digit number. Mr. Seel would then run outside and pull the fire alarm box and wait until firemen arrived to relay the location of the fire. If enough men didn’t respond, he began to call each fireman personally.

Mr. Seel was available until midnight, at which time he closed his store, and then the alarms were telephoned to the home of the fire chief. Art Seel, although never an active fireman, was made an honorary fireman and was presented with a gold badge for his 25 years of faithful service to the Oakland fire Department. Art Seel had made himself a headquarters of the dire department, so to speak, and it can safely be said that it could not have functioned so efficiently without him.

Forest and field fires have always caused a great burden on the fire department, and as early as 1904 it was customary for the state to appoint fire wardens whose duty it was to act whenever such fires broke out. In fact, to this day, fire wardens have charge of forest fires and the department assists them whenever it is necessary.

One of the biggest of these fires attended by the fire department occurred when about 400 acres of forest burned through the Skyline Drive area during the spring of 1946. The fire raged for four days before it was finally brought under control. Particularly in danger were the three Scout camps in the borough, Camp Todd, Camp Tamarack and Camp Glen Gray. Many fire department personnel along with the forest fire service and other volunteers went without sleep for days in an effort to check the blaze and provide protection for the community. The fire was eventually stopped with the help of a large contingency of Boy Scouts from the scout camps that were strategically located well in front of the fire, in close proximity of each other. The fire was "backfired", which burns towards the front, or "head" fire, removing the unburned fuel so that when the fast moving head fire gets there it burns out, since there is no more fuel left to burn.

For a number of years, before the formation of the First Aid Squad, the department was summoned to aid in asphyxiation cases because of the fact that they had the only resuscitator in the borough. Every fireman was required to satisfactorily complete a First Aid course.

During an ice storm in 1953, when most of the electric service in Oakland was disrupted for a number of days, firemen maintained a round the clock vigil at the firehouse to take an alarm by telephone for the protection of the residents. They also provided the repair crews with auxiliary lighting at night, to speed the resumption of electrical service to the community.

In the floods of 1955, firemen helped evacuate the Colony in West Oakland, Pleasureland and the lower end of Ramapo Valley Road along the Ramapo River. People were housed in the Community Building and firemen throughout the night were in search of bedding for those homeless.

During the late 50’s, one of the many times Vern Yeomans was Chief, a drill was set up to burn an old barn, which was often done at that time. The large, hay filled barn was owned by the Sarca family, on the property of the Academy. When the fire was lit, it immediately burned so well that it carried burning shingles and combustible material as far as what is now Tony Brothers Pizza on West Oakland Ave. That night there were worries that the center of town was going to burn, as a result of the drill.

With the increase in population within the borough, and the "North End" being further developed, it warranted an additional Fire House, the fire department had outgrown having only 1 station. Between 1959 and 1960 the Hiawatha Firehouse was erected and designated as Company 2. This was later rededicated as the Arthur H. Bunger Memorial Firehouse, May 30th 1979. This Firehouse has been approved for expansion, with funding appropriated. Due to the increased size of the Fire Apparatus, and the complement of firemen that respond to that station, it has become too small to be suitable. The renovation was initially funded in 1996, but when the quotes came in for the expansion it was over budget. The addition was redesigned and, with many of Company 2's members supplying labor, completed in 2002. 

As time went on, the main Firehouse was no longer large or safe enough. The trucks were backed in over a basement, with a floor that could not support the weight. Additional supports had to be put in the basement due to the floor sagging. Funding was appropriated from the borough for the development of the Ben H. Wood Memorial Firehouse on Yawpo Ave, designated as Company 1, which was erected in 1966. The only structural change that has been done to that since it’s inception was the raising of the outside bay door in the winter of 2000 to fit the height of the new Seagrave Aerial.

For many years, as an annual fund raiser, the fire department ran a Carnival. It was a week long event that was well attended by Oakland and surrounding town residents. The same people would come year after year to get some of Harry Egan's pizza. There was always other food sold, like corn, clams, etc. but there was always a line at the pizza tent, with most nights being sold out. Whenever the pizza was ready and no-one was at the tent Harry would bang the large pizza spatula and yell "Pizza-Pizza", which always brought a crowd. By the end of the week all the firemen, their wives and families, had had enough of the carnival, but they were always ready to go and excited about it the next year. It was part of the town social gatherings, everyone had a great time.

During the winter of 1978 there was a call to respond to a structure fire at Ramapo Lake off of Skyline Drive. Chief John Delcorpo responded along with various Oakland fire apparatus. Upon arrival it was the large Club House, which many years before had been used by stockbrokers, on the island at "Rotten Pond", Ramapo Lake. The structure was fully involved. Nothing was used at the scene, but to get to it the firemen walked across the frozen lake to survey the situation. Once the fire burned itself out, all that remained standing was the large fieldstone chimney. It was decided that since there were no hazards in the area, and it was on an island surrounded by the frozen lake, to let it go. It would have been more hazardous to the firemen, cutting through the ice and setting up portable pumps to fight the fire in freezing weather.

On March 11, 1980, which was an extremely foggy night, a call came in for a fire at the Oakland Elks Club, on Ramapo Valley Road. Because of the fog in the area, no one saw the fire until it got a good head start. When the call came in it came in as a fully involved structure fire. Upon arrival, fire was coming out of multiple areas. Chief Bernie Hickey requested Mutual Aid from Pompton Lakes and the North West Bergen Mutual Aid. By the time the fire was extinguished the building was ruined. The current Elks Club was built on the same location as the previous building.

May 12, 1984 the fire department celebrated it’s 75th anniversary with a parade that started in the Industrial Park on Bauer drive and went to the Oakland Recreation Field. In the parade were over 60 pieces of fire apparatus, from all over New Jersey, and 10 fire department Marching Bands. At the end of the Parade there was a large celebration, with refreshments, demonstrations and contests. All Oakland residents were invited, and it was a good event. It quickly ended when the skies decided there was enough dry weather and everyone got a good soaking.

Along with the residential development in Oakland, there was significant industrial development. When the McBrides developed the Industrial Park off Long Hill Road they made a commitment to the borough that when the area was close to completion of development, they would erect, and give the town a complete 2 bay firehouse. This firehouse was erected in 1984, Company 3, the John L. Bigley Memorial Firehouse on Van Voren Rd. Although this firehouse presently is not used as a first response station it is heavily used for training, along with the storage of various fire department apparatus and equipment.

During the summer of 1985 the fire department responded to a request for assistance from the Oakland Police, not for a fire-related emergency, but for an extremely dangerous and hazardous situation. This was the multiple shootings at the then FRG swim area. Under the direction of Fire Chief Edwin Kimmel, the firemen first went through the park looking for and assisting with the wounded, then as the day went into night assisting with lighting and crowd control.

In 1987, while Ed Proskey was Chief, during a meeting at the firehouse a call came in for a barn fire at FRG. The barn was a rather large triple beam barn with multiple alterations within it. It had not been used since the shooting incident in 1985. Upon arrival, which was fast since there was a meeting in process at the firehouse, the structure was fully involved, with fire coming out of all the windows. Multiple towns were called in to assist in mutual aid, but to no avail, all that was saved was the foundation.

The worst gasoline spill to date within Oakland was a tank truck incident Feb. 25, 1991, while Roy Bauberger was Chief. On a foggy morning an Island Transport Tank truck was backing into the gas station on Ramapo Valley Road, across from Aspen Way. The truck was perpendicular to the road when a car, that did not see it due to the fog, drove underneath it, breaking off various pipes, which then spilled roughly 4000 gallons of gasoline onto Ramapo Valley Road. The driver of the car was trapped in the vehicle and was rescued by extrication after a blanket of foam was put on the gasoline that was still on the road surface. Due to the volume of the gasoline, it then flowed down the road, down Bailey Ave. down LeDuc’s driveway, and into a small stream. Luckily there was no fire from the spill. It ended up being a lengthy hazardous material incident with multiple Mutual Aid responses from surrounding towns to contain the fuel, and prevent it from catching on fire.

The spring of 1993 brought 2 new Seagrave 1500 gpm engines with 1000 gallon water tanks into Oakland. After the borough appropriated funding and a long lead time for manufacture they were completed. To save on delivery expense they were driven to Oakland by Chief Roy Bauberger, Assistant Chief Ed Proskey, Captain Pete Pfeiffer, and Fireman Tim Ryan. They left Clintonville, Wisconsin on a Friday evening and arrived in Oakland late Sunday morning, after many driving hours. Both apparatus are governed to have a maximum speed of 62 mph, so the driving time was even slightly more than one might expect. They all said that the drive was well worth the effort.

As part of the North West Bergen Mutual Aid group, the fire department is frequently called out of town to assist with Mutual Aid. The furthest distance that they have responded to was at the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing in New York City. At that time the First Aid Squad was part of the 17th district. The call for help came into Police headquarters for the First Aid Squad and Fire department Rescue truck to go to the scene of the bombing. The rescue truck, with a complement of personnel along with an Assistant Chief in his personal vehicle, responded first to Haledon, which was the first staging area, meeting with multiple other surrounding towns Rescue Apparatus and Ambulances. Once the equipment arrived on location in Haledon, they then went en mass to the Lincoln Tunnel, where they regrouped with a larger complement of equipment, and then directly to the scene of the bombing. In the end, the equipment and personnel were not used at the incident; they "stood by".

1997, while Dave Jeltes was Chief, brought a sad time to the town of Pompton Lakes. Early one morning workers arrived at the Klugtown shopping center to start their day. Upon arrival they smelled smoke in the building. By the time the Fire department was dispatched, there was already a fire of good size in the building. This large, multi business building had been made with balloon construction, which although it may have some advantages, when a fire gets a head start in the building, which this one did, it is bad for firemen on the fire, the building owners and tenants. When Pompton Lakes Chief Al Evangalista arrived at the scene, he immediately requested mutual aid from Oakland and many other neighboring communities. Oakland responded with the snorkel, engines and rescue. The snorkel was supplied with water from an Oakland engine during the course of the fire. The entire structure was a total loss. Tragically, downtown Pompton Lakes lost some of their older, well established businesses from this fire. September 1999 proved to bring one of the worst floods in Oakland from Tropical Storm Floyd. One of the first requests for assistance was from firefighter Jim Vulgaris. Crystal Lake rose so quickly that it went over his yard, and through his finished basement. A full freezer, along with many personal belongings floated out of the garage door, and down the river. He is but one of many residents within the borough that lost articles and property due to that storm. From that point on, for the next 38 hours, the fire department responded nonstop to multiple calls within the borough. The amount of emergency requests for help at the same time was never before seen by the fire department. During the height of the evening, the fire department was separated into multiple sectors; one group was doing rescues and evacuations, with assistance from Sgt. Bob Deboer of the Oakland Police, David Potash with James Construction Equipment, Oakland Dept. of Public works men with large dump trucks, and Military vehicles staffed with servicemen from the Army National Guard. The balance of the incidents were being handled by different groups of firemen. During this, a call came in for a major natural gas leak at Ramapo River Reserve. Due to a mudslide, an attached deck went into a newly developed, and occupied home, narrowly missing the occupants. With the changes to the structure it ruptured a high-pressure natural gas line. After much evacuation of the surrounding area the gas was shut off without any fire starting.

The Oakland Volunteer Fire Department has had 26 Fire chiefs since 1909. A list of the
Fire chiefs is as follows:

1909 through 1915 - Ludo W. Wilkens 1916 through 1922 - Henry R. Hopper 1923 through 1932 - Frank D. Pulis 1933 through 1935 - James E. Munn 1936 - Charles Meredith 1937 - Robert Allen 1938 through 1939 - Edward Eve 1940 through 1942 - Harold J. Munn 1943 through 1944 - Edward Hanney 1945 through 1946 - William A. Richardson 1947 through 1952 - Lester W. Marion 1953 through 1956 - Dennis Clark 1957- 1965,70-71,82-83 - Vernon Yeomans 1966 through 1967 Robert Haemmerle 1968-1969,72-73,75-76 William Woodward 1974 Edward Costigan 1977 through 1978 John DelCorpo 1979 Robert Artus 1980 through1981,88 Bernard Hickey 1984 through 1985 Edwin Kimmel 1986 through 1987,94-96 Edward Proskey 1989 through 1990 Leonard Tanis 1997 David Jeltes 1991 through 1993,98-00 Roy Bauberger, Edward Tryon 2001-03,Steven Milano 2004-06 and Peter Sondervan 2007-Present. 

Past Presidents of The Oakland Volunteer Firefighters Association:

Henry Van der Wall - 1946-47, William Richardson - 1948, Edgar Powell - 1949-50, Alex Perrin - 1951-53, Irving Otto -1954, Edward Hanney - 1955-56, Ben H. Wood - 1957-62, John Bigley - 1962-65, William Ebert - 1966, Vernon Yeomans - 1967, William Clark - 1968, Joseph A. Gallup - 1969, John Bigley - 1970-76, William Woodward - 1977, Vernon Yeomans - 1978-79, John Del Corpo - 1980-84, Edward Costigan - 1985-86, Vernon Yeomans - 1987-88, Eric Kulmala - 1991, Chester Konicki - 1992-95, Anthony Smid - 1996-2000, William Tjaden 2001-02, Daniel D'Elia - 2003, William Tjaden - 2004-2005, Edward Proskey 2006-Present
 

An Exempt Fireman’s Association was formed in February 1950 for the purpose of maintaining recognition in Trenton, New Jersey on many legislative referendums pertaining to volunteer firemen’s benefits. Seven years of 60% attendance of fires and drills is a requirement for membership before an applicant can be accepted into this association. After achievement and receipt of Exempt status, firemen have a death benefit that is paid by the state of New Jersey this benefit stays with that person, whether they are fire personnel or not, anywhere in the country. The local exempt Association is responsible for contacting the state, and helping with the administration duties involved upon a exempt fireman passing away.

Social activities and participation in parades enliven the routine of fire drills and attendance at fire schools for the volunteers. The department has won many trophies, in various competitions among fellow firemen, at parades in which they have participated.

Fire apparatus, within the fire department other then Chiefs vehicles are and have been:

1909 Hand drawn 50 gallon chemical tank, 1917 Ford Model T supply truck, 1921 Larrabee chemical truck, 1929 Chevrolet 350 gpm pumper, 1934 Chevrolet 500 gpm front end pumper, 1944 Buffalo 750 gpm pumper, 1954 Metro Rescue Truck, 1954 Ward LaFrance 750 gpm pumper, 1956 Dodge Power Wagon 500 gpm front end pumper, 1959 FWD Engine/Pumper 750 gpm, 1963 Chevy Rescue Truck ,1966 Snorkel 75 foot articulated boom 1000gpm pump, 1976 Mack Engine/Pumper 1500gpm, 1978 Dodge Powerwagon 750gpm, 1983 Mack Engine/Pumper 1500gpm, 1987 Saulsbury Rescue Truck [2], 1993 Seagrave Engine Pumper 1500gpm, 2000 Seagrave 105 Foot Aerial Platform, 2002 Pierce Engine/Pumper 2000gpm. 
 

The department is associated with many organizations dedicated to promoting cooperation between fire and emergency forces of various communities for the mutual protection and benefit of all, and to extend mutual knowledge of fire hazards, fire fighting techniques, training procedures, apparatus and equipment knowledge and fire ground coordination. Among these organizations are the New Jersey and New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association, the New Jersey State Firemen’s Association, the North Jersey Firemen’s Association and the Northwest Bergen Mutual Aid Association.

The year 2000 will bring progressive and modern changes to the fire department. After much anticipation and dedicated work by Fire Chief Roy Bauberger and the firemen, they are happily expecting the arrival of the new 105 Foot Aerial Platform from Seagrave Corp, in Clintonville Wisconsin. This apparatus will be replacing the 1966 Snorkel, which has served the department well for many years, but is overdue for replacement. February 2000, there was a in-process inspection at the Seagrave plant, attended by the Chief, Capt. Bob Knapp, and Ex-Fire Chief Ed Proskey. At this time the wheels were on the frame, the 3 ladder sections were in process, the body was completed, and there were sub assemblies all over the place. On March 20th, Chief Bauberger returned to the plant for a final inspection, along with Capt Bob Knapp, and Ex Asst. Chief Anthony Smid. The final inspection was just that. Details were gone over, minor discrepancies were noted for correction, and the apparatus will soon be on its way to Oakland New Jersey, just in time for the 90th anniversary parade and "Drydown" celebration. This new piece is much needed in the borough with the amount of industry here and especially the new development, Ramapo River Reserve, which is all truss construction, with large frame structures in very close proximity of each other. Also, a new Chief’s car, which arrived in March, will be put in service, replacing the Suburban that has served well. The suburban will be kept in service, at Company 2, for the transportation of personnel to emergency scenes.

Presently the Borough of Oakland OEM [Office of Emergency Management] is working on a Modern Audible Emergency Alert System that is still in the proposal stage. This type of system is in use in various neighboring towns in the area. Although they are called Fire Sirens, there is a lot more to these systems today. In reality they can and will be used for more then just Fire responses. They are also used for School closings, and as emergency warning systems. With the new system it will also be able to be used for flood warnings for evacuations. There will be multiple ways to distinguish why the siren is being set off. The new system is expected to have directional sirens, so that it will be less offensive to the public in populated areas. The siren system is still a necessity within the borough. In the late 80’s Instalert radios were phased out, with a Capital Purchase of tone actuated pagers that all the volunteer emergency personnel are issued. Many people felt that by having the pagers, sirens would no longer be needed. The use of the siren is still of major importance for the response of emergency personnel. There are times when the pager system does not activate at all, it doesn’t happen often, but it does. Without the siren there would be absolutely no response of the volunteer emergency personnel. Presently there are limitations to when the sirens are used, with set procedures being the time of day, and the type of emergency situation that is involved.

         As we entered the 21^st Century, American citizens were tragically reminded of the importance of a well-trained and experienced fire department. The terrorist attacks at The World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington, DC and aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 shocked the nation. On that day many members of both companies of the Oakland Vol. Fire Dept. left their daytime jobs and met at Station One on Yawpo Avenue waiting and willing to do whatever they could to help the citizens of New York City. Cori Sondervan, daughter of Firefighter (and future Department Chief) Pete Sondervan, organized a drop-off point at Station One for Oakland residents to donate bottled water, food goods, and many other items that were needed in NYC. The response was overwhelming. Over 30 tons of goods were shipped from Oakland to NYC. In 2002 Chief Ed Tryon oversaw the purchase of a new Pierce engine to replace the aging 1034. The Oakland Board of Education donated a school bus to the department and Chief Tryon saw the potential for an Evacuation/Rehab vehicle. The bus was cleaned, repainted and lettered. Brian Tanis, son of Ex-Chief Len Tanis, built and installed storage cabinets in the bus as part of his Eagle Scout project.  In  2003 and 2004, generous donations from Ms. Lillian Booth of Alpine, NJ, aunt of Capt. Jim Vulgaris, resulted in the purchase of two Asst. Chief’s cars. Prior to this the Asst. Chiefs responded to an incident in their privately owned vehicles. Thermal Imaging Cameras were also purchased with these donations. These cameras enable firefighters to locate "hot spots" inside the walls of a structure. 

Since the Yawpo firehouse is designated as an evacuation shelter it is important that we be able to provide those displaced Oakland residents with as much comfort as possible. The kitchen at the firehouse had not been updated since it was built in 1966. A motion was made and passed by the membership to use funds from the Lillian Booth donations to completely remodel the kitchen. In 2007 ex-Chief Roy Bauberger, along with help from Lt. Pete Pfeiffer, took on the task. The old kitchen was gutted and new cabinets, appliances, walls, lighting, floor and fixtures were installed. A generous donation of fixtures from Henry’s Plumbing Supply in Hawthorne helped keep costs down. The result is a kitchen that we can all be proud of and will serve the needs of the department and any “guests” who find themselves needing shelter from a storm.

Although Life and Property are still our primary directives, our
responsibilities have grown to include: responding to motor vehicle accidents, search and rescue operations in and around the Ramapo Mountains and the Ramapo River, storm-related evacuations, Haz-Mat operations and many more. As our responsibilities grow and evolve, we continue to grow and evolve with them. We are very proud of what we do here at the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department.

(The history of the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department was originally published for the fire department’s 50th Anniversary (1959) by firemen of years gone by. It was edited and updated by Ex-Chief Edward Proskey for the 90th Anniversary (1999). Additional editing and updating for the OFD website (2007) by Firefighter Bill Tjaden.)