Welcome to Mifflintown Hose Co. No1

The Black Sheep Battalion

Mifflintown Hose Co. No. 1 - History

This history story was created by Dale Henry, a past treasurer of Mifflintown Hose Company. He has written a book about the history of Mifflintown Borough and included were pieces about Mifflintown Hose Company's history.
We thank him for providing this information from his book.

HISTORY OF THE MIFFLINTOWN HOSE COMPANY NO. 1

Despite the many large fires that occurred in Mifflintown Borough during the late 19th Century, there was not an active and organized fire company in operation until 1894. There is evidence that a fire company may have been organized soon after 1800. The next reference to a fire company is from June 21, 1834, when a constitution was drafted and signed by thirty-one men of the Borough. No other information is known about that organization. The next time a fire company is known to exist is in the Mifflintown Borough records from April 18, 1842, when Borough Council authorized the fire company to have the engine repaired at the expense of the Borough. It is known that an engine house stood on the northeast corner of the public grounds (the southwest corner of Lemon and North Third Streets). At the same meeting, Council ordered that six ladders of varying lengths be made for fire purposes and kept on the public grounds and also ordered each family to keep two fire buckets on their property. The fire company of this era was composed of boys of the town, who had wool hats made at Ferie's hat factory. The hats were part of their uniform. The engine became of no use due to rust and disuse and the company eventually dissolved. After a fire in the stables of Mrs. Jane Bryson, in the winter of 1854, discussion again was held by Council regarding the need for a fire company and a fire engine. Councilman Anthony Sandoe was appointed to visit Harrisburg to view and make arrangements to purchase an engine. He succeeded in trading the old engine for another second-hand engine for $228.00. The engine was brought to the Borough and repaired.

During the 1870's and early 1880's, three great fires destroyed huge sections of downtown Mifflintown. By the time of these fires, the engine purchased in 1854 was worthless. The first of these events began on December 31, 1870, New Year's Eve, when fire broke out in the “ Crystal Palace ” building located on the southwest corner of Bridge and South Front Street near the river bridge. This location was the exact same site where the famous “Yellow House” burned nearly sixty years earlier. The fire, which was spread by a westerly wind, consumed the entire southwest corner of the Borough from the Canal to South Third Street , including nearly every building south of Bridge Street . The “Red House” on the southwest corner of the square was gone, as was the Odd Fellows and Masonic Lodge Hall. The Masons lost their entire library and all of the minutes and other records of the organization. Miraculously, the flames were stopped as they approached the St. Mary's Lutheran Church on South Third Street . Only three houses were left standing in the entire southwest quadrant of the town, those of E. D. Parker, Noah Elder and Alexander Ellis. Many people remarked that the aftermath of this fire looked like General Sherman's march through Georgia .

The second great fire began on Saturday, August 23, 1873, at the Sentinel office on the north side of Bridge Street above Elbow Alley. This fire consumed seventeen structures as it burned northward along the Belford Block. The entire area along Bridge and North Main Streets was burned as far northward as the Juniata Hotel, located toward the north end of the block.

The third fire of this era occurred on August 25, 1883, when a fire broke out in the stable behind the Juniata Hotel, near the corner of Elbow Alley. The flames quickly spread to the hotel. When the fire was over, the hotel, four general stores, one hardware store, a drug store, a printing office, and numerous other buildings were destroyed along the west side of North Main Street and along North Front Street. As a result of the three great fires, only three buildings survived west of Main Street : the building at the northwest corner of North Front and Bridge Street , the last house on South Front Street at Creamery Lane and the stone house at the north end of town along the canal.

After the fire of 1883, another attempt was made to form a fire company in Mifflintown. Ninety-one men organized a company, but they were not successful in retaining organization. It would be another ten years until the first successful organization was formed. Mifflintown became dependent on help from neighboring Patterson (Mifflin) Borough when the fire erupted. In Patterson, the “Patterson Red Star Hook-and-Ladder Company” was organized on April 1, 1880. It was later chartered on June 10, 1884, as the “Friendship Hook-and-Ladder Company”. It was a well-equipped company with thirty-five members.

There was also no public water supply in the community, and thus no fire hydrants. Hand pumps were located atop wells on several street corners in Mifflintown Borough. One was located at the iron fountain on Bridge Street , just east of Main Street along the courthouse grounds. This “fountain” was an elaborate watering trough for horses. The stone slab, which served as the base of one such pump, can still be seen today on the northeast corner of Orange and North Fourth Streets. Public water and fire hydrants would not be available in the Borough until 1892.

By 1890, the need was clear for a public water supply system to serve the residents of both Mifflintown and Patterson. The Mifflintown Water Company was chartered to construct such a water supply system. Land was acquired in Macedonia Gap, approximately five miles north of town in Fermanagh Township , above the entrance to the Lewistown narrows. A small dam was constructed there and a pipeline consisting of six- and eight-inch diameter cast iron water main was laid from Macedonia Gap to Mifflintown, following the old turnpike. In the two boroughs, the mains were reduced to mostly four inch and some two-inch diameter lines. Fire hydrants connected to the four-inch distribution mains were located at most street corners. On Friday evening, October 7, 1892, T. Van Ervin, and his wife went to Macedonia and at 7:45 opened the valve, which let water into the pipes. By 9:30 PM, water mains were filled in Mifflintown and Patterson. Now, with a constant supply of public water and accompanying fire hydrants in Mifflintown, another attempt was soon made to organize an active fire department.

The “ Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1 ” was officially incorporated by the “Articles of Incorporation or Charter” issued on February 5, 1894. At some point in 1893, a “Hose Carriage” was ordered by members of the newly formed Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1. The carriage was constructed by “Wagner and Robinson” of Mifflintown. While the total cost is unknown as the earliest company records cannot be located, the final payment of $30.00 was made to Wagner & Robinson in February 1894. The Hose Carriage, which resembles a fancy buckboard, has brass rails that extend the length of the hose bed and then down the back to the rear step, two hanging lanterns beside the driver, and a large brass foot operated bell mounted on the front. It was made with two removable tongues, one for horses and the other for men to pull the wagon. When responding to a fire in the Borough, the carriage was generally pulled by men. On each end of the rear step were two long, brass, straight-bore nozzles that attached to the 2½-inch diameter cloth hose that was carried on the hose bed. At a fire, the hose was strung directly from one of the towns nearest hydrants and a nozzle was attached to the other end. While this method did not require the use of an engine to pump the water, the firemen also had no control over the volume or pressure of the water supply. This was the only piece of firefighting apparatus owned by the company until 1924.

Mifflintown's Hose Carriage, still in near perfect condition, is presently on loan to the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum at 1820 North Fourth Street in Harrisburg , PA. It has been on display in that museum since October 27, 1995. The Hose Carriage became the symbol of the company. Today all of the company's rigs have this symbol on the doors of the cab, embossed in gold leaf.

The Mifflintown Hose Company's next piece of apparatus acquired during this period was a motorized 1924 Reo Pumper, purchased by the company on July 8, 1924, from Potter's Garage in Mifflintown for $5,000.00. It ran its first call on September 22, 1924, and remained in active use until 1945. The Hose Carriage was also still used for fires in the Borough but played a less important role in the firefighting efforts of the company. On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1925, a call came into Mifflintown at 8:50 PM for a structure fire in Richfield . The new Reo Engine made the eighteen-mile trip along the dirt road to Richfield in just 25 minutes. It was the first piece of apparatus on the scene of the fire, followed by units from Selinsgrove, Lewistown, Junction and Sunbury. A total of eleven companies responded. The Richfield fire destroyed a large sector of that town. The Reo pumped water for four hours. Several firefighters from Mifflintown were injured in that blaze, two with burns to their eyes.

The first fire station for the Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1 was on the corner of Manbeck Lane and Jefferson Street Extended, just a half block off Washington Avenue and across from the rear of the Lutheran Church. This lot is now part of the Lutheran Church parking lot. The first meeting here was held on January 1, 1894. In July 1929, the company purchased the former Stouffer Theatre building on the north side of Washington Avenue at Firehouse Lane at a cost of $6,150 and moved the station to that building. Banks Stouffer built the theatre in 1919 or 1920. The company stayed there until 1976.

After telephones came into common use, fire calls were received by telephone switchboard operators in the telephone office on North Main Street . The operator taking the call would then activate the fire siren. The first firefighter to arrive at the station would use a special telephone wired directly to the telephone office to receive the location of the emergency and any instructions. Later, in the mid-twentieth century, the fire calls for both Mifflin and Mifflintown were taken at the Sheriff's Office in the county jail.

Immediately following World War II, the Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1 ordered a new 1946 Buffalo Fire Engine to replace the aging 1924 Reo. The Buffalo was received on May 30, 1945, and would be the company's primary piece of firefighting apparatus until it was replaced in the summer of 1966 with a new International Engine. The old 1924 Reo Engine was sold to the East Waterford Community Fire Company for $300.00. Other equipment purchases by the Mifflintown company during this era included a 1957 Ford tanker truck bought in 1961 and a new 1974 International Engine/Tanker. In 1961, the organization purchased a small parcel of land from E. Max and Mary E. Nestler for $2,500 to construct a truck garage to house the engine and tanker. The location was just across Firehouse Lane from the fire hall, at the junction with Ellis Lane and Washington Avenue. This building is still owned by the company today and is currently used for storage and a substation for their tanker.

During this period, the Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1 prospered and gained respect as an effective firefighting team under the leadership of Fire Chief L. Forrest (Forney) Renninger and President Richard (Dick) Harry. Forney Renninger, a resident at 14 North Fifth Street , served as Chief for 30 years, beginning in 1946 and continuing through 1975. Forney replaced Steward E. Renninger who had been Chief from 1931 through 1945. Forney Renninger died in December 2003. Dick Harry, who resided at 302 Orange Street , served as President for 32 years from 1956 through 1987. For many years, the Mifflintown Hose Company conducted an annual three-evening street carnival on Lemon Street , in which the entire block of Lemon Street from North Main to North Third Street would be closed. This event raised money for the volunteer company. In 1971, the street carnival was moved to Schweyer Avenue in front of Myers Park , and the park was also utilized for the annual event. Due to lack of help, however, the annual carnival was abandoned in the 1980's.

In August 1976, the company moved to their present facility at the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and Cross Streets. The new building consists of a three-bay station fronting Washington Avenue and a large social hall to the rear, with an entrance on Cross Street . The old building at Washington Avenue and Firehouse Lane was sold to the Mifflintown Rotary club and became the DeLauter Youth Center . The first fire call from the new building was on August 19, 1976, and the first meeting was held here on August 24. In 1981, the fire company replaced the aging 1957 Ford Tanker with a 1980 GMC tank truck. The tanker was later taken out of service and sold in 1998. The fire company purchased its first rescue truck in 1985. The 1981 GMC rescue truck was the first such piece of emergency equipment in Juniata County . This vehicle was later replaced in 1996 with a larger 1995 Freightliner heavy rescue unit. Additionally, the 1966 International engine was replaced in 1991 with a new Pierce engine. A 1977 Seagrave ladder truck, the first piece of aerial apparatus in Juniata County , was purchased in early 2000. In 2006, the ladder truck was replaced with a refurbished 1996 Mack tower truck. Today, the Mifflintown company operates three pieces of emergency apparatus from its station: an engine, a tower truck and a heavy rescue truck, and a tanker from the substation. With the increasing traffic in the Mifflintown area and the long distance of the U. S. Route 22-322 corridor through this company's response area, the bulk of the emergency alarms today are vehicle accidents. The Mifflintown company was directed by Fire Chief Keith R. Mingle from 1990 to the mid-2000s. Tom Leiter is the current Fire Chief.

Since its formation in 1894, the Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1 has had fought some memorable fires and assisted in times of natural disaster. Some of the more memorable events follow.

The Juniata Hosiery Mill, built in 1913 by Karl Otto Nestler along the Presbyterian Cemetery between North Fourth and North Fifth Streets, was destroyed by a fire reported at 1:45 AM on June 21, 1928. At this fire, Mifflintown Hose Company's 1924 Reo Engine pumped for two hours and thirty minutes.

At 8:20 AM on March 13, 1941, the worst fire since 1883 struck at the heart of downtown Mifflintown. The fire started in Homer Smith's Garage by a welder using an acetylene torch, which exploded. The garage was in the basement level of a building on the west side of North Main Street that stretched westward to North Front Street . The building was located between Lemon and Orange Streets where the Courthouse Annex is today. Above the garage was Ellis' Grocery Store. The fire destroyed that entire building plus the dental office of Dr. Rogers, the homes of S. A. Ellis and Louis Bousum, the old rug mill owned by Kauffman and Harley on North Front Street , Felmlee Dental Office, Stuck & Whitmyer Welding and Plumbing Equipment and the W. H. Davis Store. Additionally, 21 cars and farm implements were destroyed. Other buildings in the area received minor damage. The total loss estimate was $71,375. During the inferno, senior high school boys were summoned from the Juniata Joint High School to assist at the scene of the fire, which occurred on a school day. In addition to Mifflintown, fire companies responded from Mifflin, Port Royal, McAlisterville, Junction, Fame, Brooklyn, and Highland Park .

On Palm Sunday, April 18, 1943, fire was discovered at 8:15 AM in the basement boiler room of the First Methodist Church at North Third and Orange Streets. The kitchen was destroyed and the floor rafters under the sanctuary were severely burned. The interior of the sanctuary had extensive damage. The Sunday school addition, however, was essentially unharmed. The damage estimate was $3,500. Repairs were soon underway, and the building was restored and rededicated in November of that same year. By congregational vote on May 30, 1943, the name of the church was officially changed to the “ Aldersgate Methodist Church .”

Just east of the Borough, beyond North Seventh Street , Charles F. Renninger owned several factories. One was a dress factory, and another was a doll factory, which was leased to Clyde Turbett. The latter building was destroyed in a fire that began at 6:45 PM on November 20, 1951. The loss estimate was nearly $96,000.

Just after 5:00 PM on July 14, 1954, a horrendous storm passed through the Borough. The cyclone, as it is referred to in the records of the Mifflintown Hose Company, came in from the west with extraordinarily strong winds. The tall brick steeple of the Westminster United Presbyterian Church was torn loose and dumped into the intersection of North Third and Lemon Streets. Two Fultz brothers who were employed as caretakers in the Presbyterian Cemetery were walking home from work to their house on North Front Street when the storm blew into town. To protect themselves from the storm, they had been standing in the doorway of the church, beneath the tall steeple. Robert Fultz was killed and buried under the rubble and his brother William was seriously injured by the falling debris. The men were dug from the rubble by members of the Mifflintown Hose Company, No. 1. During the storm, a small also fire erupted in the basement of the Aldersgate Methodist Church , but quickly extinguished by the Mifflintown Hose Company.

The Harry's Foodtown Market, owned by Richard (Dick) Harry, was located on the southwest corner of Cross Street and Washington Avenue . The first floor consisted of the grocery store on the east side, along Cross Street , and the Mifflintown Appliance Center on the west side. On the basement level was a bowling alley known as the Don-Lou Sports Center . The entire complex burned to the ground in a memorable fire at 12:20 AM on October 1, 1964. During the fire, sparks, cinders and exploding aerosol cans were carried by southerly winds across Orange Street to North Street . Fire crews kept dousing the wood shingle roof on the Heeter residence across the street on East Point , as it kept bursting into flames. The loss estimate was $200,000. The building was rebuilt with the grocery store on the first level and the appliance center in the basement.

Across the River in Mifflin Borough, a fire began at the back of the three-story frame Keystone Hotel on February 23, 1968. The Keystone Hotel was located on the southeast corner of Main Street and Railroad Avenue . Fire consumed the hotel and four houses along Main Street , burning eastward to the grocery store of Cecil Wise. The Mifflintown Hose Company records show that their engine pumped water for four hours. During the fire, the brick streets were extremely icy. Today, the law offices of Johnston, Zagurskie and Mummah are located in the former Wise store building.

A second memorable fire in Mifflin Borough occurred a few months after the flood of 1972, while the river bridge connecting the two boroughs was closed. On September 14, a fire erupted at Brown's Tavern at 118 Main Street , on the northeast corner of Railroad Avenue and Main Street . Mifflintown's fire equipment had to travel by way of Port Royal to get to the fire and equipment from Lewistown had to negotiate the twisting Route 333 through Hawstone and Denholm to get to the Mifflin fire. The building suffered a total loss, estimated at $100,000. It was rebuilt as a one-story tavern and today is known as the “Innfield Tavern.”

On the south side of Cedar Street , between South Main and South Third Streets was the Yetter propane gas business. At 4:15 PM on June 19, 1974, a fire erupted on one of the large propane gas storage bottles located there. Owner Robert B. Yetter was seriously burned in the fire and died from his injuries two months later on August 16, 1974, at the age of 53. During the fire, the entire south side of Mifflintown Borough (South Main, South Third, Jefferson, and Cedar Streets) and the Manbeck Heights and Brick Hill area of Fermanagh Township were evacuated due to the possibility of an explosion. Fire crews worked through the night keeping a steady spray of cool water on the gas bottles to keep them from exploding, until the fire was brought under control.

On Sunday morning August 14, 1976, at 6:55 AM fire erupted at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald (Jake) Shugarts on the west side of North Third Street , just two doors above the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Shugarts died in the fire, which totally destroyed their frame home and the adjoining home of Mr. and Mrs. William Whitesel. The Whitesel's rebuilt a new one-story home at 20 North Third Street on the two lots previously occupied by both the Shugarts and Whitesel homes. This fire was the last call from the Mifflintown Hose Company's old station, before their move to the new station.

The Riverside Oil Company building on the west side of North Main Street between Orange Street and North Street was completely destroyed by a blaze that began in the early morning hours of April 28, 1978. Burglars, using a welding torch to burn through the safe kept inside the business, started the blaze. The burglars escaped and were never caught. The adjacent home of Robert Zimmerman to the south side of the Riverside Oil building sustained moderate damage. The Riverside Oil building was rebuilt and today houses The Food Pantry.

On the evening of January 30, 1985, a fire broke out in the E. M. Guss & Sons Hardware Store in Mifflin Borough at 7:24 PM. The fire started in the basement of the building located on the northeast corner of Main and Juniata Streets and quickly engulfed the brick structure. The flames were visible from the Mifflintown side of the river. The hydrant on the northwest corner of the same intersection was used for water supply, as well as a five-inch line laid to the fire ramp at the foot of Tuscarora Street . Following the fire, the building was reconstructed using the same brick exterior walls.

Possibly the worst fire in the history of Juniata County occurred at 2:09 PM on Super Bowl Sunday, January 26, 1986, at the Empire Kosher Poultry Plant in Walker Township, approximately a mile east of the Borough. The fire totally destroyed the plant. Hydrants at several locations in Mifflintown Borough were used to fill tanker trucks during the fire. Local fire companies worked for several days, continuing to douse hot spots that would erupt after the worst of the fire was over. The plant was totally rebuilt following the fire.

Later the same year, Empire Kosher Poultry also lost a warehouse building, which was used to store shipping containers, to fire. On Saturday morning, September 20, 1986, a fire was discovered at 6:25 AM in the building located on the west side of South Front Street in Mifflintown Borough. The building was located on the south side of the Mifflintown Marble and Granite Works building. The frame structure was completely destroyed. Mifflintown's engine pumped water for 7 ½ hours using the hydrant at the corner of Bridge and North Front Street, as well as water from the Juniata River. This building was never rebuilt.

Les Markle's Furniture Store along PA Route 75 on Tyson Hill in Walker Township was destroyed by a fire, which began at 1:47 PM on November 7, 1987.

A fire occurred at the Mifflintown Senior Citizens Center, the former Frank Hostler's service station building on the west side of North Main Street just before the Borough line. This fire broke out at 2:43 PM on January 10, 1989. Firefighters used the hydrant at the northeast corner of Orange and North Main Streets for water supply during the fire. The building was totally destroyed but was rebuilt.

The Mifflin Hotel, also known as Bailor's Hotel, is a three-story brick structure on the north side of Main Street , between Juniata Street and Railroad Avenue in Mifflin Borough, was totally destroyed by a fire that began at 3:20 PM on February 2, 1993. Hydrants at the corner of Main and Juniata Streets and at Tuscarora Street and Railroad Avenue were utilized for water supply. The building was never rebuilt. The vacant lot is now used for parking by patrons of the Trackside Tavern.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 21, 1998, fire erupted in the I.G.A. supermarket at the Juniata Valley Shopping Center along the old William Penn Highway just a mile east of the Borough. The fire burned well into the next morning and destroyed the grocery store, and all of the stores to the south of the I. G. A. The adjacent Family Dollar Store to the north side of the I.G A. had some damage but was saved. Stores lost included the Mifflintown Pharmacy, which was adjacent to the I.G.A. on the south side. None of the stores that burned were rebuilt.

Another memorable fire in the Borough occurred on June 25, 2000, at the Clarks Apartment building, now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Winder. The building was the former Park Plaza Hotel, located on the northeast corner of North Main and Lemon Streets. Fire erupted at 8:19 PM in a third-floor apartment on the Lemon Street side of the building. Fire quickly spread through the upper floor of the building with flames erupting through the roof and blowing out over North Main Street . Hydrants at North Main and Lemon Streets and at North Front and Bridge Streets were used for water supply. The lower floors had extensive water damage. Following the fire, the building was totally remodeled.

On April 26th, 2006, a fire erupted in the 300 block of Juniata St Mifflin, in one of the apartments above the former Zendtz's Store, which sat at the intersection of Path & Juniata Sts. Units arrived to find heavy fire consuming the upstairs apartments and quickly spread down the block. 2 residences beside the building were also affected. Hydrant at Path & River Dr was used as well as supply line laid from the river ramp. Units were on scene for hours, many people displaced. The lot where the store once stood is still vacant, the double houses were both remodeled and being lived in today.

In the early hours of May 24th, 2009, Mifflintown's Rescue was summoned to a reported vehicle accident in the village of East Waterford. Reports were a vehicle into a structure, possibly involving fire. Multiple calls afterwards reported a vehicle into the gas pumps at Long's Store, heavy fire to the structure. A 2nd alarm fire was quickly struck. Mifflintown dumped their station and assisted at the fire all night. The entire business was destroyed and later rebuilt.