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(The fact that a legal contract to purchase under these terms was signed by all parties on March 26, 1924, did not seem to present the problems we would expect today.) This meant that delivery of the truck would not be until after the planned July 4th carnival. The fire company membership would not accept the terms of the initial signed contract since it called for delivery in 90 working days. The terms of the contract reflect a payment of $1,000.00 due 10 days after receipt of the vehicle, and four annual payments with 6% interest per annum. The committee signed the contract for the purchase of the truck on Maat a cost of $4,000.00. The fourth Company meeting convened on April 3, and the Purchasing Committee reported they had arranged for the purchase of an American LaFrance Type 3 Triple Tank Chemical Combination CO mounted on a Brockway Torpedo Chassis. The members even decided that the Presbyterian Church Bell would be used to alert members of a fire call - “and anyone hearing it ring at off times, would know what it was for.” Kingston was on its way to having its first fire truck. After many questions were asked and answered, President Flemer appointed a committee (Chief Lester Shaw, Foreman Ben Stewart, and William Woolf) to confer with the American LaFrance agents. Williams of American LaFrance presented information on a “Three tank, two hose equipment, mounted on a Brockway chassis” which would cost $4,150.00. “By invitation, the American LaFrance agents, who had been called upon hitherto many times for suggestions, were now called upon to tell us about their machine and proposition.” Mr.
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First Fire EquipmentsĪnother milestone was also achieved at this second organizational meeting, as reflected in the minutes. After some discussion, the members present held a new election of officers. The minutes say, “President Shaw made a few remarks stating that it had come to his ears that some dissatisfaction had arisen due to the fact that the original meeting consisted of picked members rather than of a representation meeting of all people interested.” President Shaw went on to explain his appointment as Chief by the Improvement Association and offered to resign if the men present wished. It is noted that 18 men had signed up and paid dues, and already the first voices of dissension were being heard. The second organizing meeting of the fire company was held less then a week later, on March 6, 1924. Opened the Charter Membership rolls with an initiation fee of $3.00.Suggested the purchase of Hand Extinguishers.Determined to formally organize a fire company.Before the gavel came down closing the first meeting they had: The organizing men were eager to take action. He urged loyalty to the Chief since he had authority to go ahead with responsibility…” The minutes note, “Chief Joseph Briner gave us some first hand advice and told some amusing tales of fair ladies who left their keys inside and called up the fire company for a ladder to get in their window. Three members of the Princeton Fire Department were present to help answer questions - Chief Joseph Briner, Mr. The men of the town gathered - determined to be ready the next time fire reared its ugly head in the town of Kingston. The following is excerpted from the minutes of that first organizing meeting and those that soon followed:Ī recent fire on Main Street, which started in a retail store and spread to the neighbors, had cost two families their homes and the lose of the business where the fire originated. On Friday February 29, 1924, at the invitation of a specially appointed Fire Committee of the Kingston Improvement Society, about twenty interested citizens met in the South Brunswick Township Schoolhouse to discuss the recent fire in town and the advisability of again having fire apparatus in Kingston. What is clear however is that there was no active organized fire service in the village when tragedy would strike in the winter of 1924…. Exactly how long the Kingston Fire Engine Company stayed in operation is unknown. While many of the early records documenting this history have been lost or destroyed, there is record of an ACT by the New Jersey State Legislature approving the incorporation of the Kingston Fire Engine Company on February 24, 1834. The Village of Kingston has a long history of volunteers prov iding fire protection.