In a small town like East Hampton, a major fire could change the character of the community in a matter of hours. For generations, the East Hampton Fire Department has stood ready to guard against that threat. This 1901 to 1930 fire record, lent by the Fire Department to the Long Island Collection for digitization, gives us a glimpse into the early years of firefighting here.
The East Hampton Fire District was formed in June 1899 and originally called the Maidstone Fire District of East Hampton. On April 24, 1900, a group of men gathered to form Hose Company No. 1. This was the first of three companies that would serve the area that summer, and by July the department consisted of two hose companies and one hook and ladder company.
Hose companies focused on locating and extinguishing the fire itself, while hook and ladder companies worked on rescuing people. The foreman of Hose Company No. 1 was Samuel A. Gregory (1862-1930), who was the owner of the Gregory & Company grocery store in East Hampton and mayor of the village from 1925 to 1930.
The first fire recorded in this log was a conflagration that destroyed the Maidstone Clubhouse in the early hours of Aug. 9, 1901. Upon arriving at the scene, the hose team determined that the clubhouse could not be saved and subsequently moved to prevent sparks from catching on neighboring structures.
According to the log, firefighters spent a total of one hour and 15 minutes at the scene. Though the fire did not spread farther, the clubhouse’s three brick chimneys were all that remained at the end of the night.
The final fire noted in the log was a straw fire near the Georgica Life-Saving Station on March 10, 1930, which was successfully put out through a joint effort by East Hampton firefighters and the Coast Guardsmen of the station.
Today, the East Hampton Fire Department has 150 volunteers who serve the community in a variety of ways, from fighting fires to educating the public about fire safety.
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Julia Tyson is a librarian and archivist in the Long Island Collection.
