History of the Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department
Prior to 1941, the Taftville Fire Department, Baltic Fire Department and the A.A.Young Hose and Ladder Co. of Jewett City provided fire protection in the town of Lisbon. Since the primary loyalty of these department was to their own constituents, they generally responded to a call in Lisbon on an "if available" policy. In 1937, these Departments felt that the Town of Lisbon should look into their own fire protection; it took four years and on April 16, 1941, twenty-three men gathered at a meeting to promote fire protection for the town of Lisbon.
The result of that meeting was the appointment of a committee to draw up a constitution and by-laws for the organization of a fire department as well to nominate a slate of officers. Two weeks later, on May 1st a second meeting took place and the committee gave its report. The following men were elected as officers: Chief, Ted Kendall; Assistant Chief, Earle Palmer, Sr.; Captain, Harry Kaempffe; and Secretary George Helmboldt. The other Charter members were Alwin Kaempffe; Joseph Davis; Clarence Fitch; Larry Hoffman; Gus Kaempffe; Richard Krauss; Herman Krauss; George Krauss; Michael Zien; Harold Mell; Frank Mell; Walter Mish; Narcisse Raymond; Henry Seidel; Benny Szalkowski; Charles Szalkowski; Edward Thoma; John Nemczuk and Rev. James Boyd. Also at this meeting it was voted to incorporate, this took place at twelve-noon on June 10, 1941 in Hartford.
With the structural organization in place, the next most urgent need was the purchase of equipment the department voted to purchase a used 1929 Diamond T open cab pumper from the Eagleville Fire Department for $800, some equipment came with the truck, more was needed and subsequently purchased. The problem of obtaining funds to pay for the truck and equipment was solved in various ways. It was decided to have a door-to-door solicitation as an initial fund raising event. This netted a total of $837.75 and one bull calf, which was later sold for $5.00. Other fund raising events such as card parties, dances and penny socials were held later in the year. Additional money was obtained from a loan of $1,000 and the appropriation of $200 from the town (as listed in the town report ending August 31, 1941).
In June of 1941, the Department received a letter from the Board of Education informing them "they knew of no statutes that would prohibit housing a fire truck in a school building". This cleared the way for the Department to be housed in the basement of the Lisbon Central School on Route 138. The school remained the home of the Department until 1955. New legislation required complete fire proofing of the portion of school the Fire trucks were housed, it was then decided that it would be more feasible for the Fire Department to have its own headquarters. At the annual Town Meeting held on May 19, 1955, the residents of Lisbon voted to build a new firehouse. A special Town Meeting was held a month later and funds were appropriated for the purchase of land and construction of the building. A parcel of land, located adjacent to the school was purchased from the Newent Congregational Church for $3000. The building was constructed of cement blocks with three bays opening onto Route 138 at a cost of under $20,000. In 1977 with the growth of new and larger equipment an addition was added on. This location and building still remains the current headquarters of the Department today.
The original alarm system was operated through the telephone company in Jewett City. A call would be placed to the Jewett City operator and the siren activated. Firemen served by the Jewett City exchange would only have to pick up their phones to hear the operator tell them the location of the fire. The fire information was also posted at the firehouse and on a bulletin board located at the lower end of town. The first siren was located at the school. Since the sound did not carry to the lower end of town another siren was located at Route 169 and Club House road. Later a third was placed on Mell Road. Today only one siren remains the one on the roof of the station. This method of notifying the members of a call continued until the Jewett City Telephone Exchange was automated. At that time, the alarm system was transferred to Norwich and operated from the Norwich Central Fire Station. To notify the Department of a call, the Central Station would activate the Departments Sirens the first member to reach the station would pick-up the phone line that was a direct connection to the Central Station and receive information regarding the nature and location of the emergency. He would then call the Fire Chief’s House and relay the information to a member of his family. Phone calls were then placed to the homes of other members whose families would also relay the information on to others. In 1971, it was decided to modernize the alarm system by purchasing Plectrons (tone activated radios that gave a voice message) and placing them in the firemen’s homes. The information was then received directly from the Central Station thus saving a considerable amount of time in answering the call. In 1982, realizing the convenience and flexibility of pagers the Department voted to purchase them for its members; it still remains today the way members are notified of a call. The Department is dispatched by Q.V. in Danielson on Frequency 33.80 and operates on frequency 33.90.
Chiefs of the Department, Ted Kendall remained Chief for ten years. In May of 1951, Harry Kaempffe, replaced him serving as Chief until his death in November of 1963. The assistant Chief, Earle Palmer, Jr. then became Acting Chief until the annual elections held in May of 1964 when he was formally elected to the office. His tenure as Chief ended in May 1976 when he declined to run for office. John Crees was then elected and remained in office for fourteen years until his tenure ended in 1990 when he decided to retire from office. John Mathers was then elected in May of 1990 and served as Chief until being replaced by Robert Jencks in 1992, who served for one year. In 1993, Richard Hamel was elected to serve as the seventh Chief, declining to run for office in 1997. Allen Bergeron was then elected in 1997 and served as Chief until he also declined in May of 2000. Currently Mark A. Robinson is Chief having been elected to office in 2000. There have been so many able and dedicated men and women who have served as officers over the years that it would be difficult to name them all. Their contributions have been much appreciated.