Company Profile: Eggertsville Hose COmpany

chief@eggertsvillehose.com

president@eggertsvillehose.com

The Eggertsville Hose Company is the second oldest fire company in the town of Amherst and had its beginnings in 1906 in a corner meat market. A group of residents raised the then vast sum of $113.13 in just thirteen minutes at the old Sauter's Market at the corner of Main Street and Eggert Road. These residents met after two serious fires threatened the safety of the neighborhood. One blaze destroyed the home of Harry Flading on Callodine Avenue and the other leveled a haystack owned by John Chassin. A series of meetings on the fire protection problem resulted in the formation of the Eggertsville Hose Company. It would replace the bucket brigade, which had failed to save the Flading home.

     The Hose Company's first chief and president was Rudolph E. Boetger, town peace justice and president of the District 13 School Board. Boetger had been a member of the Cayuga Engine Company in Lancaster during the 1870's and 1880's. Boetger held the office of chief from 1908 to 1926 and the office of president from 1908 to 1909. At that time, he had the distinction of being the oldest active fire chief in New York State.

     From the very inception of the fire company, a ladies auxiliary flourished. Its efforts and contributions at picnics and social affairs aided and sustained the Company immensely. However, the coming of prohibition caused a rift between the Hose Company and the auxiliary. The ladies were 'dry' and the men 'wet.' The differences between the two could not be resolved and the Hose Company dissolved the ladies auxiliary.

     The firemen hosted parades and picnics each year to raise money and on May 8, 1908 the fire company was incorporated. A plot of land was then purchased at Main Street and Maynard Drive, and a frame building was soon erected by the membership who did all the work voluntarily with old railroad lumber.

     A spring wagon with fire equipment and hose became Eggertsville's first piece of apparatus. It was horse-drawn, usually by Bill Manning's horse, as he was the closest man available. Next came the acquisition of two six-foot hose reels carrying 1,000 feet of 2 1/2 inch hose. One reel was stationed at the corner of Main Street and Maynard Drive and the other at Callodine Avenue and Main Street. Both were hand-drawn rigs. The alarm system consisted of an iron railroad wheel with a gong that was suspended next to the station and was struck with a hammer to sound the alarm. Finally, the traditional red shirt and wide belt was adopted by the membership as the company uniform.

     Motorized fire departments soon became the norm and in 1924 the Hose Company purchased a four-wheel drive pumper. It was manufactured  in Clintonville Wisconsin and was paid for by donations and a $10,000 mortgage. During the same year the Exempt Firemen's Association and Eggertsville Hose Club was founded. The club, a source of fond memories, was then discontinued on July 4, 1965.

The Eggertsville Hose Company is a proud 100% all volunteer fire department serving the Western New York community of Eggertsville, located within the Town of Amherst just outside of Buffalo, NY. They are ISO class three certified, and protect a 2.2 square mile district containing residential and commercial structures. The district borders are south of Maple Road on the north end to the Town of Tonawanda and City of Buffalo on the west side, the Snyder Fire District on the east side,  and the City of Buffalo and a tiny bit of the Town of Cheektowaga on the south side.  Some of the more notable businesses in the district include the Boulevard Mall, the Amherst Theater, Brunner's Tavern and Bocce Club Pizza. In 2021 they had a total call volume of 1167 calls.