Baltimore County Fire Station 1 serves Towson and the surrounding communities in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Its history dates back to the 19th century and the beginning of the Baltimore County Fire Service.
With destruction by fire a growing problem, Towson villagers met on February 8, 1878 to establish the Towsontowne Fire Department -- a volunteer company. (The paid department was established in 1881.) Mr. Charles T. Holloway was awarded a contract on March 11, 1878, for $450, to build a hook-and-ladder truck. Initially, firefighters stored the truck in a shed at Trinity Episcopal Church. The County Commissioners allotted $600 for a permanent location.
In April 1879, Towsontowne Fire Department's new facility was ready for occupancy on land across from Trinity Church, on Joppa Road. Although volunteers manned the department until 1890, the county took ownership of the company's property in 1883. It hired James H. Hynson, at a salary of $5 per month, as caretaker of the new building and the truck.
On October 15, 1890, the Towsontowne Fire Department received its first fire engine. In 1893, the Towson Fire Station received the number "1."
The response area of Engine 1 during this period was enormous. First-alarm responses are recorded as far away as Glen Arm and Fork to the east and Reisterstown Road and Westminster Road to the west.
On November 1, 1937, the Department began the two-platoon system, with personnel divided equally between "A" and "B" shifts. The new eight-day work cycle consisted of three 10-hour days, a 24-hour tour of duty, followed by three 14-hour nights. Until this time, firemen worked 24 hours a day, with an hour off for each meal, and one day off each week.
Tragedy struck the Towson Fire Station on February 26, 1941. Capt. Linwood Brookhart suffered critical injuries in an apparatus accident. He died in March.
A fire burned for two hours in the Towson business district on March 15, 1942.
Ambulance 1 went in service on April 28, 1942.
Another change to the work schedule occurred in March 1949, with a new, 11-day work cycle. Crews worked five 10-hour days, with 24 hours off duty, followed by five 14-hour nights and another 24 hours off.
In 1949, the department purchased a Seagrave truck with a 65-foot aerial. It was the only one of its kind in the County, and it responded countywide.
In 1951, the county was divided into two battalions.
On October 7, 1952, Harold Evans is noted as leaving quarters at 7:10 p.m. to teach first aid. Fireman Evans would eventually be promoted to Captain and head the Ambulance Division, later to be known as Emergency Medical Services.
The year 1955 saw the relocation of the Towson Fire St
ation and Headquarters from the intersection of Dulaney Valley Road, York Road and Joppa Road to a new location at York Road and Bosley Avenue. At the time, the new complex was state-of-the-art. The site included a six-story training tower, two-story smokehouse, drafting pits, flammable liquid pits and high voltage electrical installations.
Truck 1 went in service at the new station on July 3, 1956.
Addition of a third shift reduced the firefighters work week to 56 hours. On August 21, 1960, they would work four 10-hour days, followed by two days off, then four 14-hour nights and another two days off.
The Rockland Bleach and Dye Works on Falls Road in Brooklandville provided much work for firefighters. An explosion on May 8, 1962 resulted in a severe injury to a worker and extensive damage to the structure. A six-alarm fire on May 4, 1982 started in a heated fabric dryer and traveled through the ductwork to the roof. The building was demolished in the late 1970s.
On Jan.19, 1962, a fire at 113 Welford Road, in Lutherville, killed a father and three sons. Two firefighters, Kenneth Sherman and Kenneth Holloway suffered from minor injuries.
A four-alarm fire destroyed five stores in the 500 block of York Road and Shealey Avenue on Feb. 28, 1964.
Due to the growing number of stations, the Department re-numbered some apparatus. Towson's second engine was changed from Engine 10 to Engine 101 in the early 1960s.
Foam 1, a 1965 Ford pickup truck was a Kidde Hi-X foam generator, was placed in service on Jan. 4, 1965.
As riots erupted in Baltimore City in April 1968, county units were transferred into Baltimore. Engine 1 transferred to Engine 21, in Hampden, on April 6, with Engine 101 taking a turn on April 7.
The ten-story Ruxton Towers Apartment building was the scene of a four-alarm fire on April 30, 1975.
Two firefighters were injured at a six-alarm fire at the Roeder Manufacturing Company. This Jan. 18, 1977 fire in the 1900 block of Greenspring Drive caused $700,000 in damages.
The county's first female firefighter, Mary Simmers, arrived at Towson on July 14, 1979.
The "Electronically Enhanced Uniform Alerting System" began on April 1, 1980. The system allowed station lights, buzzers and doors to be activated remotely from the dispatch center. Before this system, a firefighter was required to maintain watch 24 hours a day.
On Sept. 30, 1983, a six-alarm fire erupted at the Drug Fair at Padonia Village Shopping Center, York and Padonia Roads.
On Jan. 4, 1987, a freight train careened into an Amtrak passenger train in Chase. Truck 1 was dispatched on the third alarm.
An early morning fire at St. Paul's School at 11232 Falls Road, on Jan. 30, 1990, required six alarms.
The "stump dump" fire began in October 1992. Piles of discarded tree stumps caught fire at a tree farm on Dogwood Road. Crews from the 5th battalion battled smoldering debris for days. Special Unit 1, as well as other career units, spent days traveling between the scene and varying stations throughout western Baltimore County.
A distraught man attempted suicide on Jan. 5, 1993 at Saint Joseph's Hospital. The victim had climbed nearly 85 feet up an incinerator smoke stack. FS Bruce Snyder of the Advanced Tactical Rescue Team restrained and held the man until he was safely lowered to the ground.
Sylvester Thomas, Baltimore County's first black firefighter, retired at the end of 1995.
Engine 101 and Truck 1 responded to a high-rise fire at the Dulaney Towers condominiums.
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Engine 1 | Engine 101 |
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Truck 1 | Brush 1 |
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Medic 1 | Medic 101 |
Revised May 11, 2007
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