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No. 18 Vol. 10
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October 2022
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Ironia Fire Company Celebrates 75 Years in 2022
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By Steve Sears ohn McAndrew, now in his second year as President of the Ironia Fire Company, Inc., perhaps says it best. “If you think about small town America for a moment, just go to Norman Rockwell painting. You see the police officer sitting on the stool at the luncheonette. What’s down the street? The firehouse. And that’s our community here, and we want to try to keep that grounded. Tom and I grew up in the firehouse. Our father was a firefighter. Tom and I moved here at a very young age. Craig (Wolfson) is a native, Greg (Mattes) is a native. This is our home.” A past President, Craig Wolfson is also a retired Randolph Police Sergeant who joined the Ironia Firemen’s Association, and Greg Mattes served as President during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both joined John McAndrew and his brother, Tom, who is the current Vice-President, to discuss the organization’s 75th anniversary. “It was really a men’s association that was interested in getting fire protection, and essentially they became a fire company, and from that it grew,” John says. “They had the intent of becoming a fire company, but they formed this thing called the Ironia Firemen’s Association. That’s our New Jersey charter, that’s our corporation, Ironia Firemen’s Association, Inc.” On August 8, 1947, the initial set of bylaws were passed by Randolph Township, and the group was then recognized as Randolph Engine Company No. 4 of the Ran-
dolph Fire Department. The first chief was Val Huhn. “That Association still owns the property and still owns the firehouse, so this isn’t public property here,” John explains of the location at 331 Dover Chester Road. “It’s technically private property. People don’t really understand that. We own the firehouse, and it’s our challenge to maintain the firehouse and maintain the property. There are parallel organizations. There’s the Ironia Fireman’s Association, Inc. that owns property, and then you have Randolph Chemical Engine Company No. 4 that is the fire protection aspect of it.” The current fire house is the second one; it was built in 1990. The original was built at the intersection of Park Avenue and Dover Chester Road. In the early days, there were fire sirens, and when a phone call was made or signal sent that there was a fire, the sirens would blow like an air raid siren. Tom says, “It would cycle so many times, and that would indicate whether it was a first aid squad or if it was a fire call. The guys would then get off their tractors in the fields and go running back up to the firehouse. Now everybody carries around with them an $800 piece of equipment (a pager) that gives them time and date of the call, where it is, you know, all kinds of information.” His brother adds, “When I joined in 1978, we even had canvas coats and rubber boots. That was the extent of our protection, and today that is increased.” Mattes speaks about outfitting the cur-
rent firefighter. “Currently, it cost about $4,000 to outfit a firefighter with their boots, their pants, the coat, their helmet and gloves. The SCBA breathing air pack they carry costs around $8,000 and then you have other ancillary safety equipment that’s thousands of dollars.” Wolfson talks about tradition. “There’s stuff that we do every year. We’ve been transporting Santa Claus for 70 years on a fire truck. It was difficult, but we did Santa Claus during COVID. We modified the process a little bit and we did it. We do have pancake breakfasts which have been a tradition here to bring the community together. We see the same people year after year come to meet their friends and other people. Those traditions, those type of things, are very important to this specific firehouse and historically.
And over the 75 years, the members have built the fire houses. One they built literally by hand, the second they built through more modern technology.” As for a celebration, that will happen in a special way in 2023. John McAndrew explains. “We’re taking on a new piece of equipment that’s being delivered before the end of the year, but next year, to celebrate the delivery of that piece of equipment – which is a Wildland Engine – at that time we’ll also highlight that we’ve been here for 75 years.” There is a membership request form on the website (www.ironiafire.org), but those interested in joining can also visit the 331 Dover Chester Road in Randolph on Monday evenings from 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
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