History of the Adams Fire Company
On May 1st 1924 a group of men met at the home of George C Toellner to purchase a potato planter. Then is was decided that because the community was growing there should be fire protection. They all agreed and immediately organized a fire company and elected the following en for office pro term. President - Herman Schoenfeldt, Vice President - George C Toellner, Secretary - Walter W Toellner, Treasurer - William Adams, Trustees - William Gombert, Albert Beutel, and Benjamin J Toellner.
A meeting was then called at the Wheatfield School District #3. About 30 residents attended and at this time those same men were officially elected to a one year term. To get some working capital to start this fire company it was agreed that each member would donate $25.00.
William Adams agreed to give the new company a 40x60 foot lot on Niagara Falls Blvd near Nash Road. The company accepted with thanks and decided to call itself "Adams Fire Dept. of Nashville, New York."
A 25x34 foot building was erected by members with most of the lumber donated by local lumber dealers. This left enough money to order their first fire truck.
March 4th 1925, - A motion was made and seconded to become incorporated. Each member was assessed one dollar to pay for incorporation, carried.
August 19th, 1925 - A decision was made to have the first fireman's picnic September 19th, 1925 on William Gombert's field on Nash Road adjoining Adams land.
June 2nd, 1926 - Motion as made and seconded to join the Western New York Volunteer Firemans Association.
January 1st, 1931 - New constitution and By-Laws of Adams Fire Dept became effective.
August 16th, 1933 - A 1932 Buffalo Fire Truck was purchased for $3900.
September 17th, 1947 - A decision was made to purchase from Mrs. Andrees 6 acres of land on Nash Road, North of Niagara Falls Blvd for the purpose of relocating the fire company.
August 19th, 1948 - membership voted to build a new fire hall on the Nash Road site and the fire truck goes with the new building.
August 10th, 1949 - Membership voted to draw up plans for a new fire hall and authorize building committee to hire an architect to submit bids on cost for plans.
September 1949 - Adams Ladies club became Adams Fire Department Auxiliary.
October 15th, 1950 - Ground breaking for new fire hall became a reality.
October 28th, 1951 - Assembled for the purpose of laying the cornerstone for the new building. The cornerstone is the Key-Stone donated by member Walter Grawe.
October 1st, 1952 - The very first regular meeting was held in the new fire hall.
December 3rd, 1952 - Truck and equipment moved to new location
April 22nd, 1953 - Contract drawn up with the NW school board to rent the auditorium., rest room, and cloak room for one year at cost of $300 a month for school use until Nash Road School is built.
October 7th, 1953 - Old fire hall and property sold for $5,100.
June 6th, 1956 - The building committee was given authority to build a 26 x 32 utility building. Using present dance floor for the roof.
1958 - Boy Scout Troop 833 received their charter and sponsored by Adams for 40 years.
January 1960 - First time men and women had joint installation together.
May 3rd, 1961 - Company voted to purchase a juke box from the Wurlitzer Co. at a price of $250.
1962 - Cub Pack received their charter and sponsored by Adams Fire Co. for 36 years.
January 15th, 1969 - Bingo started at Adams using the small upstairs and the truck room. In the winter months, all trucks had to be taken to the St Johnsburg Fire Co. so they would not freeze up.
September 1970 - A new addition to the truck room will soon be completed. This included a new Chief's office, chowder supply room and board of directors supply room.
October 6th, 1971 - Bingo commission approved expenditure of black top parking lot which was approved by the company.
November 1st, 1973 - Building Committee proposed a 40x80 foot tri-steel addition to present building for $38,000 by Sissons Builders for bingo and other activities.
January 2nd, 1974 - Committee was formed to celebrate 50th anniversary with a field day. New jackets and parade uniforms were ordered.
September 3rd, 1975 - Adams made contact with the four other fire companies in Wheatfield to organize a Benevolent or Exempt Association for members with over 5 years of service. This never did materialize because of no follow through with the other company's.
January 5th, 1977 - A motion was made to change the name of Adams Fire Department to Adams Fire Company, Inc. approved by all members effective August 8th, 1980.
May 3rd, 1978 - Company made decision to build a picnic pavilion at the rear of the building at a estimated cost of $1,000. This will be used for outside picnics, family picnics and other organizations who would want to rent the grounds.
August 2nd, 1978 - Down payment was made on a building and remodeling contract at the cost of $5,000 which was 75% of the contract.
January 3rd, 1979 - Essentials of Foremanship became a requirement of all new active members. The state required this within 2 years of your accemptance as a member.
July 2nd, 1980 - Life member ship shall be attained when a member has belonged to the Fire Co. for a period of thirty years or attains the age of 65.
February 4th, 1981 - Members voted to make one kettle of chowder for the Wheatfield Town Picnic on July 11th. This was an annual ritual until July 1998 when we declined and Bergholz Fire Company took over.
July 25th, 1982 - Adams Fire Co. was host to Niagara County Fireman's Association meeting.
June 1st, 1983 - More building renovations were to be done at the cost of $12,000.
April 25th, 1984 - Ladies Auxiliary made donation to have lavatory built down stairs.
July 11th, 1984 - Air conditioning was to be installed at a cost of $15,000.
November 7th, 1984 - Adams came into the computer age and purchased a new computer.
August 8th, 1985 - At the Sanborn Fire Co. parade Adams won first prize for 1st - best color guard and 2nd place most men in line.
August 27th, 1986 - Landscaping project on south side of the hall will soon begin with major payments by the ladies auxiliary.
August 27th, 1986 - A decision was made to purchase our own "Jaws of Life" with a donation of $4000 from IBM and balance by company.
May 1991 - Put into service a defibrillation unit for use in cardiac arrest cases.
November 4th, 1992 - By law change reflecting Executive Officers will start 2 year terms effective January 1993. Exception is one director for 3 years.
October 27th, 1993 - New turnout coats will be purchased for $300 each and fire police coats at $110 each.
March 28th, 1994 - A vote was taken and carried to borrow $80,000 to build a new building out back and money left over to remodel the downstairs lounge.
January 1st, 1995 - Establishment of a contract with Town of Wheatfield for the Wheatfield firefighter service awards to active firefighters who fulfill their eligibility requirements. This is a monetary reward they will receive a the age of 62.
August 8th, 1996 - Adams, St Johnsburg, and Frontier became incorporated as the Wheatfield Volunteer Firefighters Benevolent Association with Rick Allen as the first President. Rick and others from various fire companies were instrumental in establishing this organization after many months of hard work.
June 1997 - Was last chowder sale because of family obligations of members, it was decided to drop chowder.
July 27th, 1998 - A 1999 Ford pickup truck with diesel engine has arrived and been put into service. The truck will be used to transport fire police to accidents and other calls as necessary.
November 4th, 1998 - Adams installed a generator to provide the hall and truck room with enough power during emergencies caused by long time power failures in the community similar to the Blizzard of 77.
1999 - Adams celebrated it's 75th anniversary
2004 - Adams bought two Chevrolet Tahoes to be utilized as Cheif's vehicles and as rapid response vehicles. Each unit was equipped with EMS equipment, command center equipment, an airpack, AED, and multiple tools.
2005 - Adams broke ground on a piece of property at the corner of Shawnee Road and Klemer Road to construct a new Station #2.
2006 - Station #2 was completed and opened.
August 2012 - The new 1E1 was put into service
August 2014 - Ground was broke on a million dollar expansion and renovation to Station #1. A partnership with the Grapevine brought this project to reality. This project was funded privately by the Adams Fire Company with no burden on the residents of the Town of Wheatfield.
March 2015 - Adams old 1E1 was donated and shipped to the Dominican Republic through the brothers without borders to serve as a fire truck in the Dominican Republic.
April 2015 - The new Alder Creek Banquet facility was completed and opened to the public.
