Longwood Fire Company

History of the Longwood Fire Company

In 1921 our company was formed by Mr. Pierre DuPont to protect Longwood Gardens. The original name of the company was Longwood Fire Brigade. Mr. DuPont purchased four chemical carts, one of which we currently own and hope to restore in the future.

In 1924 Mr. DuPont approved the purchase of the first fire engine. A GMC chassis was outfitted by United States Fire Apparatus of Wilmington Delaware. It had a small water tank, pump, ladder, hose, etc. Longwood Gardens approved a new water system and the old wooden pipe system was replaced with on-site wells and water mains.

In 1926 the official name of the company was changed to Longwood Fire Company. A new GMC yellow coach was purchased. The unit was equipped with a 400-gallon per minute pump with 1200ft of hose. Mr. DuPont allowed the company to aid in emergencies in the surrounding territory.

In 1976 a donated oil tanker was converted into a tanker. The company used this tanker until 1984 when a milk truck was converted into a tanker. In 1987, the milk truck was replaced with a Mack/4-Guys tanker carrying 3000 gallons of water. This unit served the company for 21 years until it was sold in 2008.

Seeing the need to increase the amount of space within the firehouse, a single drive-through bay was added in 1977.

In 1981 the fire company purchased fire pagers to alert our members when emergency incidents required us to respond.

In 1988 Chief Lawrence Greeley died after becoming ill at a working fire in the tunnels at Longwood Gardens. His gear is retired and on display downstairs in the meeting room.

In 1993 our first heavy rescue squad was obtained from the defunct Southern Chester County Rescue Association. We received several highly trained members from this dissolution and added a special operations team to our complement of services.

In 1996 we celebrated our 75^th anniversary of continuous service. We also purchased our first Pierce Quantum attack engine.

In 1997 we purchased a second ambulance and began an ALS service with SCCMC. This new unit was designated as MICU 25.

From 1998 – 2007 we replaced a majority of our fleet. We purchased two more ambulances, a traffic unit, a brush truck, a heavy rescue squad, a rescue-engine, and a 75ft aerial ladder.

In 2008 we again recognized a need to expand our services. We placed a 12ft Zodiac emergency boat into service. We also placed a Rapid Intervention Team into service. The RIT is tasked with rescuing firefighters in distress at an emergency incident.

2017 brought new changes to LFC. The need to expand our services peaked and with that the LFC placed into service two tankers to serve our local and the communities around us. The company also saw the need for a full-time career fire chief to help continue moving the company in a forward direction and with that then volunteer fire chief A.J. McCarthy took on the role as the first full-time career fire chief.

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www.FirehouseSolutions.com	Longwood Fire Company 1001 E. Baltimore Pike Kennett Square, PA 19348	Emergency Dial 911 Non-Emergency: 610-388-6880 E-mail: info@longwoodfireco.com