History of the Franklin Square fire department

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The history of the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department began, perhaps predictably, with a series of fires.

Dating back to the end of the nineteenth century, Franklin Square was predominantly a rural farming town, with little to no protection against fires. Large pastures of grass surrounded buildings and homes made of wood, which were perfect conditions for fires to spread easily. According to the 2022 Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department Journal, fires were quite common during this time.

As Franklin Square swung into the twentieth century, no formal fire department had been established yet. Fires were particularly frequent during dry summers, the journal states, when even a small spark could trigger a grass fire. Some fires destroyed entire structures, unable to be salvaged from the blaze.

But, it wasn’t until 1901, when the Rath-Herman House, owned by prominent businessman Peter J. Herman, burst into flames that a campaign for better fire protection in Franklin Square began.

With Herman at the helm, a group of residents enlisted the help of local farmers in Elmont to form the Belmont Hook & Ladder Company in 1905. After a $2,500 investment from August Belmont Jr., an American financier who funded the Belmont Park racetrack, the fire company’s 40 new members suited up and began serving the Franklin Square community.

However, it soon became apparent this arrangement was not particularly effective. According to Pat Galaskas, a member and volunteer for the Franklin Square Historical Society Museum, the fire company was still using horses to transport their firefighters, along with all of their heavy equipment.

And, Galaskas explained, the process of calling for help took quite some time.

First, a resident would have to find the nearest fire alarm call box. These call boxes were positioned on several street corners so citizens could alert the fire company. Galaskas said it could be a trek to find the nearest call box, which already began tacking on minutes to the fire company’s response time.

Once notified, she continued, the company would have to summon firefighters. The firefighters would then prepare horses, and the horses would carry buckets of water all the way from the company’s location on Elmont Road to wherever in Franklin Square a fire was occurring.

This all contributed to a rather lengthy response time, Galaskas concluded.

Several more fires devastated the local area during the next two years, the journal states, and residents realized they were too far away to receive proper help.

In 1907, residents from Franklin Square and Munson, the latter of which is a nearby hamlet in the Town of Hempstead, petitioned the town to organize their own hook and ladder company. The town approved it after only three days, and the Franklin Hook and Ladder Company of Munson was officially established.

Of course, the journal continues, the company still had to use horse drawn vehicles. Members also bought a 500-gallon water tank, which was filled from local water sources in the area. So, beyond the convenience of closer proximity, there were huge improvements to their fire response, including a loud bell that rang to alert residents and responders of fires.

But, when the Kalb Hotel, which was located on the northeast corner of modern day New Hyde Park Road and Hempstead Turnpike, became engulfed in flames in January 1923, it became glaringly evident to residents that the lengthy response time had not been sufficiently addressed.

The night of the fire, Galaskas explained, a priest from Saint Catherine of Sienna, Father Conrad Lutz, was going to bed late. But, when he looked across the street, he noticed smoke emitting from the hotel. He quickly rang the church bell and ran over to wake up the family that owned the hotel, ensuring they got out alive. But, as for the fate of the hotel, it was not as lucky.

“Well,” Galaskas shrugged, “they couldn’t save the building.”

This proved to be a critical time for fire companies in Franklin Square due to the destructive breadth of the fire. According to the journal, “The Kalb Hotel burned to the ground, nearly taking the whole village with it. The disaster provided the community with a real incentive to improve the fire protection system.”

In May 1923, one hundred residents attended a meeting at the Monroe Street School, the historical journal stated, and went straight back to the drawing board.

About two months later, after a resolution to organize and raise money for a new fire company, the town granted a charter for a new fire company, the Franklin Square Hose and Chemical Company.

With the help of August Hoffman and Peter J. Herman, who were benefactors of the project, members began preparing materials for the new fire company. This included a hose reel and a 500-foot hose, which would be much more effective in supplying water to flames enveloping large structures.

To improve efficiency for alerting the fire company of emergencies, a bell from a retired locomotive train in Queens was imported to Franklin Square and placed at the site of the defunct Kalb Hotel.

Fire officers were hired later in 1923, and two lots on Hempstead Turnpike had been acquired as a location for the firehouse by December. And, when 1924 rolled around, the fire company bought its first motorized truck, fire equipment and uniforms, which greatly improved their response time and firefighting capabilities.

Eventually, the Franklin Hook and Ladder Company of Munson and Franklin Square Hose and Chemical Company merged becoming what is now known today as the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department.

Over the next 100 years, the fire department grew and transformed, adapting to the changing times and utilizing new, modern firefighting technology.

Today, the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department has approximately 110 active volunteers, who, Galaskas added, built an esprit de corps as a way of instilling pride and loyalty among the group. The fire department also won Best of L.I. for best firehouse in 2025.

The fire department’s archives, and some of their old equipment, are currently on display at the Franklin Square Historical Society Museum on Naple Avenue. To learn more about the museum, and find artifacts from the fire department’s 100-year history, visit FSHistoricalSociety.org.