Hook & Ladder Company

Hook & Ladder Company #1 was an original Company formed within the Department when the ‘Central Islip Hook & Ladder & Chemical Engine Company #1’ was disbanded and reorganized as the ‘Central Islip Fire Department’ on May 6, 1929. It is unknown the number of members assigned to the Hook & Ladder Company #1 at that time. Membership now calls for a total of twenty-five, not including Senior Active Members with 20 or more years of service.

Hook & Ladder Company #1 was originally assigned to the Truck House on East Suffolk Avenue. With the construction of the new Fire House in 1937, this Company was moved to this location, and finally to Station #2 on Wheeler Road when this building was completed in 1960.

The first ‘Foreman’ of the Company was Lawrence Martinsen, with Milo Pearsall serving as Assistant Foreman. It is unclear who served as additional ‘Foremen’ for the first few years of the Company’s existence. The title of Foreman and Assistant Foreman was changed to that of Captain and Lieutenants for all Companies as of the December 4, 1933 Department Meeting.

Past Apparatus for the Hook & Ladder Co. #1

Grabowsky Ladder Truck – unknown year of manufacture – purchased from the Huntington F.D. in 1924
Reo Ladder Truck from Islip State Hospital (1930’s – 1936)
1936 Reo Ladder Truck
1960 Maxim 75’ Aerial
1978 Pierce with 85’ L.T.I. Aerial
2000 Pierce Dash
2020 Rosenbauer Tower Ladder

Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 Past Chiefs:

Bernard Simms
Joseph Miller
Michael Watral
George Runz
Kenneth O. Jackson
Neil Finnin
Thomas Doyle
Charles Doyle
Kevin J. McAteer Jr.

Fifty Year Members & Past Chiefs:

George Runz
Neil Finnin

Honorary Chiefs:

Richard Staley - 50 Years
Henry Hocker - 50 Years
William Sykora, K.I.A. World War Two

Past Captain’s Hook and Ladder Co. #1