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| 2024 Incidents |
| Jan | 25 |
| Feb | 13 |
| Mar | 23 |
| Apr | 17 |
| May | 18 |
| Jun | 15 |
| Jul | 10 |
| Aug | 20 |
| Sep | 15 |
| Oct | 21 |
| Nov | 26 |
| Dec | 27 |
| Total | 230 |
| Past Alarms |
| 2024 | 230 | 2009 | 162 |
| 2023 | 288 | 2008 | 192 |
| 2022 | 235 | 2007 | 162 |
| 2021 | 223 | 2006 | 136 |
| 2020 | 233 | 2005 | 166 |
| 2019 | 263 | 2004 | 137 |
| 2018 | 221 | 2003 | 116 |
| 2017 | 189 | 2002 | 143 |
| 2016 | 185 | 2001 | 108 |
| 2015 | 194 | 2000 | 95 |
| 2014 | 181 | 1999 | 144 |
| 2013 | 149 | 1998 | 108 |
| 2012 | 197 | 1997 | 93 |
| 2011 | 170 | 1996 | 135 |
| 2010 | 174 | 1995 | 121 |
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Feb 08, 2025
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Continental Village Fire Department was organized on September 6, 1950 by a small group of dedicated men who recognized the need for organized fire protection for the area. As there was no existing firematic service between Peekskill and Garrison, there was a dire need to establish one. This area was really a firematic no man's land with no facilities at all for fighting fire. There was, in addition, no official department charged with the legal responsibility of protecting residents of this area in case of fire or other disasters. This early group of dedicated men consisted of Arthur Palmer, William Aurick, Hank Wilhelm, William Pavlick, Sidney Kellner, Albert Varnum, Abraham Monowitz, Frank Gaynor, Christian Smith, Ben Littell, Louis Barkan, Russ Scofield, Samuel Lazar, and Bernard Vogel. Arthur Palmer took the early lead because of his prior experience as a fire control officer in the Navy. He urged the formation of an independent fire unit to be manned by volunteers to be known as Continental Village Volunteer Fire Department.
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The first priority of the newly organized fire department was to obtain fire-fighting equipment. It was necessary that the department be run efficiently to meet the needs of the community. That was the birth of "Old Betsy"; a 1920 Mack pumper that was obtained through the knowledge and hard work of our first chief, Arthur Palmer. This equipment came from Navy surplus and cost the members of the fire company the sum of $150.00. Riding in victory from the fire training center of the U.S. Navy located at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx to Continental Village. The men were so overjoyed with their acquisition that they forgot, completely, the need for housing their fine equipment. Arriving in Continental Village, they worked almost all night preparing adequate shelter. The first firehouse was the Cinnabar ranch barn which is still standing today. |
| Training in the old barn and finding adequate space for hose, tools and gear was no simple matter. But with ingenuity and perseverance, the silo became the drying rack for the hose, the stalls became storage space for gear and equipment, and hand-made benches served as a lecture hall for fire instruction as well as lifesaving instruction. The earliest teachers were our first chief Arthur Palmer, William Aurick, and Hank Wilhelm. Also helping were Jim Reitz Sr., New York State Fire Instructor and Charles Schneider, New York State Fire Warden from our neighboring fire department in Putnam Valley. Freezing in the winter for there was no heat in the barn, and boiling in the summer because the was no ventilation, was the ordeal of the C.V.V.F.D. during its first year of existence. However, after that first year, a change was made to heat the barn with the installation of two pot-bellied stoves and the removal of the doors and windows. The first firehouse served the community for more than ten years. |
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During the early days of the fire department, due to the lack of available men, the women of the community helped in the fighting of fires. Women responded to fire calls, just as their men, but accompanied by their children. As the village grew, the need for more equipment developed. The fire department’s growth in equipment and manpower created an urgent need for larger quarters. A parcel of land was obtained and construction was started on a second firehouse, which was to last until 1975. At that time, the need for additional space required the complete reconstruction of the existing firehouse. A jeep was acquired in 1953 and painted with the marking “fire and police patrol” This purchase came about when the rapid growth of the community indicated the need for a patrol, especially during the dry season in the village’s wooded areas. The jeep was equipped with a 2 way radio and used the Putnam County Sheriff’s office as dispatcher. Our second pumper was acquired in a slightly different fashion. The fire department answered a call to Peekskill Mason Supply on Sprout Brook Road, at that time an unprotected area. It was a winter morning, about 5:30 a.m. and a temperature below zero, but 21 of our members responded and worked with the Peekskill Department in quelling the blaze. After the fire, Pietro DeLuca operator of Mason Supply, put in a bid for Centennial’s American LaFrance hose trucks when that fire company purchased a new apparatus. DeLuca presented the truck to the fire company as a gesture of appreciation.
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In 1975, we put an addition onto the fire house which consisted of a second floor and 3 additional truck bays. The second floor was made into a meeting room, a kitchen, bathrooms and a recreation room. This increased space allowed us to expand our fleet of trucks which included 2 engines, a tanker, a rescue truck and a brush truck.
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| In 2004, the fire house was expanded yet again to provide 2 additional larger bays as well as additional offices upstairs, a gym, radio room, and work shop. In 2009, our fire district was expanded to cover the Dogwood Road area of Cortlandt Manor. Our fleet now consists of 1998 and 2008 Engines, a 2002 Tanker, a 1994 Rescue, a 1989 Fire Police Truck, a 2012 Brush Truck, a 2007 Kawasaki Mule ATV, 2008 and 2014 Chiefs Cars, and 2 small Fire boats. |
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