Naubuc Fire Department, Inc. History

At a Fourth of July picnic in 1926 several North end neighbors started to talk about organizing a fire department and fire district and taking over, what was left, of the now defunct “Center Hose Co.”

It was made up of several area tobacco farmers – some broadleaf and some shade grown, several “foreman” and skilled machinists from the William’s Brothers Silver Company, and other local businessmen and neighbors.

They picked up the Packard hose wagon, from what was left of the Center Hose Company, fixed it up, and acquired a used Reo fire truck and some related equipment for firefighting. It was housed in a 3 car garage at the rear of 256 Naubuc Avenue. That was the location of 2 other buildings: Pagani’s store stood directly in front of the fire house (garage), and the other was the Muccio residence.

Mike Muccio, who was the Chief of Police, also became the fire department’s first Fire Chief, and held that position until his untimely death, in an automobile accident in Colchester 10 years later.

Pagani’s store was purchased by John Lawrence and in 1942 when Welles Village Housing units were built, it was moved by the Evan’s brothers, to its Harris St. location, it’s still there, housing a beauty shop, its last grocery occupant left only a few years ago.

The Department was privately funded by the members (dues), by some neighbors, and donations from companies like Roser’s Tannery, Consolidated Tobacco Corp, William’s Brothers Silver, J.B.Williams Soap Co. and Joe Katz’s store. They actually charged for calls – i.e., $25.00 grassfire, $50.00 structure fire, etc. This as it turned out was a public relations nightmare and soon ceased to be policy. The District taxes, for water, electricity and now fire services were also short lived, lasting about 15 years.

William “Bill” Connery, took over as Chief after 1937, by a vote of the then growing membership, and remained in that job until after WWII. Many hurdles were overcome by Naubuc in the mid to late 1930’s and first half of the 40’s. Two of these are described below.

The deepest flooding of the Connecticut River in 300 years was experienced in March 1936, some 38’ of rise, almost reaching the second floor of the firehouse, and flooding virtually all of Naubuc Avenue, Pratt Street, Main Street area. Many businesses and homes were severely damaged or destroyed. In South Glastonbury much the same was true of the Tyron Street, Ferry Lane, and the Lower Main Street areas. The fire department was called on to help with many tasks during the flood, while itself was forced to move to higher ground.

They no sooner recovered from 1936 flood when another 34’ flooding took place in September 1938, only this time it was accompanied by a 125/150 mph hurricane. After several days of real heavy rain, and the ground being saturated, these monstrous winds uprooted and knocked over hundreds, (if not thousands) of trees. A few days before the actual storm, heavy rains washed out a number of bridges on Salmon Brook and the dam at Shoddy Mill Pond and caused a washout at Fishers Pond (now Eastbury). These conditions made travel and communications more difficult, over-taxing the police and fire departments.

It also destroyed or damaged most of the tobacco sheds in the area at the worst possible time. The seasonss crop had been harvested, and hung for curing in these many sheds. One of Naubuc’s firemen and farmer contractors, George Henry, was endeavoring to repair and secure a chimney in East Hartford when early elements of this storm blew him off the roof, he died of his injuries.

After these tragic 2 years, and after the firehouse had been severely damaged, a need for an improved fire department and facilities became evident.

The Town selectman appointed a “Fire Commission” to assist in this regard, and considered making the South Glastonbury Volunteer Fire Department and the Naubuc Fire Department into “The Glastonbury Fire Department”. The first step towards this was ultimately accomplished in 1940. One of the first acts of the Commission was to acquire “the old” Naubuc District School building, at the corner of Main and Pratt Street. The Town contracted with the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) to do the construction work, for a reported $1,500.00. Naubuc moved in, and the “new firehouse” was dedicated in 1940.