Baldwin Hose Co. 2 observes 100th year

Baldwin’s Hose Co. 2 observed its 100th year last weekend. Members of the department began the day with a service at the Calvary Protestant Church, and then gathered at the firehouse to dedicate a memorial to fallen members of the department.

According to a history of Hose Co. 2 at Baldwinfd.com, the department branch first opened on Jan. 20, 1913, with 29 members. A local carpenter named Charles Coakey built the firehouse that summer, on property donated by the Baldwin Harbor Realty Company. A minstrel show, held that year to raise funds for the firehouse, netted $35.45.

In the early days, the firehouse was heated only three months of the year, and the bell on the Methodist Church on Church Street was used as the signal for a fire. The company’s first apparatus was a horse-drawn wagon equipped with hoses and ladders. The original firehouse was torn down in 1928, and a building on the current site was constructed at a cost of $12,000. With the new firehouse complete, Hose Co. 2 donated its old fire bell to Baldwin’s Calvary Protestant Church, where it still rings today.

In January 1954, members of Hose Co. 2 were summoned to battle a blaze in their own firehouse. The fire was confined to the boiler room and the rest of the first floor, but four firefighters were injured while helping to contain the fire.

The firehouse was one of the first in the area to train a dedicated first aid team, and was also home to Baldwin’s first ambulance. Over the years, many members of the department have served for 50 years or more.