On February 6, 1922, at a meeting of the Modena Borough council, W.M. Fleming of Coatesville suggested that a fire company for Modena and vicinity be organized. Tyron, a councilman, took the first step toward organizing a fire company for Modena when he called the citizens of the community together for a public meeting on March 1, 1922. At that meeting, Mr. Tyron successfully organized the Modena
Fire Company #1, a volunteer organization with 141 members. A station is built
The public school building in the borough was the meeting place for the fire company during its first two years. It still stands today, located diagonal from the firehouse and being used an apartment house. In the Fall of 1923, Harry F. Walker offered a suitable plot of ground upon which to erect a firehouse. A contract for the construction of the firehouse building was awarded to Henry Osborn, and with close supervision the building was ready to be occupied April 14, 1924. An addition was added to the building in the 1960s, expanding the firehouse to house more apparatus. Again, an addition was put on the firehouse in 2004 in order to accomodate more of the necessary equipment, giving the Modena Fire Company its current look. Alerting the firefighters
On April 6, 1922, Mr. O. Reilly donated a steel rim to be used for a fire alarm. Calls for help would come through the local paper mill, and the secretary would go out and strike the steel rim with a gong to alert the firefighters. In 1924, Mr. P. Nulls placed a fire whistle on the mill's roof which the secretary still manually activated to alert the town of fire calls. On May 12, 1924, the fire alarm committee made a deal with Bell Telephone. Bell Telephone would place a private line with one exchange phone and two magnets. The one phone was placed in the fire house and the exchange phone installed in the boiler house in the paper mill. The rate was $8.50 per month for the use of the three phones was charged. The phone number in 1924 was 9-1-0...ironic, isn't it? The committee worked out a system in where depending on the number of blows from the fire whistle, the firefighters knew approximately where the fire was to be located. For instance, two blows followed by five blows meant there was a fire at the Lauria Brothers Supply Company. A fire engine is purchased
On April 19, 1923, the Modena Fire Company voted to purchase a Reo Chassis from H.F. Walkers for $150.00. Mr. Walker voted to give the first $25 toward the apparatus, leaving $125 left for the fire company to raise. The fire truck would then need three chemical tanks to become operational. Upon investigation of the chemical tanks to be mounted, they found that two were uniformed but three tanks would be a special order causing an added expense of $450.00 for the chemical tanks to be added. Total cost of the first motorized fire apparatus was $675.00. The fire apparatus made its debut on July 26, 1923 at the Modena Carnival. Fire Mothers
The Ladies Auxiliary was formed on July 20, 1922. Their purpose was to serve refreshments at meetings and fires and to make hand crafts for the carnivals that supported the Modena building and apparatus funds. They were called the Ladies Auxiliary until 1987 when the name was changed to Fire Mothers. To this day they remain one of the few Fire Mothers who will take free food to the fire scene. Fire Police
On April 6, 1922, the first fire police were appointed. At that time there were four, consisting of fire company members Mancin Brandford, Harry Dale, Ben Fisher and Samuel Fisher. To this day our fire police remain an active and integral part of the fire service. Emergency Medical Services
In 1950, the Modena Fire Company expanded onto their fire service. They purchased a used ambulance from Lukens Steel at a cost of $700.00. This service for emergency transport grew, and in 1978 a second ambulance was added. At around this time, the need for routine service from the hospital to home became great. This type of routine service was started to raise money for the fire company. This service lasted until into the 1990s when it was taken over by a routine ambulance service started in the Parkesburg area. With the lack of volunteers during the daytime (a situation faced by just about any company), the Modena Fire Company was forced to seek career staff to man the ambulances. In 2000, the fire company contracted with the Brandywine Health Services for one EMT/Driver during the daylight hours Monday through Friday. In 2005, the fire company started hiring all EMT/Drivers on its own. This was done so that better wages could be provided to the staff. Other than that, emergency medical services for the Modena Fire Company relies solely on dedicated volunteers. Our Mascot...The Road Runner? In 1989, a search was started to find the Modena Fire Company a mascot. A contest was held at local area elementary schools, but to no avail. In April of 1990, a new ambulance had gone to Wolfington Auto Body to be lettered. They were informed of our dilemma regarding the search for a mascot. They searched their records and found that the Road Runner was not used by any local company. On April 9, 1989, the then ambulance chief Douglas Dowlin decided to have the Road Runner added to the ambulances, and Wolfington Auto Body painted the logo for free. Since then the Road Runner has been added to all of the equipment and to this date remains the only mascot of the Modena Fire Company. In 1997 the Modena Fire Company celebrated its 75th anniversary with a housing and festival. We look forward to many more years of dedicated service to our community, only adding to what is already a great history for this small company.
