Great Hill Hose Co.

The charter members who originally formed the company felt that a second fire house was needed in Seymour because the Great Hill area was too far and too long a response time from Citizen’s Engine Company in downtown Seymour. Citizen’s was founded in the late 1800s, and covered the whole town until that time. In 1947, Seymour had a population of about 4,500 people. The men who formed Great Hill Ho

se convinced the town fathers that another fire company was needed and the company was born. They built the first station on a small parcel of land at the intersection of Great Hill Road and Tomlinson Road next to the Grange Hall. The land was donated by the Ajello family. The first piece of apparatus was an old Civil Defense pump mounted on the back of a 1932 Ford truck. The first real fire engine that the Company had was a 1949 Dodge/Seagrave 500 gpm pumper with a 500 gallon tank. That truck was in service until 1972, when it was replaced by Engine 15. That original 1949 Engine 15 in now owned by the Great Hill members and is used for parades and fireman’s musters. By the mid 1970s, the Company had outgrown its original two-bay station. In March 1975, the Company moved into the current six-bay station at 140 Botsford Road. Great Hill Hose Company is charted by the town to have 50 active firefighters. The Seymour Fire Department, which includes both Great Hill and the Citizen’s Volunteer Companies, responds to approximately 450 community calls every year.