Getzville Fire Company united community by
DAVID F. SHERMAN Editors note: The history of the Getzville Fire Company, compiled for the 75th Anniversary by Janice A. Hochreiter was the basis for this article. The Bee wishes to acknowledge her hard work on this project.) Fires, floods, chowder highlight first 75 years Farmers like George Wolf realized by the fall of 1917 that something had to be done about the need for organized fire protection in Getzville. That's because Wolf's barn burned at Millersport Highway and Skinnersville Road burned to the ground one day and his loss was the catalyst which united neighborhood leaders to form the Getzville Fire Company 75 years ago. The organization's first fire apparatus was a chemical truck housed in a 18 by 12-foot shed. Wolf was elected president the following year. With spiraling membership and more emergencies to handle, attention soon turned to building a new larger fire hall. After several offers for land were entertained, the directors finally agreed to buy a parcel measuring 300 feet square at Dodge and Campbell for $1,500. A bid to build the hall was accepted at just under $9,900 late in 1924. The dedication of the hall occurred in September 1925, with members adding the skill and muscle to finish the interior. The lifeblood of the Getzville Fire Company during these early years were community dances and the annual picnic. The latter was supported mainly by the “Chicken Committee.” This committee grew from nine to 30 men as the need for chicken chowder grew with its reputation. Committee members went door-to-door seeking donations of chickens, vegetables, beef and money. The tradition lasted 56 years. Ready to Roll Frugal directors held off on the purchase of a new fire truck, but a 1926 Larabee became Getzville's next rig at a cost of $6,300. It was manufactured by the Buffalo Fire Appliance Corp. A Ford Model “A” chassis was fitted with the body of the existing Model “T” to form a new safer truck. Then in 1937, another pumper was purchased from Ford dealer Fred Muck for $692, and the Cayasler Corp. was paid $2,378 for building the apparatus on top of it. In 1950, a Ford/Ward LaFrance pumper was purchased for $75,000, while firemen constructed new truck bay with their own hands. UB creates need Other apparatus was added as years went by, but one of the biggest additions came in the fall of 1983. Built by Grumman, a 95-foot aerial ladder was made necessary by construction of the State University system's new campus smack in the middle of Getzville's district. When ground was broken in 1972, it was determined that the volunteer fire company would have charge of all fire protection duties at UB. Yet the district and the town had surrendered 1,400 acres of land from the tax rolls for the tax-exempt university campus. A committee of Arthur Wight, Daniel Miller, Richard Dentinger and Richard Eichlberger started the long process in 1975 of securing a $350,000 grant for a ladder truck. Blizzard of '77 Buffalo's infamous “Blizzard of ‘77” had major effect on Getzville. On January 28th, 1977, roads throughout the town were blocked by 10-foot drifts. Getzville's Engine 5 followed a snowplow on its route to pull it out of drifts when the going got tough. Two days later, one of the blizzard's biggest emergencies struck at the Arbordale Nursery on Dodge Road. A nine-hour fire-fighting ordeal during one of the worst storms on record took it toll on Getzville volunteers and others involved in the second alarm response. “No man could stand the cold for more than minutes at a time,” one observer recalled. “North Bailey fireman assisted by shuttling Getzville's men back and forth to warmth and by taking their turn at freezing nozzles.” Another natural disaster, this time a flood, hit the community in February 1985. That month's alarms included 20 fire calls, 23 first aid calls and an astounding 296 requests for utility shutoffs as rising water drove residents from their homes. One of the biggest commercial building fires ever to hit Amherst took place in December 1980 at the Harlem-Genesee Nursery at Hopkins and Klien. Getzville fire fighters trine and interior attack, but the fire was fueled by a dangerous combination of artificial trees, aerosol products, pine wreaths and plastic decorations. By day's end almost every fire company in town had been pressed into service. In the line of duty The only Getzville fire fighter to die in the line of duty was Micheal Zbieski. A polish immigrant, he was 18 when he came to America and served with the Marine Corps in World War 1. It was June 28th, 1934 when a mutual aid drill was staged at the George F. Lamm American Legion Post on Wehrle Drive. The purpose was to ascertain response times from various town fire companies to what was considered an “isolated” area. But as a pumper from the North Amherst Chemical Company approached the scene, Zbieski darted into its path from a lane of cars parked along the shoulder of the road and was critically injured. He died on July 1st and was buried on a national holiday – the Fourth of July. |