Montville Fire Department Gears Up For 100-Year Celebration

The Montville volunteer fire department will be celebrating its 100-year anniversary this Saturday, July 17, with an open house and barbeque. The celebration is open to the public, and serves as a way for citizens to see the house and appreciate its history, according to Chief John Osborne.

"We're pretty excited here," he said. "It's been a lot of work, and our two chairmen, Mike Osborne and Rich Seraphine, have more or less organized the whole thing with the help of the department."

According to Chief Osborne, the celebration will begin at noon with a family-style barbeque and open house that will feature a DJ and activities for children, including a moon bounce. The family barbeque will end at 4 p.m. and the celebration will resume at 6 p.m. with a second open house and barbeque. The fire house will have some of its equipment on display, including its restored 1932 Buffalo fire truck.

For Osborne, who has served as a volunteer firefighter for more than 35 years, his time with Montville has been a labor of love.

"It's a big balancing act between your regular life and being a volunteer," he said. "Its tough to keep up with regulations mandated by the state or federal government, and there are a lot of meetings to attend to keep up with information. Still, it's a wonderful feeling to go to a call and have 20 guys line up to help someone out. You can really see the dedication of the men, and it's wonderful to have the opportunity to lead them."

The Montville fire department was founded on Aug. 1, 1910 under the name Excelsior Fire Company. Its initial roster was made up of 29 volunteer members and its first fire truck was a horse-drawn apparatus purchased for $330.50. The department currently operates out of the same firehouse that was built on the corner of Taylortown Road and Route 202 in 1935.

According to  Osborne, the fire department was the first in Northern NJ to win the national fire prevention award, the first to distribute reflectors to invalids and the first to spray Christmas trees with fire retardant.

The celebration is being held on Saturday, July 17, from noon to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 108 Main Road, across from the fire house.