About the department
Serving Cedar Hollow since 1952.
A sawmill burned in 1951 while the nearest engine came twenty miles. The Hollow decided that would not happen twice.
History
1952 to now
On a January night in 1951 the Cedar Hollow sawmill burned to the ground while the nearest engine came twenty miles over an icy road. By spring, thirty-one neighbors had signed the charter of the Cedar Hollow Volunteer Fire Department.
The first engine, a used 1946 pumper bought with bake sales, a raffle and a loan the members co-signed, arrived in April 1952. The two-bay garage on Mill Street went up the next summer.
In 1974 the department bought its first tanker, and the farms and ridge roads of the Hollow, miles from any hydrant, finally had water that came with the truck.
The current station opened in 1998. Today 27 volunteers answer about 340 calls a year across 61 square miles: the town, two townships, one quarry, a lot of woods and a good many woodstoves.
Leadership
Officers
The membership elects its officers every December: a chief, two assistant chiefs, a captain and two lieutenants. Any of them can be reached through the station, and the chief returns every call about joining personally.
Governance
Who oversees the department
Cedar Hollow Volunteer Fire Department is an incorporated nonprofit fire company governed by a board of directors elected from its membership. The Town of Cedar Hollow and the two townships it protects contract with the department for fire protection and pay for the station, the trucks and the gear.
Station 1
Station 1
The station at 1 Mill Street opened in 1998: 7,200 square feet with three bays, built for about $640,000, paid for by the town, the townships and a mortgage the members burned in 2011.
The first firehouse was a two-bay block garage behind the general store on Mill Street, built by the members on weekends in 1953. The department moved to the current station at the corner of Cedar Hollow Road and Mill Street in 1998, on land given by a founding member's family.
Mission
Why we exist
To protect lives and property from fire and other emergencies in the Town of Cedar Hollow, Hollow Township and Ridge Township, and wherever our neighbors call for help.