Fleet Hook and Ladder Company No. 1

The Fleet Hook and Ladder Company – Organized 1895 – Incorporated 1899

George HoeffnerCaptain

Dan Bennet1st Lieutenant

Mike Childress2nd Lieutenant

Civil Officers

Robin K. ReynoldsPresident

Jeremy LoueyVice President

Amanda O' ConnellSecretary

Jeremy HowardTreasurer

Jon PhillipsWarden

Active Member Roll

Company Information

The Truck Company’s main goal at a fire is to search for victims and to assist the Engine Company by venting the structure, and this is exactly what the Fleets are trained to do. Whether they are searching for victims ahead of the line in a burning room or climbing the ladder 100 feet up, the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company members are protecting you.

Ladder 221 is the primary apparatus of the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. L-221 is a 2022 Emergency One 100′ ladder equipped with a 1,000 GPM pump and a 480 gallon water tank. L-221 is also equipped with it’s own compliment of portable Hurst extrication tools. L-221 is second-due to all structure related calls and because of its added extrication equipment and capacity to function as a quint, L-221 can also function as a rescue / engine if needed.

The Fleet Hook and Ladder Company holds their monthly meetings on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30pm at the fire station.

To Contact the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company by mail;
P.O. Box 7
Montgomery, NY 12549

To view the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company’s Constitution and By-Laws, Click Here.

A Brief History of the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company

The Fleet Hook and Ladder Company was organized on November 4th, 1895 and was later incorporated on October 7th, 1899. The first apparatus owned by the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company was an 1896 Gleason and Bailey horse-drawn ladder truck. In 1902, the firm of William Crabtree and Sons donated a chassis to the company to motorize it. This became the Montgomery Fire Department’s first motorized apparatus and it was all free, thanks to the donation of the chassis, material, and labor from all of the firefighters.

In March of 1913, the most devastating fire in Montgomery’s history hit at 4am. The fire began in a barn in the center of the village and quickly spread to surrounding buildings including the academy and the fire station. The station was destroyed in this blaze, but the Montgomery firefighters were able to rescue most of their firefighting equipment including the Fleet’s Gleason and Bailey Ladder Truck. The station was rebuilt just up the street from the site of the burned out one in 1914 at a sum of around $9,000.

The year 1936 brought about the Gleason and Bailey’s apparatus replacement. The Fleets replaced this with an American LaFrance Quadruple Ladder Truck. A few years after this purchase a small pump and booster tank was added to provide the capacity to pump water at a fire. The next Ladder Truck replacement occurred in the 1950’s, with the purchase of a 65′ International-American LaFrance. This 65′ Ladder was the first of it’s kind in the area and ran many special assignments for neighboring departments. After the International-LaFrance was retired, an 85′ Pirsch Ladder Truck was purchased in the 1980’s to take over as the Fleets main apparatus. The next major changes in the company would not come until closer to present day, beginning with the erection of the current fire station in January of 1983 and the purchasing of their current apparatus, a 2000 100′ Emergency-One Ladder Truck.

The company, as it exists today, is still going strong with 20-30 active members. Even though talks of a company merger with the Wallkill Engine and Hose Company to consolidate into just the Montgomery Fire Department are proceeding, the Fleet Hook and Ladder’s legacy and rich history will live on and will surely be preserved for the future generations of Montgomery’s firefighters to see.

To view an expanded and more in depth history of the Fleet Hook and Ladder Company, Click here.