After completing some research into our history we discovered that the South Plainfield Volunteer Fire Company actually has four previous truck companies that served the Borough. Thanks to Vinnie Scalera and John Mochaski Jr who provided the pictures below of the Mack City Service truck companies. It seems that the department took possession of the old 1928 Mack Truck from the city of Plainfield. In 1938 the department purchased their own Mack Truck and put it into service along side the 1928. Upon completion of the Southside firehouse in 1949, the department decided to place both trucks in service, one at the 119 Hamilton Boulevard station and one at the new Southside station. Remember that the overpass did not exist at this time and trains passing through often cut off access to the Southside. This was a very innovative effort for the time. In 1967 the department purchased the 100 American LaFrance ladder and eventually moved it into the new headquarters at 123 Maple Avenue. The LaFrance was refurbished some time in the 1980’s resulting in the closed cab, new diesel motor and new paint job. The ladder caught the multi-alarm structure fire in Plainfield on Grant and 2nd street which resulted in severe damage to the ladder and components due to the toxic nature of the smoke emitted from that fire. That ladder served until 1993 when it was replaced by the 95 foot E-One platform presently in service and now scheduled to be replaced by our new 2017 100ft E-One platform in June of this year. Take a few minutes to look at the attached pictures and see how many members you can identify. (Special thanks for Vinnie Scalera and John Mocharski Jr for the photos and information on our history.)
