The Hemlock Farms Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company was originally formed as the Hemlock Farms Ambulance Corps. in November of 1969. At that time the closest ambulance service was the Bushkill Ambulance Corp.. If there was a medical emergency, it could take 30 minutes or more for an ambulance to arrive at the scene! Seeing the need for improved service, five residents banded together to raise the money to purchase a 1970 Chevrolet Suburban Ambulance for $6500. This ambulance was placed into service in December 1969, and the first call was for a traffic accident on Rt. 739. These five visionaries were Clare Conley, Thomas Clauss, Harold Kreck, Bruce Motts, and Robert Scott, Jr.. The first President of the newly formed Corps was Thomas Clauss, and Bruce Motts became the first Captain.
After a fire in the Country Club in 1970, it was decided to expand the Corps to also provide fire protection. To this end the Corps was reincorporated as the Hemlock Farms Volunteer Fire & Ambulance Co. A new fire engine was ordered from Young Fire Equipment Corp.at a cost of $38,000 and was delivered in the early part of September 1970. James McBride was elected to be the first Fire Chief and in turn appointed Thomas Clauss and Edward Lasky as Assistant Fire Chiefs. The first fire house was a former chicken coop located across Orchard Drive from the present Conference Center.
After a number of fatal accidents, the Corps again expanded to include a rescue unit. In June of 1971, the first rescue van in Pike Co. was purchased at a cost of $350. In 1973, the original Hemlock Farms developers donated land to the Community in order to build a new firehouse. This is where the current firehouse is located on Hemlock Farms road. It was built by volunteers with the help of subcontractors.
In 1974, the original ambulance was sold and replaced with a 1973 Dodge Horton Van Ambulance at a cost of $12,000. This was the first DOT approved van ambulance in Pike Co.. A modern 4-bay station was then built. In May of 1975 a new 4wd mini-rescue engine was purchased. In January 1978, the first "jaws-of-life" in Pike Co. was purchased. In 1979 a 2-bay addition was put on the firehouse, in October 1980 a new lime-yellow Howe-Ford replaced the 1954 Engine, which had been added in 1975.
Since then, the Company added a bay to the main building and built a 2-bay building to house equipment. In January 1998 a 1980 Pierce Telesquirt with a 50 ft ladder was purchased to replace the original 1970 Engine, the 1980 Engine, and a 1961 International 65 ft. ladder truck (which had been purchased in 1995 by the firemen themselves to test the feasibility of such a unit). It had quickly proven its usefulness at two major fires and was even used in two medical calls to get someone off a roof and a deck. Currently, we operate a 2004 E-One 75' Ladder, 2002 Ford F-550 Medium Rescue truck, 1999 KME Heavy Rescue, 2 ambulances, 1995 Freightliner/Luverne Engine, 1974 Mack Engine, 1975 Dodge Custom Brush Truck, a boat, and a quad.
The Company consists of over 50 active members, many of whom are cross-trained in medical and/or firefighting. We operate our own training room which is used for classes for either fire or EMS, with other Companies also attending. We are currently averaging over 800 calls per year.
