Danbury Volunteer Fire Battalions To Officially Merge In March

**News Release Submitted by Danbury Volunteer Fire Battalions**

Feb. 26, 2023

In 2017, seven forward thinking Danbury Volunteer Fire Companies took the lead in preserving their futures by considering consolidation of our services.

The seven companies that will officially come together have a combined 894 years of service. The seven companies that form the new Danbury Volunteer Fire Battalions are: Battalion 31 (est. 2019) – Padanaram Hose #3 (reorganized 1884), Water Witch Hose #7 (est. 1889), Germantown Volunteer Fire Department #10 (est. 1912) and Beaver Brook Fire Department #11 (est. 1912) and Battalion 19 (est. 2020) – Wooster Hose #5 (est. 1889), Citizens Hose #6 (est. 1888) and Phoenix Hose #8 (est. 1893).

Consolidating the volunteer fire companies were first proposed after a task force report that was released back in 2009. That report sat dormant until the Danbury Volunteer Fire Department decided to take matters into their own hands to find a way to ensure continued ability to serve the citizens of Danbury as volunteer organizations. It was decided that continuing as independent organizations was not feasible and something needed to be done to strengthen the ability to serve and protect our citizens for another hundred years and beyond. The consolidation of the two groups began in 2017. After each Battalion was recognized as business organizations by both the State of Connecticut and IRS as 501(c)(3) entities, the work began on recognition by the City of Danbury. In 2022, that recognition by the City of Danbury was completed through a change in the City’s Codes of Ordinances. On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at the Danbury City Hall Council Chambers, the consolidation ceremony to finally merge the original business units into the new Battalions will occur at 6 P.M.

According to Frank Salvatore Jr, President of Danbury Fire Battalion Thirty-one:

“The formation of the battalions has many advantages as a consolidated organization versus individual ones. The biggest advantage is that the two battalions as single entities can attract more possible new volunteer firefighters rather than the original individual organizations competing for those same volunteer firefighters.”