Route 185 in Simsbury Dedicated to Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company

In honor of 80 years of volunteer service to the residents of Simsbury, Route 185 (Hartford Rd) in Simsbury was dedicated to the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company. Signs have been erected at the Bloomfield/Simsbury town line and where Route 185 ends at Hopmeadow Street.

The effort began with Chief Jim Baldis, State Senator Kevin Witkos and Representative John Hampton, and continued with Baldis, Senator Lisa Seminara and Representative Melissa Osborne, ending with a dedication ceremony at Simsbury’s Main Fire Station in front of Simsbury’s first fire truck, Engine 1.

At the dedication ceremony, Simsbury Fire District President Gary Wilcox said, “Jim initiated this a number of years ago and no one more than he knows first-hand the level of dedication, professionalism, training and sacrifice this group of men and women have shown over the last 80 years to be worthy of this honor.”

“Eighty years ago this very month, early on a Sunday morning, Simsbury’s Ensign-Bickford Company delivered to the newly-formed Simsbury Fire District and Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company, its 1935 American LaFrance fire engine,” stated Baldis. Before that, Ensign-Bickford had used the fire engine to protect their business and the town from fires. The impact of World War II on Ensign-Bickford led to the change. Engine 1 was housed in a garage in Weatogue until a fire station could be built later in the decade, at the site of the Main Fire Station. At the end of that decade, the census shows a population of 4,822, a 22 percent increase over 1940. Engine 1 was retired in 1974 and later restored. It is housed at the Main Fire Station and driven to special events.

Since 1944, 657 people have been members of the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company and over 100 people members of the Auxiliary. Today there are almost 100 active members of the Fire Company.