Where's The Fire In Livingston? See Firefighter Tell Stories Of Last 100 Years

LIVINGSTON, NJ — When the Livingston Fire Department was first founded a century ago, 12 fire extinguishers and 18 metal rings made up a large part of the department's firefighting gear.

To celebrate the Fire Department's 100th anniversary, firefighter Tom Cooney will share his research into its history at the Livingston Historical Society meeting Monday.

Cooney is president of the Livingston Fire Department and has been researching the department's history for many years while he works on a book, the historical society said.

The fire department was founded behind the home of Clarence H. Dougal in November 1921, according to the historical society. Dougal became Livingston's third fire chief and purchased its first fire truck.

After some months of discussion, the young fire department purchased 12 fire extinguishers for members to use.

The town, which was very rural at the time, installed 18 large metal rings for residents to use as alarms whenever there was a fire. They would hit the rings with hammers and have others do the same until the firefighters heard the alarm.

Firefighting technology has certainly come a long way since then. To help paint a picture of these early days, Cooney has artifacts like Dougal's fire engineering textbooks, dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. The Fire Department also has a collection of firefighters' helmets from the 1920s-1990s.

The Livingston Historical Society usually meets the fourth Monday of the month September through April at the Livingston Senior Community Center.

The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24, at the Livingston Senior/Community Center at 204 Hillside Ave. Members of the community are welcome to attend for free, though monetary donations to the Historical Society are greatly appreciated, the society says.

Cooney's presentation will follow a brief business meeting.

For questions, email LivingstonHistoricalSociety@gmail.com or call 973-992-5855.