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In the summer of 1936 groups of men were gathering
at Albrecht Brothers Gasoline Station, Schoen's Grill (later
to be known as the Hitching Post) and Joseph Kryszak's garage,
all discussing the same subject - a Fire Company for the Big
Tree / Highland Acres area. On November 2, 1936, these groups
got together at Schoen's Grill for their first consolidated
meeting and decided to work together to achieve their common
goal. At that meeting, William Koenig was elected to act as
temporary chairman and Ira Milks as temporary secretary. Circulars
were passed throughout the community inviting the male populace
to come to the next meeting to be held one week later at the
same place.
In December of 1936, the new organization officially
became known as the "Big Tree Volunteer Firemen's Association"
and the first officer, Alois Schoen, was officially elected
Treasurer. In subsequent elections held early in 1937, William
Koenig passed from temporary chairman to the first President
and Era Milks became the first Secretary. Line officers were
also elected and Joseph Kryszak assumed the duties as the first
Fire Chief. The Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company was born!
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Big
Tree's first piece of apparatus. A chemical truck on loan
from Chasler Mfg. Company
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Big
Tree's first fire station served the company until 1947.
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The first piece of Big Tree apparatus was
a chemical truck on loan from the Chasler Mfg. Co. of Buffalo.
Later in 1937, a used pumper was purchased from the Wellsville
Fire Dept. and this unit remained in service until 1957.
Big Tree's first firehall was located on
Highland Pkwy. It was the old Big Tree Community Hall which
was purchased from the Forbush Lumber Co. for $366.93. The
men themselves added a garage to house the apparatus; and,
in 1947, they built our present Station #1.
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Big
Tree Station 1 as it was news in 1947. This
hall was build by the members of the Big Tree
Volunteer Fire Company.
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Big
Tree Station 1 as it is now. It encompasses
two renovations since its initial construction
in 1947.
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In 1962, under the chairmanship of
Francis X. Doherty, an addition was built to provide
office space for the Chief and President, a place
for record storage, an additional apparatus room and
a meeting room where Fire Company business could be
efficiently conducted. In 1979, the building underwent
an extensive renovation to make it a more efficient,
energy saving structure. Another renovation in 1997
added a new roof and facade as well as new heating
and cooling units.
With the passing of the years, the
Big Tree fire district continued to grow and the number
of buildings requiring protection steadily increased.
To meet these ever increasing demands, a second station
in the southern end of the district was opened in
the 1960's. An old gasoline station at South Park
Ave. and Bayview Rd. was purchased and renovated to
serve as a substation.
With continued growth of both the
fire company and the population it served, it became
evident that an even larger more modern substation
was needed. In 1990, the company moved into a brand
new four-bay substation located next to the Frontier
High School.
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A
converted gas station served as the first substation for
Big Tree in the 1960's.
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The
current Big Tree substation constructed in 1990.
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Big Tree has a long-standing reputation
for providing superior service to our community. In fact,
Big tree was the second volunteer Fire Company in the State
of New York to furnish free ambulance service to the citizens
of our community. In 1937, Big Tree put in service its first
ambulance, and provided emergency medical responses to the
entire Town of Hamburg as well as surrounding towns. In
fact, early run records show that Big Tree made responses
as far away as Warsaw and Jamestown to assist the State
Police at accident scenes. In the 1980's, Big Tree once
again led the town by upgrading the ambulance to provide
Intermediate Life Support. In 1997 the ambulance was again
upgraded to provide Paramedic Advanced Life Support services.
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Big
Tree's first ambulance, put in service in 1937, covered
much of Southern Erie County.
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The
current Paramedic ambulance is a 2000 Lifeline stocked
with state-of-the-art equipment.
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