Our History

On January 13,1937 at 11:51 a.m. the alarm was sent by Gerald Gregory and Walter Tucker, who were driving past the Cable Guide Co. located at the eastern end of Second Street when they saw smoke issuing from the door.  A fire started from an exploding oil stove in the offices of the Cable Guide Co. destroying two large brick buildings of the plant, a large frame building used for storage and several outbuildings.  According to the Deposit Courier, the blaze was a spectacular one with flames roaring high in the air and for a time was threatening nearby homes.  This fire proved to be more than the fire department could handle and would be the start of major changes within the department. 

Following the fire at the Cable Guide Co., public officials acknowledged the need to improve the fire service within the area.  The first step to be taken would be the formation of a fire district including the Village of Deposit and outlying regions within a reasonable area.  There had been several occasions when valuable farm property could have been saved had the village apparatus been permitted to respond to fires outside the village.  It was the feeling of the civil minded that the village apparatus was not adequate to the needs of the village, let alone trying to care for the large rural area.   It was their feeling that they may very well have to purchase new equipment adequate to the needs of the whole area.  In an article posted in the Deposit Courier on February 11,1937 it was thought that the Towns of Sanford and Deposit would merge into one fire district and purchase a suitable truck equipped with all modern fire fighting apparatus to be housed in a building provided by the Village of Deposit.

By April of 1937 work had begun on the formation of two fire districts and by September of 1937 the towns were ready to hold public hearings.  The meetings were held on September 20,1937.  Then in January of 1938 the boards adopted there resolutions to proceed with the formation of the new fire district.  After adopting the resolution it was up to the state to issue the permit.  The permit was then issued in March of 1938 for the formation of the new fire district and commissioners were named.  On July 26,1938 the village board and towns had a meeting to discuss buying a new fire truck .  The plan was that the towns would split the cost of the new truck but it would be operated by the village fireman.  The towns would then pay the village for fire protection each year.

In August of 1938 it was announced that the towns were purchasing a 500 gallon, triple combination pumper fire truck from the Sanford Motor Truck Co. of Syracuse N.Y. for use in the rural fire districts surrounding the village.  This new truck was purchased at a cost of $5,500.  The new truck was delivered on October 1,1938.  The new Fire Pumper was operated by the village fire department and ran out of the village hall fire station. The photo below is of the 1938 triple combination pumper fire truck being driven by Firefighter Fran Dailey.

Over the years, the Deposit Fire Department has continued to update it's equipment and apparatus.  Our color scheme and graphics have changed over the years.  After the companies consolidated, the apparatus was primarily all red with a white stripe.  A yellow stripe was add in the later years on either side of the white stripe.  The next major change came when we went to white over red apparatus in 1994.  We kept the white over red apparatus for several years until 2006 when we started to transition to black over red apparatus.  Our ambulances also saw a change over the years as they transitioned from having an orange stripe to a blue stripe.  This color change was to show support for our local school as blue is one of our school colors.     

In addition to updating our equipment and apparatus over the years, we have continued to update our facilities as well.  Our original consolidated station was a three bay station that housed apparatus three trucks deep.  This made it difficult at times to get apparatus out.  In some cases, two vehicle would need to be moved to get the third vehicle out of a bay.  In 2002, construction on a new station was completed which was a six bay station and allowed for much better apparatus placement.  This station is still in use today.  

Notable Fires and Incidents 

May 16, 1964 - A fire broke out at the Delaware Mill Company at approximately 1:15 pm on May 16, 1964. The mill was not operating at the time. There were five employees working on a heating coil in an animal fat vat with a torch when the fire ignited. The fire quickly spread through the three floors of the building and to the roof. The early estimate of damages was to exceed a quarter of a million dollars. There was fear throughout the village that the fire may spread to other buildings due to the extreme heat and embers. This fear quickly became a reality. The fire spread to the Tri-County Mill, the Town of Sanford Clerk’s Office and a garage three blocks away from the Delaware Mill Company when an ember landed on the roof. People up and down Front Street were out in thick, heavy black smoke, extinguishing embers that were landing on their roofs trying to protect their property. Embers from the fire traveled as far as a mile in the air from the fire. One firefighter sustained first and second degree burns while battling this blaze and was hospitalized at Binghamton General. In total, 8 fire trucks and 250 firefighters responded to this alarm. 

May 10, 1981 - A devastating five alarm fire ripped through two buildings in the Front Street Buisness District on Mother's Day of 1981. By the time the flames were out, five businesses had been affected and four firefighters had been injured. 

December 6, 1993 - A fire broke out at a large commercial building located at 98 Front Street in the Village of Deposit.  This building housed the Video Shack Store at the time of the fire and had previously been home to GLF and the Agway Feed Stores.  Firefighter Dale E. Linkroum tragically lost his life battling this fire.     

September 24, 1994 - Three teenagers broke into a vacant apartment above Gip's Tavern on Front Street in the Village of Deposit and set fire to a couch.  The fire quick spread throughout the apartment and the tavern downstairs.  Before long the fire spread to the State Theater (Deposit Community Theater) next door.

August 5, 1995 - Fire claimed the century old, Indian Country Plant (Former Lumber Company and Milk Condensery) on Borden Street in the Village of Deposit.

May 31, 1998 - An F3 tornado tore through Deposit producing winds between 158 and 206 MPH at 6:30 PM EDT. The path was consistent in direction and skipped along the hilltops with occasional touch downs into the valley floors. The greatest damage occurred on Nelson Frank Road where a house was completely destroyed. The only part of the structure that remained standing appeared to be a small interior closet. The occupants of the house described the noise as a freight train as the tornado approached. The path of the storm at this point was about 200 yards wide.  The storm began to weaken as it moved out of Deposit. F2 damage occurred at about 6:35 PM EDT on Route 8 where several homes experienced significant roof and structural damage. Additional F0 to F1 damage was observed as the tornado continued to move eastward through Tompkins and Colchester townships. A second tornado was reported to have moved through this same area shortly after the first one, again producing F2 damage to a home on Route 8.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, The Deposit Fire Department was deployed as part of an E.M.S. strike team through the New York State Mutual Aid Plan to assist with the recovery efforts at Ground Zero in New York City.  Our crew was deployed from September 20, 2001 through September 22, 2001. The crew from Deposit consisted of 6 Emergency Medical Technicians who were deployed for the 3 day period with Deposit Ambulance 103. 

December 28, 2002 - A Front Street, Deposit, landmark was destroyed this past weekend as a Saturday morning fire totally engulfed ET’s Restaurant. The fire was reported at 8:39 am, just about the time employees were opening the restaurant.   

January 11, 2003 - Thick black smoke billowed from Front Street once again as a fire ripped through 149 / 151 Front Street destroying three businesses (Sweets N' Eats, Moo Duk Kwan Academy and Mends and Hems Sewing) on the first floor and two second floor apartments. This fire was deemed arson and the suspect was arrest. 

October 8, 2003 - The heart of Deposit’s Front Street Business District suffered another crippling blow as an arson fire swept through the empty building owned by Alfred Mills Jr. and then quickly spread to engulf The Panda House Chinese Restaurant on the right and the Towne Crier office on the left. When it was over, two buildings were totally destroyed and the Crier office building was gutted. However, these were not the first fires of the night.  State Police reported that at 1:41 am on October 8, Broome County 911 received the first fire call of the night from the resident at 19 Dean Street. Deposit’s Fire Personnel responded and confined the fire to the front porch of the dwelling.  During the fire suppression of the Dean Street fire, Broome County 911 received a second call at 2:59 am that there was a fire on Front Street.  All of the fires that night were deemed arson and the suspect was arrested.  

June 28, 2006 - The waters of the West Branch of the Delaware River overflowed it's bank to an amazing 19.10 feet causing substantial flooding in the Village of Deposit and areas along the river.  More than 100 people were evacuated from their homes. 

July 5, 2013 - On Friday, July 5th at 7:18 PM a 911 call reported that a boat had capsized on the Cannonsville Reservoir. The boat had flipped within sight of the boat access ramp along Highway 10 in Walton and DEP police spotted two men clinging to the boat when they arrived at the scene. DEP Police Sgt. Thomas Reis, a rescue swimmer, swam out to the two victims to help them stay afloat. He was assisted by Trout Creek firefighters who commandeered a rowboat until additional first responders arrived from the Deposit Fire Department. Deposit First Assistant Chief Christopher Zacharias and Capt. Eric Dermitt, both certified in water rescue, launched an inflatable boat and helped remove the victims from the water. Both victims were treated by Trout Creek EMS and signed off on any further medical attention. The boaters said their vessel flipped after one of the men slipped and fell inside the boat. 

July 15, 2016 - On Friday morning, our Firefighters and E.M.S. Providers responded to a Level 2 M.C.I. in the Town of Deposit resulting from a four car motor vehicle accident on Route 17 East Bound.  Our agency was assisted by: Town of Hancock Ambulance, Superior Ambulance Service, Union Volunteer Ambulance and Sidney Emergency Medical Services.

January 10, 2017 - Our Firefighters and E.M.S. Providers responded to a Level 2 Mass Casualty Incident (M.C.I.) in the Town of Sanford on Route 17 West Bound resulting from a motor vehicle accident involving a large passenger van.  Our agency was assisted by: Town of Hancock Ambulance, Superior Ambulance and Windsor Emergency Services, Inc. 

June 9, 2017 - Our Firefighters and E.M.S. Providers responded to another Mass Casualty Incident (M.C.I.) in the Town of Sanford on Route 17 West Bound resulting from a motor vehicle accident involving a large passenger van.

August 9, 2018 - A train bound for Binghamton derailed early Thursday in the Town of Deposit after a culvert was eroded by heavy rainfall overnight. No one was hurt in the crash, which involved 63 rail cars.  The train was operated by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation, and it derailed at 2:01 a.m. west of Hale Eddy Road in the Town of Deposit.  Heavy rainfall and flooding caused a small section of the railroad to erode at a culvert overpass, making the tracks impassible.

April 9, 2021 - The Deposit Fire Department responded to a reported house fire on Allen Street in the Village of Deposit.  When crews arrived, they found the fire had spread to four separate properties, including four houses, two garages and three vehicles.  Grass and brush fires were burning behind the homes toward houses on Sheldon Street.  Luckily, these fires were able to be extinguished preventing the fire from spreading to the next block over.  The fire spread rapidly due to the building construction of the homes involved, the dry and windy weather conditions, and the close proximity of the neighborhood homes.  Several fires were burning simultaneously.  There was a great loss of personal property, but no loss of life.

April 12, 2021 - A 78 year-old Deposit woman dead after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street in the village.  Katherine Parsons was hit at the intersection of Dean and Second Streets by a Chevy Tahoe operated by a 68 year-old Deposit man.  Parsons was taken to Wilson Hospital where she died from her injuries.

September 26, 2024 - At approximately 3:11 p.m., New York State Police at Deposit were dispatched to a crash involving a dump truck into a residence on Old Plank Road in the Town of Sanford.  A 29-year-old male who was operating the dump truck was pronounced deceased at the scene.  Three people were inside the residence at the time of the crash.  A 10-year-old male was airlifted to Albany Medical Center for injuries.  A 22-year-old male was not injured.  A 40-year-old female was treated by EMS at the scene.

November 1, 2024 - On Friday, November 1, 2024 at 3:44 p.m., the Deposit Fire Department and Eastern Broome Emergency Services were dispatched to a reported brush fire in the Town of Scott (Wayne County PA.). On our arrival, crews reported a large working brush fire in the woods. The initial arriving crew had trouble assessing exactly how large the fire was due to the terrain and limited access. The fire was burning from a residential property into a state forest. Our first arriving crew immediately deployed two lines from our Midi-Pumper for exposure protection as the fire was burning towards a garage and an out building. They estimated the fire at that time to be consuming approximately 3-5 acres. As additional crews from Deposit Fire arrived, they immediately attempted to make their way up the left and right flanks to reach the head of the fire. There initially was no access for apparatus or UTVs to reach the head of the fire. All of the fire suppression attempts had to be made by crews on foot. At this point, the first round of mutual aid resources were requested to the scene. A short time later, a second round of mutual aid resources were requested. Crews continued to work through the rough terrain and vegetation to get to the head of the fire. Once at the head of the fire, crews reported a large amount of fire that was moving quickly. A bulldozer and third round of mutual aid resources were then requested to the scene. Crews worked into the night to get the fire under control and contained. The bulldozer was used to cut a fire break around the head of the fire and build access paths for UTVs. Crews remained on scene until a little after 10 p.m. Friday night. Once the fire was mostly out and contained, crews were pulled from the woods due to the hazards of night operations and falling trees. Crews returned to the scene Saturday morning to extinguish hot spots and pick up additional equipment that had been left on scene from the night before. In total, the fire burned approximately 12.20 acres and was caused by an open burn that spread out of control. Mutual aid units from the Hancock Fire Department, Northern Wayne Fire Company, Windsor Fire Department, Masonville Fire Department, Five Mile Point Fire Company, Broome County Office of Emergency Services, Trout Creek Fire Department, West Windsor Fire Company, and Sanitaria Springs Fire Company assisted us with this operation. Bulldozers were also brought in to assist in building firebreaks.