Where We Started

In the Fall of 1945, at a regular meeting of the Jefferson Township Fire Department Co.2, it was suggested that since our Fire Company is bounded by two munitions plants and being situated on the shores of Lake Hopatcong with its many homes and summer bungalows, we were in need of a First Aid Squad. There were two men who held Red Cross First Aid Cards and these men with the help of M. Rowan and members of the Stanhope Rescue Squad organized our present group which eventually became the Jefferson Township Rescue Squad

In December of 1945, an instructor, Mr. Harold Saul of the American Red Cross, conducted a class of 14 men, all of whom completed the standard and advanced First Aid Course and received offical Red Cross First Aid Cards. These meetings were held at the home of James McElroy of Lake Hopatcong.

In September of 1946 our First Aid Group purchased a used ambulance from Hopatcong Boro, paid for mainly by the Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary through fundraising campaigns.

The Jefferson Township Rescue Squad remained part of the Jefferson Township Fire Department Co.2 until 1972 in which we moved into our own building up the road near Hurdtown Methodist Church and became our own seperate organization.