Lakeville Hose Company: 1905-2010

The demands on a modern fire department are enormous, even for one in a small town that is staffed exclusively by volunteers. And the Northwest Corner can be particularly challenging for a fire and rescue group, because there are so many kinds of terrain.

The Lakeville Hose Company doesn’t just respond to burning buildings. It also has to help find lost hikers or injured people (and dogs) on the Appalachian Trail and in the nearby hills and mountains and ravines; it has to be able to help ice fishermen and skaters who have fallen through the ice on local lakes; and it has to be able to save swimmers and paddlers on the Housatonic River, which ranges from meek to ferocious depending on the season and the weather.

In a small town, it’s also unlikely that there will be a fire hydrant outside a burning building. The hose company has to store a collapsible pool that can be filled at the site of any blaze, no matter how far from a pond or other source of water.

And so the Lakeville Hose Company found at the beginning of this century that it needed to grow and expand, and find space for myriad pieces of equipment. Choosing a site was tricky.

With five villages,  tied together by 86.78 miles of country roads (at 38,761 acres, Salisbury is the second largest town in the state in terms of area), the firehouse had to be centrally located.

Ideally, the firetrucks should be able to quickly reach the centers with the largest concentration of residents, such as the area boarding schools and Noble Horizons; and to easily reach the race track at Lime Rock Park.

The new site also had to be near a major road and not too close to residences; but it had to be at a spot where trucks could come in and out without fear of creating a traffic snarl (or worse, an accident).

Serendipitously, Illinois Tool Works (one of the only light industries in Salisbury) decided it didn’t need its building on Route 44, midway between Lakeville and Salisbury. A deal was struck: The Lakeville Hose Company agreed to purchase the building for $950,000.

Plans were made to renovate and expand the space, and turn it into a modern firehouse with a five-bay garage.

The Hotchkiss School helped inaugurate the project with a challenge grant in October 2009: If the town could raise $600,000 on its own (through contributions), the school would donate $400,000 over five years.

The total cost of the project is expected to be about $3.5 million, and much of that money has already been pledged by more than 100 gifts from private donors, businesses and local organizations, including the other two private schools in town.

“Any money that we can raise will lower the tax implications,� noted Rusty Chandler, who is leading the fundraising campaign. “This will especially be beneficial for those people this town needs to stay, and be volunteers — the longtime and full-time local residents who are such an important part of the community.�

Letters have been sent out to potential large-scale donors this summer and an additional letter is being mailed in August, “so that everyone can donate,� Chandler said. Every bit helps, every $20, $100, $1,000.

Additional efforts have been embedded in the plan, so the building will be as cost-efficient (and energy-efficient) as possible. Solar panels on one side of the garage will help reduce energy costs, for example.  

Two rental spaces have been set aside. One has already been rented back to Illinois Tool Works. There is also a rental space upstairs, that is being renovated now, in part with a state grant; two potential tenants have expressed interest in that portion of the building.

Additional funds will also come to the town when the existing firehouse, built in 1931  and expanded in 1976, is sold.

“We hope it will attract a buyer who wants to start a company, someone who will employ people in town,� Chandler said. “It might be someone who’s making an artisanal product, or someone who works in computers, making software perhaps.�

Interested donors (or anyone interested in purchasing the old firehouse) should contact First Selectman Curtis Rand at Town Hall. Or keep an eye out for a fundraising letter from the Firehouse Committee.