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History |
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In 1946 a
young boy was hit by a truck on Germantown road,
in the Apshawa section of the township and there
was no ambulance available. He died before aid
could be obtained.
Later
that year Mr. Ken Norman of the township started
talking to the members of the 6 fire companies
of West Milford with the idea of two men from
each fire company volunteering to take a first
aid course. The fire companies were to purchase
the ambulance for them. Lester Titus, another
township resident, said he would loan the money
to them without interest for as long as it would
take to pay it back. They accepted this generous
offer and within one year to the day, the final
payment was made to Mr. Titus. The first
ambulance was a 1948 Superior Cadillac.
They
later purchased a used ambulance from the
Ridgefield First Aid Squad for the sum of $1.00.
This was parked in the Upper Greenwood Lake
section of the township.
In
January of 1955 the West Milford Township
Firemen’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps broke away
from the fire companies and formed the West
Milford Township First Aid Squad, Inc. This was
due to overcrowded conditions in their
buildings. They made plans for the two
buildings, which with a few additions and
alterations, are still in use today.
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1947
The
photograph above shows the original West Milford First
Aid Squad in front of the old Macopin Volunteer Fire
House. In the photograph are from left to
right: West Milford Police Chief John Moeller,
Recording Secretary Donald Sly, Assistant Instructor
Joseph Moeller, Reidar Wang, Ethel Wang, Service
Secretary Joseph Fiorella, Bill McKenney, Donald
Ryerson, Louis Swatos, Chief Instructor Sidney Wood,
Reverend Frank Kennedy, Helen Michelfelder, Harry
Michelfelder and West Milford Police Officer James
Kemble.
Final
Rig Payment
Above
is a photograph taken as the final first Rig payment
was made.
1952
The photograph above is of members
of the West Milford First Aid Squad in 1952.
1964
In 1964 the squad purchased the
above pictured 1960 Cadilac Rig.
1974
WMFAS members of 1974. Facing the
photo from left to right are pictured; Bob DeBoo, Don
Touw, Herb Moser, Jack Cronen, Emmett Leeper, Clay
Sondermeyer, Don Anderson, Jim Donnelly and Bill
Stenstrum.
Last modified: December 01, 2005
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Response
Calls |
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The
first two years the new
squad covered a total of
74 ambulance calls. Since
then, the squad and
township have grown.
In
1947 there was one
ambulance and by 1974
there were three plus one
van truck used for
delivering hospital beds
and other loan equipment
to residents of the
township.
In
the 1980’s the squad
switched to the type of
ambulances known as
“Mini Mods” and
increased the number of
rigs to four.
During
the late 1990’s as
member training
requirements became more
complex and the need to
carry more sophisticated
equipment became the norm,
the squad began switching
over to the full size
“Modular” ambulances
that can be seen on our equipment
page.
By 2002, the last
of the Mini Mods was
replaced by the full size
rigs.
In
1973, the squad reported
responding to 923 calls
and covered 34,011 miles
with a total of 3,595
volunteer hours and a
membership of 60
volunteers. In 1999
the squad responded to
1,493 calls with a total
of 5,422 volunteer hours
and covered 51,729 miles
and a membership at
year-end of 51. In 2002,
we responded to 1,757
calls, which took 7,349
volunteer hours, and
covered 58,242 miles of
local roads, all by our 63
volunteers. So, basic math
will tell you that while
the membership numbers
have remained fairly
consistent, the call
volume has increased
significantly. West
Milford is one of the few
towns in the area who is
still able to provide 24/7
volunteer coverage without
one single request for
Mutual Aid from another
town, while at the same
time, we provide Mutual
Aid assistance to other
towns several times each
month.
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