Smithtown – Supervisor Chad A.
Lupinacci celebrated the Centerport Fire District's 121st Annual Installation
Dinner on March 23 at The Watermill Inn.
“Congratulations to Chief Richard
Miltner and all inductees with the Centerport Fire Department on this
celebratory evening recognizing 121 years of Centerport’s bravest,” said
Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci.
The Centerport Fire Department was
chartered in 1898, holding their first meeting in the Centerport School on
September 7, 1898. A few months later, on December 23, 1898, Articles of
Incorporation were obtained. A building committee was appointed at the
September meeting. The members, many of whom were carpenters, built a
firehouse, in which the first meeting was held on December 3, 1898, less than
three months after the building committee was appointed.
The first piece of equipment was a
hand pumper manned by 20 men, 10 on each side, which was able to throw a stream
of water 125 feet. Cisterns and wells were the water supply. Later, a
horse-drawn hook and ladder truck was purchased for $600 from an upstate fire
department.
The Centerport Fire District was
formed in 1924 with the late George H. Miller, first Chairman of the Board.
Their first rescue vehicle was a gift from the late William K. Vanderbilt, an
honorary member of the department.
In the photo: (l-r) Supervisor Chad
A. Lupinacci; Centerport Fire Chief Richard Miltner; Assemblyman Andrew P.
Raia.
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