On August 18, 1898, J.T. Anderson’s Lumber Mill (where the library is now located)
caught fire and burned for several days. During that time, the Borough of Oakmont did not have
a local fire department. Due to the lumber mill fire, the citizens of Oakmont discussed creating a
local fire department. 
 

Two Gentlemen named O.S. Grubbs and M.S. Verner took charge of leading that
discussion and proposed the fire department to the council and approved it. However, as much as
the council was excited to accept this proposal, there was concern about how to get the
department started. In turn Grubbs and Verner put a local ad in the Verona Leader asking for
volunteers to join the fire department. 
 

By 1903, the fire department was organized. Thomas Hunter was elected to be the chief
of the Oakmont Volunteer Fire Department. Along with Mr. Hunter, there were several other
founding charter members. They were O.S. Grubbs, M.S. Verner, Edward Mason, Albert
Lonabaugh, Henry Kennedy, Henry Helwig and Gus Helwig. 
 

Funds from the community were asked for, and with that money, the early members could
purchase three-hose carts. They were placed in various locations around town. One was on 5th
and Hulton, one was near the corner of 8th street and Washington Ave, and the other was down
near the Pennsylvania Railroad station. They were operated by 2-4 firefighters, and they would
run with the cart to the fire. On other occasions, Thomas Hunter would take his horses, if there
was an alarm that came in, and hitch them up to the car and pull them that way. However, in
certain situations, the members would hitch up the cart onto a trolley and have it get pulled
behind it. Along with the new fire carts, Grubbs donated the barn on 5th and Hulton behind his
house to be the first fire station. That barn still stands there today and is now a house. 
The fire department continued to improve their ability to protect their community by
asking for a railroad tire to become the fire whistle. These tires were suspended in midair and if
there was a fire were hit with sledgehammers to alert the firefighters of the emergency. The
Pittsburgh Press got wind of it and said that it was “the most unique as well as convenient fire
alarm in Allegheny County.”  All this hard work and dedication by the fire department led to the department having 66
members in 1907. However, 18 other men in Oakmont approached council to form a second
department and council turned it down. The council in response chartered the existing fire
department into the Oakmont Volunteer Fire Department Company No. 1 on July 7, 1907. The
charter also protected the fire department in Section 7 of the charter by stating that any other fire
department that comes into Oakmont falls under its authority. Additionally, the council agreed to
supply the fire department with the essential firefighting equipment to fight emergencies. 
However, during that time Oakmont began to become a commercial hub and the older
fire whistles became obsolete. This led to Oakmont to be split into six different zones to help
alert the fire men about where the fire was. The way it worked was a person would run to a local
church and ring the bell to match the corresponding zone. For example, if it were in zone one,

you would ring the bell once. The firefighters would listen for the sound and would grab the
house carts and go to the zone that matched the number of bells that were rung. 

 

The time of vehicles revolutionized firefighting. Fire engines allowed firefighters to
respond to calls faster and carry more essential equipment. The Oakmont Fire Department went
to council in 1920 to seek approval for their first fire engine. The council agreed to purchase the
fire engine and different bids were submitted by the Nash Motor Company, The Republic Truck
Company, and the Mack Truck Company. On January 7, 1921, the council approved the purchase
of a new Nash Motor Company Fire Engine that was worth $4,720. It had a top speed of 16 mph
and you had to go out in front of it to start it. This engine allowed the firefighters to not only
fight fires more effectively but save local businesses from destruction. 
The fire department also modernized the fire whistle by getting a steam powered fire
whistle and it was put on the corner of 3rd street and Archie. This new whistle allowed the fire
department to respond at a more effective rate, and it was noticed when an insurance inspector
came to Oakmont to test the department's effectiveness. Chief Hunter and his crew impressed the
insurance inspector by arriving in six minutes and were ready to fight the fire. However, in 1924,
the fire department got a new electric siren and moved the steam powered whistle down to the
water works.  
 

With the new engine in town and the new whistle, the department moved its station to a
brick building next to the police station on 5th and Virginia. That fire station was eventually
combined with the police station in 1924-1925 and is now the Borough building. 
However, even with all the new equipment the department got the technology continued
to get better. By 1927, the Nash engine was outdated and struggled to get up the hills of
Oakmont. The department requested a 1,000-gallon Triple Combination Pumping Engine,
Chemical House, and Motor Car. Bids were placed by American-LaFrance, Seagrave, and
Ahrens-Fox and American-LaFrance won the bid and the cost was $13,000. This vehicle was
considered the forefront of the firefighting apparatus, and Oakmont got it in 1927. 
With Oakmont beginning ahead of the curve, local communities reached out to the
department to help with their fires during the 1930s. Those local communities were Plum,
Harmar, Indiana Township and other local areas. Additionally, the fire department welcomed one
of its most unique members when a gentleman by the name of Mr. Mossman presented the
department with an Airedale pup and named him Taffy. Taffy lived in the fire station and slept in
the back of the garage. The police would open the door up and feed the dog when they would
come to work in the morning. The dog would go all around Oakmont but when the fire whistle
blew Taffy would run to the department and the firefighters would not leave without him. Taffy
only ever missed one fire call. However, Taffy sadly passed away on September 20, 1932, when
he was hit by another truck. Taffy’s life was written about in many different newspapers.
However, another dog eventually showed up to the fire station and the firefighters made a bed for
him and named him Taffy Junior. Along with continuing to support its local communities, in 1939 Oakmont and Verona

co-hosted the Allegheny County Fireman’s convention. The convention had 50 fire company units
involved and paraded through both Oakmont and Verona. Over 6,000 people came to watch the
parade led by the Oakmont firefighters, Police Chief Charles Helwig and Mayor Wilbur Stopp. 
However, when the Second World War started, the members of the department went
beyond the call of duty to support the war effort. The department was involved in many of the
disaster plans in case of a potential bomb and ran scrap metal drives for the war effort. The first
of the scrap drives was held in March 1942. 

By 1947, the American-LaFrance truck was 20 years old and constantly having problems
and the department requested a new fire truck. On April 1, 1948, the department received a 1948
Mack 1,000 gallon a minute pumper and it was worth $13,000. The department also decided to
keep the old American-LaFrance truck as its backup. In addition to these fire engines, the
Borough gave the department a 1935 Dodge which would become a utility fire truck. 
In 1954, the American-LaFrance truck was officially obsolete and needed to be replaced.
The fire department once again requested a new truck, and it got a 1954 Mack Model B-75 truck
at a cost of $14,000 and had a top speed of 60 mph. However, the truck was unable to climb hills
and was only effective on flat land. Due to this error, the company traded the truck 6 months later
for a 1955 B-85 model. Along with the new engine, the department had a 1958 Jeep that was
specially built for them and became their utility vehicle for several years. All the vehicles fit in at
the fire station. However, the department was running out of room and had no meeting area. A decision
was made to build a combination Borough building Fire Department on the corner of
Pennsylvania Ave. and Allegheny River Blvd. For reasons not fully known, the plans fell
through, and the department settled on buying the land behind the Borough building on Virigina
Ave. The new and current fire station was dedicated on September 9, 1961. It had everything the
firefighters needed, and it doubled as a fallout shelter during the Cold War. 
Throughout the rest of the 1960’s - the late 1970’s, the fire department continued to get
new apparatus. The different apparatus allowed the department to continue their long-standing
tradition of being an effective company. However, a new challenge for the department would
arise in the 1980’s with the high rises being built in Oakmont. 

 

At the beginning of the 1980’s, the fire department was concerned on how to fight fires in
the new high rises being built in Oakmont. The department approached the council in response
and tried to investigate the purchasing of an aerial truck. However, there was one major concern
and that was price. Nevertheless, the council agreed to investigate potentially buying a used
aerial truck. Lucky enough, the answer came to them from New York City. In May of 1984, the
council found out that the city was selling two different aerial trucks for sale, a 1972 Mack 75 ft.

Aerial Scope and a Seagrave 100 ft Aerial Ladder. The department members were intrigued by
the 1972 Mack, even with all its known faults, and drove it home from NYC. The chief at the
time Sam Brocato (Chief from 1960 -1984) was instrumental in obtaining the 1972 Mack, but
sadly, did not get to see the truck put into service. However, there was still one problem, there was no place to store the truck. This led to the department building the truck bay on the current station, completed, and dedicated on
October 12, 1986, and done in memory of Chief Brocato. In addition, in the 1990’s, the
department made another massive change by buying a 1990 Pierce and a 1996 Pierce to replace
the older Mack Trucks. 

The 1972 Mack truck would help protect Oakmont for many years. However, in 2001, the truck
needed substantial repairs and in 2001 they took it to the International Truck Company, and it
took 1 year to fix everything. The company, once it was finished, asked, and took the truck to the
Pennsylvania State Fire Show. Once Mack returned to the department, it continued serving the
Borough until 2022 when it was replaced by a Sutphen SPH 100 ft Ladder Truck and taken out
of service January 4, 2023.