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The Whiting Volunteer Fire Company No.1 was incorporated in 1937. It was the only fire company in Manchester Township until 1955. The first fire engine was kept in the garage at Allegrinia's Bar, located at the end of Lakewood Avenue. Our first fire station was built and located on Central Avenue, Between Manchester Blvd. and Cherry Street, which housed our first new fire truck which was a 1947 Ward La France; the building was basically a two bay garage- no other rooms; the trucks had to be pulled out for any function. A Wood Burning Stove in the rear of one bay supplied heat to the building. We had a large metal ring that was hit with a sledgehammer to alert the members of a fire call. ​
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​Our ladies Aux. Held Fund Raisers (i.e. dinners, etc.) at the Town Hall located on the corner of Lacey Road and Manchester Blvd. Today a cell phone tower is located on the central Avenue site, which the property is still owned by the fire company, and the tower provides revenue for the company. In 1957 we purchased the property at Lacey Road and Cherry Street were the members built the original three bay garage with a meeting room and a kitchen. This enabled us to hold fundraisers in our own building, and add additional equipment. Fires were reported by calling the homes of one of three different fireman who lived near the firehouse; they in turn would go to the firehouse and sound the siren alerting the members of an emergency call. In 1960 we purchased a GMC Pumper Tanker, this truck was one of the biggest trucks on the east coast at that time.
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​In the 1970's we received additional property adjoining ours and in 1976 we opened our new addition of a new bay and also a drive thru using a new bay and our old kitchen, this addition also included our present hall, kitchen, and upstairs administration offices and members meeting room. This new addition also enabled us to start a weekly bingo that profited enough income that in four years we were able to pay off the mortgage on the building. As times changed and the need for new equipment in 1990 we received three new apparatus, a pumper tanker that held 2500 gallons of water, a brush truck, and a heavy extrication truck. In 1990 we took our Pumper Tanker Truck # 3341 to the Annual Fireman's Convention Parade, where we took home the top trophy's year after year. 1995 brought us another award winning pumper 3311, and in 2002 we replaced our heavy extrication truck.
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​In 2002 we also built a separate new building to house our fire trucks, this building has three drive thru bays, and will hold six trucks. In this new building we also added a cascade System, which will fill our self contained breathing apparatus in house. As the community grows and so does the department the need for additional equipment, and training is always there. In 2009 our ladies Aux. restarted the weekly bingo which is held every Wednesday night to try to help to defray the growing cost of daily operations .
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