The Pamelia Volunteer Fire Department was mainly the brainchild of three men, Charles Ingersol, a dairy farmer who lived on Gould Road, Albert (Bud) Paul, a local farmer and Wes Rose, a local motel owner and self employed carpenter.

     Early in 1959 the organization and main fund raising took place in the old Town Hall on State Route 37 in Pamelia Four Corners. Fund raising consisted mainly of auctions, ice cream socials and private donations.

     A local farmer, Wilford Paul, donated a parcel of land located behind the Grange Hall on County Route 16. In 1960 the fire department was incorporated and a two stall garage type building was erected. A 1943 surplus pumper was obtained from Fort Drum Army installation. Charles Ingersol overhauled the front mount pump in his barn on the Gould Road. After the pumper was ready for operation, the Black River Fire Department loaned us a 1932 Ford tanker which carried 500 gallons of water.

     The first elected chief of the department was Albert (Bud) Paul, who passed away at an early age in 1962. Alden LaClair, then the First Assistant Chief, moved up to Chief and remained in that position until 1979.

     Since money was in short supply, to get the department rolling, a gentlemen by the name of Charles Hayes, who had a fire equipment business and was the Jefferson County Fire Coordinator, loaned a good share of the necessary equipment to the department until we were financially able to repay him.

     Once the department was able to respond to fire and emergency calls, we took over a fire contract that the Town of Pamelia was paying to Evans Mills VFD, which amounted to $500 per year in the beginning.

     The Pamelia Volunteer Fire Department continued to expand over the years. We outgrew our "old barn" and needed a new place to call home. In 1989 we bought the old Town of Pamelia Highway garage and moved into our "new barn" which was only 200 yards away, across State Route 37.

     We would like to continue to expand, by buying new equipment and building a new Station. We are in the process of finding grants that will help us do just that. Remember, the better equipped we are, the better we can serve you!

                           Albert "Bud" Paul                                                                Constructing the fire station in September 1960

Some old fire equipment from the early days.

Truck line up, circa 1980.

Picture is dated 07 August 1965.

Firefighting in the old days! There is no date on the picture.

PLEASE if you have any old pictures of the Pamelia VFD in action, any of the original members OR any old fire equipment the department had, please contact Michael Cushman at mcushman@pameliafire.org or the Chief, Harry Faulk, Jr., at hfaulkjr@pameliafire.org. We would love to arrange to have them scanned so we can add them to our growing web site.