The development of the Borough of Wildwood Crest closely parallels that of the fire company in the early years. On April 6, 1910, Governor Fort recognized the new Borough of Wildwood Crest. The Borough held its first meeting for election of officers on May 3rd, 1910 and its first council meeting on May 9th. Phillip P. Baker was elected Mayor and served until his death in 1920.

The first meeting for the purpose of organizing a fire company was held on October 13, 1910. Phillip P. Baker was elected president pro-tem. Further meetings on October 20th and 27th of that year brought the final organization with the adoption of the Holly Beach Code for the By-Laws.

Fire Company in the Borough of Wildwood Crest. Later in the month of January, a charter from the State of New Jersey was recorded in the County Clerk's Office.

During the year, the first borough hall was established at 6106 Pacific Avenue, at Sweet Briar Road. The fire company had use of a garage-type section of the hall, with a room for meetings. This building was leased by the borough from Edwin B. Fagan. The fire company's appropriation from the borough, for that year, was $100.00.

At the October meeting, the company authorized the purchase of an air whistle with tanks and fittings to be used as the first automatic alarm. The company had in its possession at this time a hand-drawn hose cart.

Early in 1912, a hand-drawn ladder cart was built by Cal Augan, and housed with the hose cart. In 1914, a fund raiser in the form of a huge carnival was held at the Crest Pier.

On June 7th, 1915, the trustees approved a loan for the purchase of Herbert Davis' combination chemical and hose wagon. The cost was to be $2,400.00, but an additional $68.00 was appropriated to have a nickel plate finish, rather than plain brass. On July 28th, a check for $468.00 was given to Mr. Davis as part payment. The balance of $2,000.00 was on a note payable to Mr. Davis from the Wildwood Title and Trust Company.

On February 28th, 1927, the fire company, by resolution, opposed the consolidation of our borough with the cities of Wildwood and North Wildwood.

At the May 15th, 1935 meeting, the company accepted a chemical and ladder truck built on a new Dodge chassis. The body was built by two members of the fire company, Thomas Young and Edward Hendricks.

The cost of the vehicle was $500.00 and was financed by a note from the Marine National Bank. In October, 1936, the borough, by resolution, granted a $500.00 tax exemption to all volunteer firemen who owned homes. The fire company responded to 18 fire calls in 1936.

During the 1930's, the fire company provided ambulance service to the Borough; however, in 1941, our ambulance was destroyed in a bad accident, and the company decided to abandon the program.

Due to our country's involvement in the war effort, activities other than basic fire duties were halted.

In May of 1993, the 28-year-old equipment van was replaced by an Emergency One Special Service truck with a 10-man custom tilt cab chassis, walk-in body, and a 6000 psi air cascade system. The cost of the $267,325.00 truck was borne by the fire company with a 5-year note.

A 1999 Emergency One 1500 GPM pumper was received in February, 2000 to replace the 1973 American LaFrance Mini-Quad.  A year later in March 2001, a new 2000 Emergency One 91-ft. Bronto aerial platform with a 1500 GPM Pump arrived and replaced the 32-year-old Aero-Chief platform truck.

The cost of the $282,665.00 pumper and $648,030.00 aerial platform truck was borne by the Borough of Wildwood Crest, with about $35,000 worth of additional equipment added to the two trucks by the fire company from funds received from donations and fund raisers.

In May of 2000, "Old Betsy", our 1927 American LaFrance pumper, was sent away to be refurbished.  On August 11, Betsy returned in "better-than-new" condition!  The truck had been dismantled down to the frame rails and meticulously reconstructed and painted in it's original dark "American LaFrance Red" color.  Several old photographs were used by the refurbishing shop to assure that every detail, including the gold leaf trim, would be duplicated as closely as possible to the original appearance.  The cost of refurbishment was paid entirely by donations and fund-raisers, including a generous donation by the Wildwood Crest Historical Society.

In January of 2003, Engine 439, the 25-year-old 1978 American LaFrance pumper was sold to a collector in Lafayette, LA.

In the fall of 2003, a bay was added to the front of the hall.  The 12' x 38' "museum bay" was built to house and properly display Old Betsy and other artifacts owned by the company.

In 2006, the fire company purchased a 1993 Chevrolet Suburban utility vehicle from the Stone Harbor Fire Company.

In August, 2007, a 2001 E-One 2000 g.p.m./ 75-ft. Quint was purchased from McKinley Fire Company of Abington Township, PA. The $340,000 cost of this "new" Engine 439 and additional equipment was paid by the fire company with fund-raiser funds and donations.

For more information about the History of Wildwood Crest,
visit the website of the Wildwood Crest Historical Society
www.cresthistory.org