In the early 1930s when the newspaper, Daily Mirror, developed Putnam Lake, the Patterson Fire Department answered all calls in the area. Several years later a dozen men from Putnam Lake joined the Patterson Fire Department.
One of those men were Kenneth A. Hall, now deceased, used his own car equipped with brooms and shovels to fight any kind of fire until the Patterson Fire Department arrived. It was those men who convinced the town board in Patterson to let them have their 1928 Dodge Chemical truck. It was finally agreed that the men from Putnam Lake may buy the Truck for the price of $1.00. These men formed their own fire department. They called themselves The Putnam Lake Firemans Association.
The Dodge truck was then garaged in the shed on the property of the Putnam Lake Community Council on Haviland Drive, which today it the town-owned Park.
In the 1940s an electric siren was installed on the roof of a restaurant called the Putnam Lake Inn. All Fire calls were answered by the bar tender on telephone number 947. The siren was then set in motion; men responding were then notified where the call was located.
In the spring of 1948, a One Floor, two bay fire station at the corner of Fairfield and Haviland Drives were first occupied. The Property consisted of three lots which was generously donated the previous year by the late Dr. Joseph L. Peloso, M.D. Late in 1951 the Second floor was added.
Also in the 1950s Mr. Kenneth A. Hall moved into the firehouse as the dispatcher. At this time the association had four sirens and six call boxes. The telephone system consisted of five phones, one in each of the officers homes and one in the fire house. Today we have personal pagers to alert the members of any emergency call, two-way radios in each truck in addition to the chiefs and captains personal vehicles. All of which are in connection with the Putnam 911 dispatch center, in Carmel, NY. We are also members of the Putnam County mutual aid pact 1.
Our Firehouse is currently located at the intersection of Fairfield Drive and Haviland Drive. With seven bays, two offices, and a large meeting room upstairs. Our department has come along way from the shed it once was. While the buildings may have changed over the years the mission of the Putnam Lake Fire Department has not. We are all still here to serve and protect the community in which we all reside.
Additional history on the Putnam Lake Area of the Town of Patterson is available at:
Historic Patterson
