History – East Farmington Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.

Two fire engines from 1945 parked in front of a garage — The first truck was donated by Martin Arens and stored in his garage. Equipment was placed on it and the firefighters responded to fires with it until October, 1945, when a firehouse was built at the corner of Woodruff and Rt. 6.

The residents of East Farmington Heights established the East Farmington Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (EFVFD) in 1944 due to concerns regarding how long it took for apparatus to climb over the mountain from the center of Farmington to serve our neighborhood…especially in the winter when the roads were covered with snow.

EFVFD started with 1 milk truck fitted with an army surplus pump and a used 275 gallon oil tank for water, in a single bay, cinder block building carved into the hillside where I-84 now runs. Quite a difference from the specialized apparatus and equipment we have today, located at 94 South Road.

When we first started, we simply put out fires in our neighborhood and responded to less than 50 calls a year. Today we are no longer simply a residential neighborhood. We respond to over 1,000 calls a year to numerous homes, businesses and an interstate highway. We provide emergency services including fire suppression, hydraulic vehicle rescue, hazardous materials response, emergency medical services, missing persons search and rescue, water and ice rescue, and more. Other examples of services we provide are protecting people from fallen electrical wires, pumping water from flooded cellars and teaching fire safety to our school children.

As you’d see displayed in our firehouse, we are “Proud of our past, focused on our future.”

Wilfred Brown March 1944 – October 1946

Martin Arens November 1946 – October 1950

Timothy Buckley November 1950 – October 1951

Wheldon Richards November 1951 – October 1952

Freeman Reynolds November 1952 – October 1953

Robert Petersen November 1953 – October 1971

Edward Parker November 1971 – October 1973

Nicholas Flamio November 1973 – October 1979

Richard Petersen November 1979 – October 1981

Richard Lenz November 1981 – March 1983

Peter Lepaic April 1983 – June 1988