Mahwah Fire Rescue Co #1

Did you know that the former Rescue 1 GMC started with humble roots in 1964 when it was originally purchased by the Union City Fire Department. Later Mahwah Fire purchased the truck as the townships first ‘heavy rescue’ rig. It was then obtained from a fire equipment supplier by NBC’s production company for the 1989/90 ‘True Blue’ TV series. The production company transformed it to the tune of $75,000 to its unique look for the TV series. It also appeared in ‘Ransom’ and later in ‘The Siege’ and ‘Daylight’ (don’t blink) in 1998.

Photo from Randy Sterbinsky: The building is ‘the old ice house at Winters Pond, Halloween night. Don Vilmar drove 3 cars out of this barn under the protection of hose lines! Something out of Hollywood! It’ll always be engraved in my mind as I witnessed it as an officer’

On June 27th, 1919 the Mahwah Fire Department was admitted to the New York-New Jersey Volunteer Firemen s Association. That was a direct reflection of the hard work our founders put in. In less than five years from its creation, the Mahwah Fire Department was recognized as a peer to the older more established departments in New Jersey and New York.