This spring, Beacon Hose embarked on a project to renovate our firehouse conference. One of the motivations was to create a museum honoring our department’s history over more than 125 years.
Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 was formed on May 11, 1899. It was organized by 20 men in the cutting room of the Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company three months after a fire razed all the buildings of the nearby Homer D. Bronson Company. Since then, Beacon Hose has become the centerpiece of our community, protecting our neighbors from emergencies and helping to create our unique small-town atmosphere.
Click here to read our entire updated history, complete with photos, videos, and much more. You can also scroll below to see our interactive timeline that covers the first 125 years of our department’s history, cobbled together through newspaper articles, photo archives, and past meeting minutes. Photos from some of our most memorable calls are also below.
Beacon Hose’s Timeline
Take a look through 125 years of Beacon Hose’s history through newspaper and photo archives. This timeline is best viewed by entering full-screen mode (top right) and zooming.
Scenes from Memorable Calls
A May 1998 dump truck rollover extrication on Oak Drive is still remembered as one of the most challenging calls in the department’s history. 
Beacon Hose and several surrounding towns fought an all-night fire at the former meatpacking facility on Rimmon Hill Road on Aug. 29, 2019. 
In September 2013, a home on Blackberry Hill Road went ablaze, causing two firefighters to suffer minor injuries. The home was later demolished. 
Beacon Hose spent all night extinguishing a fire at the old Beacon Falls railroad station in the late 1970s. 
Chief Harold Lennon takes command at a March 1981 structure fire on Munson Road. 
Beacon Hose battled a structure fire at the Beacon Falls Bakery and Deli on North Main Street in October 2009. 
Beacon Hose battled a fire on Diana Lane in October 1982. 
Beacon Hose responded to a structure fire on Skokorat Road in January 2025. 
Beacon Hose battled a structure fire on Morning Wood Drive in June 2021. 
A quick response to a wrong-way crash on Route 8 in August 2021 helped save the life of a driver who went into traumatic arrest several times. 
Beacon Hose provided mutual aid to a fire at the Quarry Walk apartments in Oxford in July 2020. 
Beacon Hose responds to a fire at the White Eagle club on Beacon Street in October 1981. 
Over the course of a few days in May 2018, Beacon Hose responded to more than 120 calls for service after an EF-1 tornado ripped through Beacon Falls. 
Firefighters cut a roof during a structure fire on Feldspar Avenue in February 2011. 
Firefighter Paul DeGeorge extinguishes a car fire with exposure to a home on Lasky Road in January 2006. 
Beacon Hose fights a garage fire on Blackberry Hill Road in April 2017. 
Beacon Hose firefighters and Ladder 1 fight a structure fire on Old Turnpike Road in October 1986.