Quasquicentennial celebration held for Valley Stream fire department

  • 2023-06-20
The 125th anniversary of the Valley Stream Nassau Hook & Ladder Company was recently celebrated at the firehouse. This is Nassau County’s oldest firehouse and fought its first fire in 1898.

Announcements of such special celebrations are often made known throughout a community with poster printing.

Rob Sarno, who retired after 40 years from the Fire Department of New York and has been a member of the company for 50 years, said that it is important to honor such history. He said the firehouse was originally built for trucks that were hand-drawn, so maneuvering larger trucks these days in the building is getting increasingly challenging. There are currently 26 active members of the company.

Several chiefs of the department were honored including Robert Dickinson, now 98, who joined the department in 1941 at the age of 17. Brian Howley, former Fire Chief, was honored for over 40 years of service. He joined the department in 1979.

Ed Fare, mayor of Valley Stream, said that there were celery farms in the area when the department was formed, and the village did not come into existence until 25 years later. Representative Anthony D’Esposito said a flag was flown at the United States capital to honor the anniversary of the department.

The flag will be delivered to Station No. 1 in the coming weeks.