Hillcrest Fire Company, Inc.

10/05/2026

09/19/2026

🚒🍂 Hillcrest Fire at the Chenango Bridge Civic Fall Parade! 🍂🚒

Today, the Hillcrest Fire Company had the pleasure of being invited to participate in the Chenango Bridge Civic Fall Parade!

We always enjoy opportunities like this to get our apparatus out into the community, see some familiar faces, and join our neighboring organizations in celebrating the communities we’re proud to serve.

Events like today are a great reminder that the fire service is about much more than responding when the tones drop. It’s also about being part of the community, building relationships, supporting our neighbors, and hopefully inspiring a few future firefighters along the way. 🚒

A big thank you to the Chenango Bridge Civic Association for inviting us and to everyone who came out, waved, and helped make the parade a great community event. We were happy to be a part of it and look forward to doing it again! 🍁🚒

📸 And a special thank you to Arthur Tilts for sending us this great shot of our rig making its way through the parade! We always appreciate members of the community sharing their photos with us — sometimes you get a much better view from the sidewalk than you do from behind the wheel!

Hillcrest Fire Company — Proud to Serve Our Community

08/06/2026

🍦🚒 We're Excited to Be Part of the 67th Annual Ice Cream Social! 🚒🍦
Hillcrest Fire Company is proud to once again participate in this wonderful community event at The Children's Home! We'll be bringing three of our fire apparatus along with several of our members, and we can't wait to meet everyone.
This event is about so much more than showing off big red trucks. It's an opportunity for children and families to meet the firefighters behind the gear, ask questions, explore our equipment, and learn what we do to help protect our community every day.
One of the most important lessons we hope to share is that firefighters are your friends. When we respond to a fire, we wear bulky protective gear, helmets, air packs, and face masks that can look scary—especially to young children. But behind all of that equipment is just a regular person whose only job is to help. We want every child to know that they should never hide from a firefighter during an emergency. If you see us in your home during a fire, we're there to find you, keep you safe, and get you out.
By meeting firefighters in a fun, relaxed setting, climbing aboard the trucks, trying on gear, and asking questions, we hope to make those uniforms a little less intimidating and build trust long before an emergency ever happens.
So stop by, say hello, check out the trucks, meet our members, and learn a little about fire safety along the way.
And of course... don't forget the ice cream! 🍦 We hope to see you there for a great evening of community, smiles, and sweet treats! ❤️🚒

08/04/2026

🚒🎈 Always Training. Always Preparing. 🎈🚒
Several members of the Hillcrest Fire Company had the opportunity to attend an outstanding Hot Air Balloon Safety and Emergency Response training session this week alongside many of our neighboring fire departments.
With Spiedie Fest just days away and hot air balloons once again taking to the skies over Broome County, there is no better time to learn about the unique challenges these incidents can present. From understanding balloon construction and propane fuel systems to safe emergency operations around inflation, launch, landing, and fire conditions, this specialized training helps ensure we're prepared if the unexpected happens.
One of the greatest parts of training like this is the opportunity to work alongside neighboring departments. Building relationships, sharing knowledge, and learning together strengthens our ability to respond as one team when our communities need us most. While we all hope these skills are never needed, preparation is what makes the difference during an emergency.
A sincere thank you to Chenango Fire Company for hosting the class and Freedom Ballooning for sharing their expertise with first responders from across the region.
Now... after seeing all these balloons, we couldn't help but wonder if a Station 55 hot air balloon might solve our fundraising challenges! 😂 Imagine taking a ride over Hillcrest while supporting your local fire company. Don't worry... for now we'll stick to fighting fires, not flying them! 🎈🚒
We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Spiedie Fest this weekend. If you see the Hillcrest balloon photo in this post... unfortunately it's just Photoshop (for now 😉), but our commitment to training and protecting our community is very real.