The department was originally organized on Thursday, August 31st, 1905 by Edward H. Schlueter (who was appointed Chief) as the Broad Channel Bucket Brigade to help minimize property loss due to fires and lower insurance premiums as there was no form of fire protection on the island . On December 15th, 1907, this brigade was re-organized as the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Association under its now
first elected Chief, Edward H. The current firehouse at 15 Noel Road was opened on Flag Day, June 14th, 1908. On June 14th, 1917, Chief Christian Hoobs died of a heart attack while responding to a fire. This would be the only line of duty death to our knowledge in the departments history even to present day. They received their fire charter from the state of New York and re-organized in 1917. On March 2nd, 1942, the dept re-organized again and became a Civil Defense Unit under a new name, Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Dept Emergency Auxiliary Corps. It was the first in NYS to operate on a 24 hour basis out of it's own firehouse and was regularly praised by the FDNY and city of NY for their response times and training regiments. They had 68 members trained and certified as FDNY Auxiliary firemen. The department re-organized again on August 15th, 1951 and changed its name to the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department. In 1956, the department added volunteer ambulance services to provide first aid and ambulatory care to the residents of Broad Channel. The ambulance corp was officially incorporated under then Deputy Chief Robert H. who holds the record for being elected Chief of Dept. an astounding 21 times. On October 21st, 1959 they received their certificate of incorporation as Broad Channel Volunteers, Inc. By the early 1960's the department was growing rapidly in both stature in the community and as an organization as a whole. On the summer weekends from the 1930's on and off through the 1970's, the FDNY would send an engine to the Broad Channel Volunteers quarters to assist in answering alarms on the island. The reason for this was the bridges North and South of the island were draw bridges and would frequently be opening for large passing ships. This would impede response by FDNY companies to the island for any type of major emergency. Also, Cross Bay Boulevard would be jammed by beach goers and those looking to vacation at Rockaways bungalows and hotels and its famous Rockaway Playland. Often times the FDNY firefighters would leave their engine parked and join the volunteers on their engines because they were much newer and more dependable then the spare apparatus FDNY had at the time. Over the 115+ years the Broad Channel Volunteers have been in service, they have created a close working relationship with the local FDNY companies as well as the volunteer companies from Nassau & Suffolk Counties and their fellow NYC Vollies. The Broad Channel Volunteers are also dues paying members of many organizations such as the Southern New York Volunteer Firemen's Association, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, and along with the other volunteer fire departments in the 5 boroughs of New York City, they are members of the Volunteer Firemen's Association of the City of New York which dates back to 1884. In 1974, The Broad Channel Junior Fire Department was re-organized, originally starting in 1921, to help train young teens in the aspects of the fire and EMS service as well as dispatching and clerical duties while still cleaning the firehouse and its apparatus. When its members turned 18, they were allowed to begin training as firefighters and/or EMT's. The benefit was these teens were already knowledgeable in the operations of the department and it became a breeding ground for the departments future firefighters, officers and chiefs. They would later become a Boy Scout Explorer Post, #3069. In 1994 under Chief Dan McIntyre, the volunteer ambulance corps were granted their New York State Certification. Since then, the department took the initiative to require all its responding members to be New York State Certified in all aspects of the fire service as well as EMS. In 1994, Chief Dan McIntyre also started the departments Marine Company which is still in service to present day. The department operates a small inflatable boat as a swift water rescue team with certified EMT's on board. Broad Channel Volunteers Inc. is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization whose mission statement is to protect life and property on the island of Broad Channel and the surrounding waters of Jamaica Bay. We rely solely on door to door donations, grants and fundraisers. Since 1905, our staff is and continues to be 100% Volunteer.
