The story at a glance
A ladder cart in 1891.
A legacy of service.
Maxfield Hook & Ladder’s story begins with the town’s first apparatus, a fully equipped ladder cart delivered in 1891, when the Boonton Fire Department itself was known by the Maxfield Hook and Ladder name. Motor power arrived in 1926, aerial ladders followed in 1948, and in 1965 the company placed Morris County’s first 100-foot aerial in service. Through major fires and generations of apparatus, its volunteers have kept a ladder company ready for Boonton.
Explore a chapter below for the details, or jump to the apparatus archive.
1891–1892A legacy that began in 1891
Although early records do not give an exact starting date for Maxfield Hook and Ladder as a company, minutes from 1891 show that the Boonton Fire Department was originally known as the Maxfield Hook and Ladder until March 1892.
The first apparatus purchased by the town was described as “a first class Hook and Ladder, fully equipped, weighing twelve hundred pounds, at a cost of $495.00.” Delivered in November 1891, it marked the beginning of a long progression of ladder apparatus serving Boonton.
1926The first motorized Hook & Ladder
In 1926, the company received its first motorized Hook and Ladder from American LaFrance. When the truck committee decided that a six-cylinder engine was needed instead of the planned four-cylinder engine, the company contributed $250 toward the upgrade.
1948–1965Aerial ladders reach new heights
The company’s first aerial ladder arrived in July 1948: a 75-foot Seagrave costing $30,808. A 100-foot Seagrave was ordered in January 1965, becoming the first 100-foot aerial in Morris County. Its turntable was lowered eighteen inches to fit inside the old Maxfield Firehouse on Main Street.
1977–1999Keeping the aerial in service
Over the following decades, the company kept that truck in service through major improvements: a Cummins diesel engine in 1977, an automatic transmission the following year, and a complete refurbishment at Seagrave’s Wisconsin plant in 1987.
In 1998, the Board of Aldermen authorized a new Seagrave 100-foot aerial to replace it; the Town of Boonton took delivery on March 1, 1999.
A continuing traditionService through major fires
The company’s history also recalls some of Boonton’s most serious fires during the terms of Hook & Ladder chiefs. Chief Harold Lucus served during the Giant Market fire at Main and Division Streets, as well as fires at S & D Motors and Boyd’s Store.
Chief Edward Russell, Sr. served during the 1965 Shop-Rite Plaza fire, described in the company’s historical account as the largest shopping center fire loss in North America at that time.
