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Humane Fire Company
129 East Main Street
Norristown, PA 19401
610-272-0631
History
On Tuesday, July 27, 1852, in a meeting at the Norris Hose Company, A. W. Bertolette, along with the Chairman of the Constitution and By-Law Committee, presented and adopted the first draft of the Humane’s Constitution.
Members officially adopted the name Humane Fire Engine Company No. 1 of Norristown, Pa. The name Humane was selected because the committee purchased their first piece of apparatus from the Humane Fire Company of Philadelphia No. 1. With Philadelphia having a paid fire department for over 100 years now, the old Humane of Philadelphia went out of existence.
The Humane of Norristown, however, is still in existence today. On September 11, 1852, a proper reception of the apparatus acquired from the Humane of Philadelphia took place with a parade that started at Main and Ford Sts. It was recorded that a member of the Humane of Norristown carried the American Flag which only had 31 stars on it. Our building is almost as old as our company charter. In 1882 we occupied our current building. Today, it is so old that you can still see “Egypt Street” on the corner of the building. Egypt Street was a continuation of Egypt Road in Jeffersonville.
We have come a long way from horse drawn apparatus and bucket brigades. Today, we have highly trained certified firefighters using state-of-the-art radio and firefighting equipment.
We continue to be committed in serving our community as a volunteer, non-profit corporation. We not only put out fires, but we pump out basements, promote fire prevention and house important assets of the emergency management system. Both the Norristown Dive and Rescue Unit, and Plymouth Community Ambulance are housed in our building. We also house a 1994 KME Pumper and a 1999 Ford Pickup.
The Humane is located in the heart of Norristown’s downtown business district; and we welcome all those who live in and visit our re-developing town.
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