History of Owings Mills Volunteer Fire Company - 1940's

Inevitably, in 1940, a second piece of equipment was purchased. It was a second-hand American La France Cities Service Truck with eleven ladders, a booster pump and a hose rack. It was ten years old when it was bought, but its fifty foot ladder was the longest and by far the heaviest in Baltimore County. The purchase of this truck enabled Owings Mills to respond with multiple pieces of equipment to local fires. This would demonstrate to be a great advantage in the future with the rapid development of the community.

In the late 1940's, the company continued to witness progress and grow while at the same time feeling the hardships World War II had brought to the United States. During this period the company had purchased from Army Surplus a Four Wheel Drive Dodge Fire Truck. Using Civil Defense equipment and a fuel oil tank, members of the company built the Dodge into a reasonably efficient tanker and field fire truck. The alarm system had improved during this time with four sirens at strategic locations and controlled by a telephone relay at the engine house. Fortunately, electronic advances during and after the war were so great that it became possible to use alarm systems actuated by a radio control at a central location. In 1950, the County Government assumed the operation of a county - wide system with Central Alarm Headquarters in Towson. The closing of the War had brought new ideas and spirit to the company. A Mack 750 gallon per minute pumper was ordered (the next week Mack's workers went on strike and delivery was held up for a year); a meeting room, storage room, and hose tower were added at the rear of the existing building; and, a long needed firemens training program was instituted and enthusiastically received.