It was not until New Year’s Day of 1909, when the saw mill of D. T. Bayles & Son was entirely destroyed by the fire that the people realized that Mr. Anderson was right.

Consequently a meeting was called and held in the Odd Fellows Hall on January 29, 1909 and plans were made for the organization of the Stony Brook Fire Department, consisting of two companies to be known as the Eagle Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 and the Engine Company No. 1.

The first home of the Department was in the building located near the Stony Brook Pond owned by C. Temple Emmet. Shortly afterward the Department moved to a location on the corner of Mill Road and Main Street.

The first equipment of the Department consisted of a two-wheel hand drawn chemical engine purchased May 22, 1909 and a hand drawn Hook and Ladder truck purchased February 19, 1909.

The purchase of the new equipment and the continued growth of the Department was due in no small extent to the generous donations of public minded citizens among whom it seems fitting to mention:

Thomas N. Bayles, George L. Turton, Rev.. John F. Carson, Topping and Smith, T. B. Rogers, Charles E. Jayne, J. S. Hawkins, Joseph Jicinsky, O. G. Smith, W. P. Young, B. F. Powell, J. Williamson, Lucy J. Darling, J. H. Shipman, Mrs. Henrietta Shipman, Mrs. J. Elliott Longstaff, and many many others too numerous to mention.

Through the many years since 1909, it was the support of such citizens as mentioned above and through the work of so many firemen that we have the modern, efficient, fully-equipped department that we now have in 1959.

Thomas S, Anderson was chosen as the first Captain of the Hook and Ladder Company and continued to hold that position for the balance of his life. Ralph S. Sammis was elected as the first Foreman of the engine Company and had a lot to do with the completion of the organization of the whole department.

Hervey P. Wells was chosen as the first Chief of the Department and it was to great extent his zealous efforts that both the Engine Company and the Hook and Ladder Company were on March 13, 1909, incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and the Stony Brook Volunteer Fire Department was an accomplished fact.

The first fire that the new department was called to was at the Stony Brook Hotel, which was located where the Carriage Museum now is located. It was on April 20, 1909 and there was slight damage done.

In these first days of the department, the alarm was rung on the church bells and the firemen had to run to the firehouse and then drag the apparatus to the scene of the fire and after such an exhausting ordeal fight the fire to the best of their ability. Later the department paid the sum of $3.00 to anyone bringing a team of horses to the firehouse to drag the apparatus to the fire.

The department first called the building pictured above as sits home. It was converted to stores when the department moved to its new firehouse in January 1921. The firehouse, pictured below, housed the department until 1941, when it moved to its present quarters in the re-modeled village presented to Stony Brook by Ward Melville.

During the life of the department, the men have been called to many an emergency. Among the most notable was the fire which destroyed the home of Mrs. Henrietta Shipman at which the one fatality in the history of the department occurred, when Charles R. Moll was killed by the explosion of the chimney which fell on him. Among the many notable fires which the department has been called to fight was the second burning of the lumberyard of D. T. Bayles, the home of Mayor Robert King of Old field, the St. George's Golf and Country Club and the apartment building which housed the Port Jefferson Post Office.

After the first hand-drawn equipment, it wasn’t until 1924 that the department purchased additional equipment when they added a General Motors pumper, which was used until 1940. In 1931 the department purchased a Mack Hook and Ladder. After that, expansion was more rapid.

As the years passed a Chevrolet Hose Cart and a Stewart Ambulance were added. The department was very proud of the modern up-to-date equipment which consists of the Mack Hook and Ladder, two Mack Pumpers, a Chevrolet Pumper and a Chevrolet Fire Police and Emergency Wagon. The Department is equipped with two-way radio and considerable emergency equipment including Geiger Counters which are in conjunction with Civil Defense.

During the first years of the department, it was self supporting and depended on the generosity of the citizens of the community and the work of its members to finance its work. Today the department is supported by the Stony Brook Fire District which was formed in 1931 and extended in 1937.

For many years, the women of Stony Brook maintained an Auxiliary to the department, and by their work, contributed greatly to the furnishing and equipping of the Firehouse.