After a large fire at Miss Knox’s School (site of the Briarcliff Corporate Campus) in 1912, the department’s equipment was upgraded to deal with larger fires. The village purchased an American LaFrance 750 gallon-per-minute motorized pumper truck. The existing hose-and-chemical wagon was motorized and became the chief's car. In 1914, the Village Municipal Building was constructed to house the government and fire engines. The likeness of its garage doors can be seen in the façade of the present restaurant. Later in 1914 the department established sub-stations at Mrs. Whitson’s barn on Pleasantville Road and on the Holden farm at Scarborough Road; these were discontinued in 1921. The first major fire to involve the motorized vehicles was in 1916 at the central business district. In spite of the new equipment, several buildings at the northern end were destroyed. The 1908 hook-and-ladder truck was motorized in 1923 and two years later, the chief’s car was replaced by another American LaFrance vehicle. An electric siren was installed in 1928 after a complaint that the previous alarm sounded more like a call to breakfast than an alarm of fire.[8]
1930s fire engines leaving a brick firehouse
Fire Department at the village municipal building, taken c. 1930
Basketball players in a group photograph
A BMFD basketball team
During the Great Depression, uniforms were again nonstandard, similar to the early years of the fire department. Another American LaFrance hook-and-ladder truck was ordered in 1930 to go along with the 1908 truck, and another pump truck was purchased from the same company in 1935. Five years later, the 1912 pumper truck was sold, and was replaced with a Mack squad and patrol truck. In 1936, the village tradition of the testing of the fire alarm at noon began; it was sounded on each day except Sunday. In the same year, due to a dispute over fire chief elections, the Briarcliff Manor Hook and Ladder Company was formed, separate from the Engine Company. During the 1930s, the department had organized a basketball team which played other departments and the Scarborough company formed a rivalry with the Briarcliff ones.[8]
During World War II, more than 340 of the village's 1,830 residents served in the United States Armed Forces. The Hook and Ladder Company waived fees and dues for those enlisted from 1941 onward. Such a sufficient number of firefighters was serving the armed forces that the village requested volunteers ages 16–18 to join the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department; at least nine served on active duty during the war and had the ability to excuse themselves from school (which was then located adjacent to Law Memorial Park) if the fire siren went off. Also during the war, in 1944, the department received a trailer-type pump unit with a 500-gallon pump, hose, nozzle, ladders, and other tools. It was loaned to the village by the Office of Civil Defense and was an auxiliary to the existing equipment. One year later, Briarcliff High School grad
Tres confortable.
