In 1946 the Township of Berkeley was notified that the Ocean Gate Fire Co. would no longer be able to provide fire protection for the Bayville section of the township, hence the birth of the Bayville Volunteer Fire Company No. 1. In the beginning the company met at the home of Hilbert and Mildred Potter whose house still stands next to The Berkeley Township Historical Society, then Town Hall.


The first fire truck was a 1942 army fire truck with a 300 gallon per minute pump. It was first housed in the public works garage behind what is now the Recreation building on Rt. 9. In July 1946, the company’s first new fire truck was ordered from Tasc Fire Apparatus in Woodbridge, NJ and delivered in 1947. At the time, the truck was a state of the art 500GPM mid-ship pumper with a 500-gallon water tank.

Means to notify firefighters of fires were quite different than that of today’s modern paging system. Phone calls were made directly to the home of the Potters or their neighbor Elwood Butler. On receiving these calls they would use the pull box on the side of Town Hall which would activate the siren. This box is now located between the bay doors of the firehouse located on Rt. 9.

As the town quickly grew, so did the Fire Company. In 1952 we received an International Utility Truck to compliment our fleet. In addition, in 1958 the company was quickly outgrowing the township garage and the Potters generously donated the land across the street from their home for the company to build a new firehouse which is still in use today. The building houses four fire trucks, our meeting room, and a banquet facility. In the mid 70’s the town continued its current sprawl into the Pinewald section of town. The town donated a piece of land near the intersection of Western and Veterans boulevards for the company to build our second firehouse. This building was designed to house a ladder truck, water tanker, pumper and brush truck. In 1982 the township purchased it’s first ladder truck ,1705, which was the tallest in the area at 110  feet.

The township dynamics are always changing and the members of the Bayville Fire Company are always there to meet the town’s needs. The company’s fleet now consists of 2 pumpers, a tower ladder, a rescue pumper, rescue utility, 2 brush trucks, 2 command units, a tanker truck, a utility trailer, and a rescue boat. We average over 450-600 runs a year and we are involved in countless civic and community events.