PLEASANT UNITY VFD HISTORY  |
| The Pleasant Unity VFD was organized in 1917
shortly after the "Big Fire"
that
destroyed more than a dozen buildings
in
both residential and business
district of
the town. The fire started in
the Novis Clothing
store on Church Street and consumed
2 bakerys,
a barber shop, butcher shop,
hardware store,
grocery store, warehouse, odd
fellow building,
jewelry store and the PU branch
of Red Cross.
The fire was stopped 4 hours
later by miners
who used dynamite to blow up
a house which
stopped the blaze from spreading
further.
12 families were left homeless
and another
7 homes were made uninhabitable
by the fire.
Extinguishers brought from Latrobe
were no
match for the fire and a chemical
truck sent
from Greensburg broke down on
its way.
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PUVFD serves the areas of Jamison, Shantytown,
Lycippus, Humphreys, Frogtown,
Possum Hollow,
Manito and the Westmoreland County
Airport
including the new Westmoreland
County Air
Park in Unity Township. The department
also
provides rescue service for the
airport and
Latrobe Speedway.
The PUVFD moved into its current 3 truck
bay station on Volunteer Drive in 1985 after
outgrowing the former garage built in 1949
which was located on Main Street.
The 1st fire equipment consisted of two 30
gallon chemical tanks drawn by hand. Later,
the chemical tanks were mounted on a model
T Ford which was bought by the department.
In 1940, a 500 gallon American LaFrance Fire
Truck was purchased then in 1943 a Dodge
truck was bought and a 250 gallon portable
pump was mounted to it. A Ford F-6 500 GPM
pumper with 300 Gallons of water was built
in 1952 by the Howe Fire Apparatus Company
for the PUVFD. In 1957 a Ford F-9 Pumper
Tanker was purchased from American Fire Apparatus
Co. A squad truck was purchased in 1967 and
later sold in 1974. In 1973, a used 1959
John Bean high pressure fog truck was purchased
from the Monesson Fire Department and later
used as a rescue truck. In 1976, a Ford 1000
GPM pumper built by Emergency One Fire Equipment
Company with 750 Gallons of water was put
in service. In 1991, a Mack rescue truck
was built for PUVFD also by the Emergency
One Fire Equipment Company. PUVFD also housed
and operated the two former aerial trucks
owned by the Unity Township Fire Bureau,
a 1963 Mack Maxim 85 foot ladder formerly
owned by Massapequa Long Island, NY and a
1977 Kenworth 85 foot LTI tower ladder formerly
owned by Garden City Park, NJ Fire Company.
The Current equipment includes a 1999 Ferrara
Rescue Pumper Combination Unit and a 1999
Ford 4WD Utility Brush Truck. |
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© 2004-2007 Pleasant Unity Volunteer Fire Department.
All rights reserved.
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