Bedford Township Fire Department traces history to 1925

Tom Adamich
·3 min read
The Bedford Township Fire Department’s Ford Engine No. 1, circa 1950s, is pictured. For many years, the department operated two separate facilities – one in Temperance and the other in Lambertville. They were combined in 1999 and, today, serve the villages of Lambertville, Temperance and Samaria.
The Bedford Township Fire Department’s Ford Engine No. 1, circa 1950s, is pictured. For many years, the department operated two separate facilities – one in Temperance and the other in Lambertville. They were combined in 1999 and, today, serve the villages of Lambertville, Temperance and Samaria.

As Bedford Township traces its formal history back to 1893 when its township hall opened, the largest township in Monroe County did not start creating a formal fire department until 1925. Thanks to Bedford Township Fire Lt. Philip S. Dale, whose history of the department was published in the Winter 2017 edition of “The Hook & Letter,” a fire newsletter publication.

Dale writes about how a Ford Model T chemical truck was purchased and restored in a garage known as the Elliott-Whitaker near what is today’s Bedford Fire Station No. 2 at 3445 W. Dean Road in Lambertville. It was hoped that the restoration of the truck would help the local American Legion post organize a fire brigade to serve Bedford Township and surrounding areas. However, interest waned, and the truck failed to start at its last official fire (the Universalist Church fire in Bedford) and had to be pushed to fight it.

One of the newest EMS vehicles in the Bedford Township Fire Department’s fleet is shown. The Ford F450-based unit was purchased for $242,000 and placed into service in 2019. It is scheduled to be replaced in 2031, as listed in the department’s 2019 annual report.
One of the newest EMS vehicles in the Bedford Township Fire Department’s fleet is shown. The Ford F450-based unit was purchased for $242,000 and placed into service in 2019. It is scheduled to be replaced in 2031, as listed in the department’s 2019 annual report.

The late 1930s found Bedford Township seeking fire protection help from Trilby, Ohio, and Ottawa Lake/Whiteford. Those municipalities would charge Bedford $25 per run to respond. A few years later, in 1941, the official Bedford Township Volunteer Fire Department was organized, covering Bedford and its surrounding areas of jurisdiction (including Lambertville, Samaria and Fortuna). Harry Hackman served as Bedford’s first fire chief, and assistant chiefs were hired to lead the surrounding communities listed.

It was decided that Bedford’s first pumper – a 1945 REO Speedwagon purchased from the Howe Fire Apparatus Co. of Anderson, Indiana – would be built on Lewis Avenue in Temperance (the current location of Bedford’s Fire Station No. 3 is at 7016 Lewis Ave. in Temperance). Until that facility was completed (in 1947), the new pumper was housed in Floyd Clark’s garage on Lewis Avenue.

The Bedford Township Fire Department’s Engine No. 2 – a 2014 Pierce Impel – is shown. It was purchased for $452,357 and is slated to be replaced in 2039 at an estimated cost of $600,000, according to the department’s 2019 annual report.
The Bedford Township Fire Department’s Engine No. 2 – a 2014 Pierce Impel – is shown. It was purchased for $452,357 and is slated to be replaced in 2039 at an estimated cost of $600,000, according to the department’s 2019 annual report.

In 1948, Bedford Fire Station No. 2 was constructed, and a new 1948 Buffalo Pumper was purchased and housed at Gene Sheely’s Sunoco Gas Station on the corner of Consear and Secor roads. Sheely would become that location’s first fire chief and drive over after the local telephone operator called him to go from his station to ring the fire bell to respond to a call. Later, in 1965, Sheely and other Bedford fire personnel would receive home monitors – eventually replaced by pagers and, most recently, cellphone texts.

Another local Sunoco gas station owner, Leo Bofia, lived on Lawrence Drive in Temperance and joined the Bedford Volunteer Fire force about the same time as Sheely (in 1947). Leo Bofia became its chief of the Temperance unit in 1961 and retired in 1992. Leo Bofia passed away in 1998, and his funeral procession made sure to travel past the Temperance location one last time.

Leo Bofia’s son, John Bofia, would become the first fire chief of the unified Bedford Township Fire Department – ending what Dale identified in his history as the “…friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry between the Temperance and Lambertville stations….” Prior to John Bofia’s retirement in 2013, Bedford Fire Station No. 3 would be built (2012) and fire administration offices would be moved there.

Leo Bofia (1922-98) of Temperance is shown. Bofia operated his Sunoco station for over 50 years and served on the Bedford Township Volunteer Fire Department, starting in 1947 and as its Temperance chief beginning in 1961 until his 1992 retirement. Bofia also was a founder of Bedford boys baseball and participated in the effort well into his 60s.
Leo Bofia (1922-98) of Temperance is shown. Bofia operated his Sunoco station for over 50 years and served on the Bedford Township Volunteer Fire Department, starting in 1947 and as its Temperance chief beginning in 1961 until his 1992 retirement. Bofia also was a founder of Bedford boys baseball and participated in the effort well into his 60s.

Adam Massingill, who grew up in Monroe County, is the current Bedford Township fire chief. According to the unit’s 2019 report, it completed the first full year as a combination paid-on-call/full-time department. Its 2,842 calls for service that year ranked it as Monroe County’s third-busiest – slightly behind Frenchtown Township (2,917) and somewhat less than the city of Monroe (3,986). There were 49 fires in 2019 (22 of them structural). The Bedford Township Fire Department continues its pledge to “to save, serve, and protect the citizens and their property to the best of our ability.”

Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives and the electric vehicle awareness coordinator at Monroe County Community College.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Bedford Township Fire Department history dates to 1925