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     The Collins Fire Company was not the first fire department in the Town of Collins. A fire company had been active in Collins Center for thirty-five years before the fire company at Collins was organized in 1925. At the first organizational meeting held on April 21, 1925, GP Harris was elected President of the fire company and Claude Sherman was elected fire chief. Before organization of the fire company there had been an unorganized fire brigade, the only equipment being buckets and ladders.
     The first equipment bought by the new volunteer fire company was a horse drawn vehicle mounted on which was two eighty-gallon chemical tanks. This equipment was first housed in the shed at Hathaways General Store and later in Dr. Holdens garage. After a fire district was formed, the equipment was moved to the Krebbs farm at the west end of the village, at the corner of Hillview Avenue and Main Street, as a more central location.
     An enthusiastic group of women worked faithfully in helping obtain gifts and donations to be used in purchase of equipment. The local fire company joined the Southwestern Association of Volunteer Firemen in January, 1926. During the same year, the fire company was incorporated and was also initiated into real service when the Ford Abbey store burned (the present location of R.W. Moppert Automotive). Fire companies came to their assistance from Collins Center, Helmuth, and Gowanda. Before his death in 1925, L.L. Hathaway had donated land behind his store for a fire hall. The gift was honored by his heirs and the hall was erected in 1928 by the use of volunteer labor. The cement blocks were made be the occupational therapy group at Gowanda State Hospital and windows were purchased from the Buffalo State Mental Hospital. Near the end of the same year two fire hydrants were installed and the first piece of motorized equipment was purchased from the City of Buffalo. In 1926, the Fire Commissioners authorized the fire company to respond to fires outside the district.
     Collins Center and Collins fire companies with their designated districts were merged into the Town of Collins Fire District in 1943 and the town board of Fire Commissioners was created. The local firemen purchased a new Chevrolet fire truck in 1945 with their own funds. Ten years later the Town Board authorized a bond issue of $26,500 to cover the cost of two modern fire trucks, each with a high-pressure fog system to be used at Collins Center and Collins fire districts.
     In 1958 the Gorgan Garage Building, located at the corner of School Street and Main Street was bought by the fire commissioners and fitted for use by the volunteers. In 1979, the building was doubled in size to accommodate the growing fleet of trucks.
     Currently, the Collins Fire District maintains two pumpers stationed at the Collins Fire Hall, one being a multiman custom cab, able to seat 6 firefighters in the rear cab and two pumpers stationed at the Collins Center Fire Hall. Each fire company also has an emergency equipment truck, which is bought by each department with its own funds raised through donations and charitable functions of the companies.

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History of the Collins Vol. Fire Company