The Citizens Hose Co. No. 5 of Lock Haven was organized in February, 1909. The first meeting of the Company was held in March of that year; the company moving into the Lock Haven Fire Dept. following the disbandment of the Old Good Will Hose Company by City Council in consequence of an infraction of the City Ordinance. The physical inheritance of the Company when it took over in February in 1909 w
as a two-story, frame, combination stable and horse carriage room. The equipment was a horse-drawn hose reel owned by the City with 1,000 to 1,500 ft. of standard 2 1/2" hose. The sentiment of Lock Haven's citizens was not unanimously in favor of the new group. Shortly after getting started, the Company had a fire break out in the partitions in the Carriage Room; and before it was extinguished, the Meeting Room furnishings were badly damaged. However, insurance paid for the loss but could not insure against the inconvenience caused. name was suggested but the late C. Rothrock, who argued that the membership was composed of Lock Haven citizens and was serving the citizens of this area. His resolution was adopted unanimously. The Company was incorporated in 1912; the details of the incorporation being handled but the late Judge Henry Hipple, at that time a member of the Clinton County Bar. The brick building no occupied by the Company was erected in 1928 and altered and repaired in 1957. The first response to a fire alarm was answered by the infant company at about 7:15 am on April 13, 1909. The fire was at the Bricker Libery Stable located in the alley just east of where the Clinton Electrical Company was located. The rookies were jubilant over the fact that they were the first on the scene and had first water on the lively blaze. The Citizens Hose Company always putting their concern for the people of Lock Haven first, have progressed from a horse-drawn hose wagon in 1909 to an Ahrens Fox Pumper in 1932, a 1948 Seagraves 1000 GPM Pumper, and then a 1971 CF Mack Maxidine Diesel 1250 GPM Pumper. The first elected officers of the company were F.L. Fox, President; F.E. Ritter, Vice-President; J.T. Devling, Recording Secretary; Earl N. Harnish, Financial Secretary; I.A. Shaffer, Jr., Treasurer; Adam C. Dickey, Foreman; F.E. Schell, First Assistant Foreman; H.B. Otway, Second Assistant Foreman. Trustee's were P.P. Griffin, C.T. Rothrock, and F.B. Gibson. C.A.Shaffer was the first Custodian of the Company.
