The Dunn's Corners Fire Department found its beginning in the creation of the Civilian Defense Organization after the start of World War II. The Town of Westerly was given six fire fighting trailers by the United States Government for civilian defense purposes. One of these was placed at the Dunn's Corners Filling Station owned by Edwin M. Greene and located on the site of the present Dunn's Corners Mobil Station. The garages and storage buildings were located on Langworthy Road, now the site of Valenti Toyota.

In September of 1942 the Westerly Town Council authorized the purchase of five used trucks in the local area for the purpose of converting them to fire trucks for the outlying areas. This equipment was under the control of the Town Council through the local Council of Defense. Chief Pasetti of the Westerly Fire Department was in charge of the equipment allocation. The Dunn's Corners area was given a 1936 Ford truck with a 500 GPM front-mounted pump. The cost to the town at that time was $200.

The "new" truck was moved to the Westerly Fire Station where it was worked on nightly by volunteers from the Dunn's Corners area. A kerosene tank was donated by Ed Greene to install on the truck along with the other equipment used to outfit our first fire truck.

The first fire the truck responded to was on the Shore Road in the Misquamicut area. The truck was driven by Andrew Keena who belonged to the Westerly Fire Department and went to the fire from the Westerly station. Thereafter the truck was housed by Ed Greene in the garage at Dunn's Corners.

Even before the advent of the 1936 Ford truck, the men of the community had been meeting at the old school house. The purpose of these meetings was to form a fire department.

In July of 1942, the first meeting of the Dunn's Corners Fire Department was held. The officers at the department's inception were: Ed Green - Chief; Wallace Vanderford - 1st Assistant Chief; Ray Pendleton - 2nd Assistant Chief; and Herbert Sisson - Secretary/Treasurer.

To finance the needs of the department, a one dollar initiation fee was charged and 25 cents per month dues. Additional funds were raised by holding monthly ham & bean suppers, whists, dances, and paper drives. Raffles were also held two or three times per year.

Because the department was all volunteer, self-funding, and a very democratic organization, at its monthly meeting it was not an infrequent event that considerable debate did occur over, what we would say in hindsight, rather insignificant items. One especially hotly debated item was the purchase of a 2-1/2" adjustable stream nozzle. This discussion took over three months to resolve. Finally it was agreed to purchase the nozzle for the sum of $35.

One of the many fine decisions made by the early leaders of the fire department resulted in the purchase of the Dunn's Corners School property for the sum of one dollar. This lot, located on the corner of Post Road and Langworthy Road, is currently the home of our Station No. 1.

When the fire department assumed ownership of the property it had on it a large two-room school house. The school was known in the area as the Community House. It was renovated, improved, and added onto over the years by the Fire Department. All during this period it was used by any number of groups - 4H, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and it became a center of activity through the generosity of the fire department. The building was the headquarters for the fire department until 1989 when it was given to the local church and moved to that property.

In early 1942 an air raid siren, provided by the Civil Defense Organization, was installed on the roof of Ed Greene's gas station. Eventually, in 1943, and air whistle was purchased for the fire department, and a numbering system was established to identify the general locations of any fires. Our first alarm system box was made from an old Edison cylinder phonograph and functioned quite nicely for a number of years. This first alarm and all subsequent alarm systems were located in Ed Greene's general store, which also served as Radio Headquarters for the Department and the rest of the Southern League until the early 1970s.

In February of 1945, the department purchased for $100 its second truck, a 1933 Diamond truck with an 800 gallon mounted tank. In 1948 we held our first carnival. The carnival, held annually through 1979, was the principal source of funds for operating the fire department. All the activities were handled and supported by the men and women of the Dunn's Corners community.

In February of 1950, the department decided to build its first fire station. It was 30' X 50'. The construction was awarded to Morris and Turano Co. for $7311.00. Construction began in July of 1950. It was completed in the fall of that year. $4000 was borrowed at 4% per annum.

In 1950 a Ford truck was purchased and months of work by the volunteers went into outfitting it into a fire engine. In 1956 a new Chevrolet cab and chassis was purchased and again months of work by the men went into making into a first class fire truck.

In 1961 we purchased a 750 gpm pumper on an International chassis. This was our first complete factory finished truck.

This was the first of a long line of equipment that was purchased by the department and the Dunn's Corners Fire District. With the advent of even more stringent insurance regulations, state laws, and safety requirements, the equipment became more sophisticated. You can view our current line-up of apparatus in the pictures section of this web site.

To operate this equipment and fight fires, the volunteers spent many hours in self-training, in the formal classroom, and in hands-on training of the State Certified Firefighter 1001 course. This training continues today, and places great demands on the volunteers who participate.

The department is a member of the Southern League, a group of fire departments within a radius of 15-20 miles who provide mutual aid to each other and frequently work together in training exercises.

The area of responsibility of the Dunn's Corners Fire Department has expanded over the years. The residential building boom that began in the '50s continues into the 21st century, and the number of residents in the Dunn's Corners area is still growing. In recent years, there has also been a significant increase in commercial properties, adding to the call volume of the department and requiring ever-more sophisticated methods, equipment, and training to be able to protect.

Originally the area we covered was in the Dunn's Corners area of Westerly only. The area was east of the Westerly Airport along Shore Road to the Charlestown line and north to intersect with the Bradford Fire Department along Route 91. The department also provided fire protection to the Weekapaug Fire District and the Shelter Harbor Fire District.

In 1963-1964, the fire district expanded into Charlestown as far east as the Hitching Post Restaurant. We now provide fire protection to the Shady Harbor Fire District, the Central Beach Fire District, and extensive amounts of State land at Burlingame State Park.

With the Charlestown expansion of the fire district, a fire station was built next to the Quonochontaug Grange known as Station No. 2 to provide quicker response times and better protection to the newer coverage areas. This originally housed only one truck, but was expanded in 1973-1974 to house two trucks. Department volunteers man this station also.

In 1989, as the result of the increase in growth in the area and the physical size of the fire equipment, it was found necessary to build a new fire station at Dunn's Corners. The property and buildings owned by the Fire Department were deeded to the Dunn's Corners Fire District in order to have a source of funds for such a large project. The new fire station was completed in 1990. Shortly thereafter, the Quonochontaug Grange was disbanded, and the District was able to purchase the Grange building and large field behind it.

The fire department continues to move forward into the 21st century. In 2003 the need for an expanded Station No. 2 became obvious and a building committee was formed. At about the same time a committee was formed to replace an aging brush truck and an aging pumper. In 2005 on October 1st, an open house was held in Charlestown to dedicate the new Station No. 2, a larger 4-bay facility that can hold today's larger apparatus. At the same time, the new Engine 2, a Wildland Urban Interface vehicle was placed into service. This is a Class A pumper with 4-wheel drive that can access some of the more hard-to-reach areas of the district, and is one of the first pumpers in the area to use a Compressed Air Foam (CAF) system for firefighting.

The district continues to grow. In 2005 Westerly placed its new middle school in Dunn's Corners, a new shopping center is being built on Post Road, and new houses continue to pop up regularly. The department and district are now beginning to look ahead to the need for a full-time chief, and a ladder truck for some of our taller structures.

Today the department still consists of unpaid volunteers who give of themselves and their time for training and responding to an ever-increasing number of calls relative to fire suppression or prevention.