In 1922, the Tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by explorers in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, unleashing a wave of Egyptomania that influenced the decadent Art Deco movement, synonymous with the Roaring ‘20s streamlined aesthetic, evoking the ancient past on one hand while mirroring the mechanized future of the Industrial Revolution on the other. Meanwhile, Prohibition laws were strengthened in the United States to make homebrewing (or bathtub gin) illegal. That same year, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., and Irish writer James Joyce published his groundbreaking modernist novel “Ulysses.” The year 1922 was also when the nascent Medford Fire Department was established. It was then that it began its surprising trajectory, complete with a makeshift start and the rivalry of neighboring firehouses, which could only be ended in one way, culminating in the organization as we know it today.

On Saturday, Aug. 13, in honor of the Medford Fire Department’s 100 years of dedication to the community in supplying quality volunteer fire and rescue services, a parade will be held, beginning at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Route 112 and Tremont Avenue. The procession will end at Route 112 and Peconic Avenue, with a celebration in Firemen’s Park starting at 7 p.m. Come enjoy the eclectic music of Drop Dead Sexy and party like it’s 1922, with all food and drink just $1 per item to help support the fire department. Incidentally, according to dollartimes.com, $1 a century ago is equivalent to $16.12 in 2022.

While nobody who was there to witness the inception of the Medford Fire Department, a century ago, was available for comment, perhaps no one embodies the legacy of the Medford Fire Department more wholeheartedly than John Masem, who comes from a long lineage of firefighters in the community, and is past president of the Brookhaven Town Fire Chiefs 5th Division and ex-chief in the Medford Fire Department.

“My family’s been involved in the fire service in Medford from the beginning, since 1922. My uncles and cousins were involved in it. My father was also a member and a past chief; he passed in 2001, but he was also an ex-chief and a fire commissioner,” explained Masem, adding, “so I’m following behind him.”

The tradition of service to the local fire department hasn’t ended with Masem either. He said, “My daughter is also a member. She’s an ex-captain of the fire department and she’s a paramedic. She’s been in it for over 20 years.”

His wife is also a past president of the Ladies Auxiliary. So, it’s safe to say that fire safety is a family affair, with roots that run deep to the foundation of the Medford Fire Department. This has made him something of a local historian and a keeper of little-known facts, such as the following anecdote shared with the L.I. Advance, upon looking back to mark this milestone.

“What is kind of cool that people may not know about the Medford Fire Department, is we did have two fire departments for quite a while. There was the Independent Hose Company of South Medford, and that’s really where most of our records start with.” Masem chronicled the tale of two firehouses: “We had two fire departments [with one being where the Medford Fire Department sign stands today on Peconic and Route 112], those guys and the Medford Fire Department Company 1, and the story has it there was a lot of infighting, kind of like ‘Gangs of New York,’” he explained of this forgotten legend of Medford’s lore. “One organization would, kind of, thrive for a while and die out, and the other would kind of pick up for a while,” the 48-year member of the Medford F.D. mused.

Finally, the two firefighting factions realized that they were stronger united than they could ever be apart, and joined forces for good—and for the good of the community—in 1949. This is when they formed the Medford Fire Department and the Medford Fire District.

Another piece of lost local history is that back in 1922, and for years after that, there was not just one centralized building for the fire department.

“There were trucks stored in someone’s garage,” said Masem, explaining that they were finally able to buy a building on Jamaica Avenue. “Of course, we’d have trucks scattered all over, anywhere that anyone had a vacant garage, or some kind of shed to put their trucks in. They didn’t have many.”

Even more astonishing, to someone living today is how fires were put out in the Medford of 1922. If you could travel back in time, 100 years, you would see firefighters carrying jugs of water to heroically extinguish fires by hand.

“The older members would tell me they would carry water in big metal milk jugs, and they said, ‘When we ran out, we would go down to where there was a hydrant or a well. We would fill it up and then we’d come back to the fire,’” he added.

If you’re interested in possibly becoming a part of the historic record of your local fire department and, perhaps, be reported on in another 100 years, then contact the Medford Fire Department at 631-475-0413 to inquire about how you can become a volunteer. No water jugs required!