Westside Hose—Monmouth County Station 64-6

Westside Hose Company incorporated in October 1909, is the youngest volunteer fire company of the RBFD. The company was originaly formed as a firefighting unit of Shrewsbury Township. Thereafter, when the town's boundaries changed, the company became part of Red Bank. The first elected Red Bank fire chief out of Westside Hose was Mr. Fred Dressler, in 1929.

The company is located at 261 Leighton Ave., in a two story building containing a single engine bay, a general gathering room with kitchen on the first floor and an assembly room on the second floor. The property is owned and operated by company members.

Westside Hose primary fire protection and life rescue responsibilities span portions of the Borough's west side. This area includes the town's southern border at Newman Springs Road stretching northward to West Bergen Place. From the town's western border, at the Navesink river, it spans eastward to the NJ Transit railroad tracks and including portions of Conrail railroad tracks. The area contains a power utility plant and a mix of residential, recreational, commercial and industrial facilities. A convalescent home located in a multi-story building on Chapin Avenue is of major concern.

Westside Hose Company with Engine 96 and its sister Union Hose Company with Engine 95 jointly cover the western area of the Borough, which is bound by NJ Transit tracks and the Navesink river. As all other companies, Westside Hose Company members respond to all general alarms and working fires throughout the Borough.

The pumper, Engine 96 currently supporting Westside Hose Company firefighters, is a 1989 Pierce Arrow pumper manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. This engine, which was commissioned into service in 1990, is designed to carry a driver, an officer and four additional firefighters within its fully enclosed cab.

Engine 96 contains a 500 gallon water tank and a 60 gallon high expansion foam tank for quick response and first line of attack at fire scenes. Equipped with a Waterous midship (Model CMU) pump, this engine has a capacity of 1,500 GPM at 150 PSIG discharge (maximum discharge: 600 PSIG). The engine is further equipped with:

• Two speedlays with 200 feet of pre-connected 1-3/4 inch hose, each.
• It packs four hose beds, a 3 inch hose (Humat valve pre-connected), 1-3/4 inch hose, a 2-1/2 inch hose and a 5 inch hose bed, respectively.
• Pre-piped deck gun.
• One extension ladder, a roof ladder, a closet ladder and an A-Frame collapsible ladder.
• A 10-foot pike poll, a 6-foot pike poll and a closet hook.
• Three fire extinguishers, a Class A water tank, a CO₂ and a dry chemical extinguisher.
• Nine 4,500 psi Scott Packs and twelve reserve Scott air bottles.
• Other tools and appliances such as, axes, haligan, exhaust fan, gated valves and forcible entry devices are stored in the various compartments.

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