People don’t often consider a fire station when they think of a country estate. But for almost seventy years, Winterthur has had its own fire department.
In 1957, George Colman, who became our first fire chief, asked Henry Francis du Pont if the staff could form an on-site fire department. H. F. was well aware of the potential for fires on the estate, since Winterthur had experienced a devastating fire in the barn complex in 1930. Although many buildings were lost, fortunately no people or livestock were injured. Following the disaster, a fire siren was installed to notify outside workers if there was a fire in the museum, and all were expected to respond when it sounded.
The Winterthur Fire Department (Station 38) operates exclusively within the boundaries of the nearly 1,000-acre estate, though crew members call outside fire companies to assist as needed. For almost seventy years, the fire department has been staffed by Winterthur employees, and fire chiefs have included Jim Cash, Steve Melton, and Dennis Bisson.
Our current eleven-member crew responds 24/7. All are trained in CPR/AED every other year and perform basic first aid. They attend monthly training sessions at Winterthur and a yearly live burn fire training in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Seven members live on the estate to respond to calls after hours. Three are nationally certified emergency medical services (EMS) responders. In addition to fire calls, our fire department responds to automatic fire alarms, elevator rescues, fuel spills, brush fires, and medical calls. Last year, the crew handled eighty-five fire station calls, primarily fire and EMS.
The following people make up the Winterthur Fire Department crew:
Fire Chief: Dennis Bisson
Assistant Fire Chief: Al Orr
Captain: Lori Blevins
Firefighters: Tyler Bozzuto, Tara Delligatti, Maryanna Dose, Allison Edmonds, Collin Hadsell, Tyler Johnson, Terri Kuzo, and Rich Simpson
The first fire truck was a milk truck used on the estate. In early 1960, H. F. purchased a ladder truck to reach the employees on the upper floors of the museum and offices. A few years ago, Winterthur bought a Pierce Dash pumper from Plainview Fire Department in Long Island, New York. The truck is equipped with an eight-man crew cab, a 2,000-gallons-per-minute (GPM) pump, a 650-gallon tank, and 100 gallons of foam. The truck also has several different attack hose lines.
If you want to see for yourself, our two fire trucks will be at Truck & Tractor Day on October 3. The fire crew will sell T-shirts for adults and children and will give away fire helmets and fire safety information for children. You can also see the new fire extinguisher training equipment and try on firefighter gear.
We look forward to celebrating the fire department’s 70th anniversary in 2027.
Photos by Kelly Levin and from the Winterthur Archives.