{"id":325539,"date":"2026-08-20T03:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325539\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T03:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:01:30","slug":"manhattan-volunteer-fire-department-celebrates-120-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325539\/","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department celebrates 120 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.\n <\/p>\n

The Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department marked its 120th anniversary Friday with a celebration outside the station on Railroad Avenue, honoring more than a century of service from the crews who have answered its calls.<\/p>\n

Outside on Main Street, firefighters flipped free hot dogs and hamburgers at the grill, chatted with neighbors and helped kids climb aboard a few of the station\u2019s seven engines parked out front for the celebration.<\/p>\n

William Johnson, a 20-year firefighter, EMT, chaplain and the department’s public information officer, noted that the milestone marks a long history in the Gallatin Valley, tracing back to a small group of local volunteers in 1906.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town of Manhattan wasn\u2019t actually incorporated until 1911,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo the fire department’s five years older than the town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as music played and neighbors filled the street, the reality of emergency response was never far off. Moments after Johnson and other firefighters stepped off the dance floor, a crew was already moving toward their cubbies, suiting up and hustling out of the celebration to answer a call.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some that are appointed to go that while we stay back and help out with the event that\u2019s going on,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt happens in the middle of our breakfast sometimes, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The call, triggered by an automated iPhone crash notification, was a typical example of how duty interrupts daily life for the volunteers. Johnson said they get paged via a phone app at home or at their day jobs before rushing to the station to suit up.<\/p>\n

While medical incidents make up the majority of their local calls, the crew regularly responds beyond town limits, providing automatic mutual aid to surrounding areas like Three Forks, Belgrade and Bozeman for major crashes, structure fires and wildland blazes.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Johnson said the department responded to 362 calls, marking the third year in a row it averaged roughly one call per day. Because the volunteer firefighters are entirely unpaid and members must balance daily calls and weekly training alongside full-time jobs, Johnson said recruitment has typically been a challenge for the two decades he\u2019s served in the department.<\/p>\n

But a recent surge in interest has built the department’s roster to 18 members, enough to require purchasing additional gear to outfit the new recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had some young guys join the department,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe’re probably at the most we’ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\"MFD-5.jpg\"\/<\/p>\n

The Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department’s 120th anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n

With tax revenue covering only basic operating expenses, community events like the anniversary party and the department\u2019s annual Potato Festival pancake breakfast are critical for raising funds to purchase capital items like the new equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve raised a lot of money because they support us so well,\u201d Johnson said of the Manhattan community.<\/p>\n

In his 20 years with the department, Johnson has found that the sense of community extends well beyond town support to the tight-knit bonds built inside the station house.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\"MFD-2.jpg\"\/<\/p>\n

An organizer cuts cake during the Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department’s 120th anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n

Two decades ago, Johnson had never considered being a firefighter. He was working as a local pastor when a pair of firefighters knocked on his door selling raffle tickets for turkeys and asked if he would consider volunteering.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been like a family since,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen you serve together, you go out on dangerous things together, you learn to trust each other. You learn who’s going to be there, who’s got your back. They\u2019re volunteering, so you know they’re giving their heart to it so you can trust them with your own family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. The Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[610,99010,75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-325539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-local","tag-local-events","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}