Levittown Fire Department

Levittown Fire Department(LFD) is a volunteer fire department that is responsible for over in Levittown, New York. The Levittown Fire Department has 263 members operating out of 3 stations.
Current Chairman of the Levittown Board of Fire Commissioners is Ex-Chief John Rottkamp. The Chief of the Department is Christopher Behrens.
History
Individuals from the newly established and recently built garden community of Levittown, NY, which was in the midst of its five year overall growth from several small tracts of homes to nearly 17,000 houses, gathered informally in early 1949 to discuss ways of providing Levittown with proper fire protection. Previously the area was protected by the Hicksville, Bethpage, Wantagh, and East Meadow Fire Departments and because of a lack of fire alarm boxes there were many delays when a fire occurred.

On August 22, 1950, the Town of Hempstead Board authorized the creation of the Levittown Fire District and on that same day the newly appointed Board of Fire Commissioners passed a resolution creating the Levittown Fire Department. This was one of the largest and most completely equipped departments ever to be commissioned at once, rather than growing in gradual steps.
The first elected Board of Fire Commissioners consisted of Howard Haggerty, Bert Tanner, Art Pfeifer, Thomas E. Sweeney, and Lud Wolf. The current Board consists of Ex-Chiefs Tim Courtney, George Anderson and John Rottkamp (the current Chairman), as well as Joel Bearman and Joe Bentivegna who served as Company officers previously. The first Chief of the Department was John Cashman. The current Chief of the Department is Christopher A. Behrens, assisted by Deputy Chiefs Don Epple and Tom Steinwall.
Over the last 63 years, the Levittown Fire Department has maintained a policy of keeping abreast of an ever-developing community and anticipating the best way of satisfying its fire protection needs. The Department provides 24 hour service 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year to the nearly 17,000 predominantly single family home community, which includes a 2 mile commercial strip and dozens of community greens. There are four engine companies (E2, E3, E5 & E7), two ladder companies (L1 & L6) and a rescue company (R4) along with three ambulances, a special operations truck and trailer for MVAs and Haz-mat incidents. The 263-member, 100% volunteer membership includes dozens of EMTs, and every member is certified yearly in CPR/AED.
The Department is very active in the community. The very popular annual Fire Prevention Week sends members and apparatus to all of the elementary schools in the District to conduct educational and entertaining fire safety lessons, highlighted by an open house at HQ for the entire community at the end of the week. The Department is also a major charitable contributor which includes conducting annual food drives for the needy and an "Adopt-a-Family" program.
In 2010, the Department celebrated its 60th Anniversary, which included awarding the twelfth 5-year service star to Ex-Chief and last living Charter member Daniel T. Seip of Engine Co. 2. Seip passed away in 2011 and currently Jack Sager is the longest tenured surviving active Ex-Chief with over 51 years in the Department.
Stations
*Station 1- District Headquarters is located on 120 Gardiners Ave. It includes the offices of the Board of Fire Commissioners, central dispatch, all maintenance operations and the Ronald T. Kerwin Hall, named after former Levittown FD Chief Ronald Kerwin, an FDNY Lieutenant killed at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Ladder 1 (621), Engine 3 (623), Rescue 4 (624) and Ambulance 628 are based there.
*Station 2- located at 57 Hickory Lane. Engine 2 (622), Engine 5 (625), Special Ops Vehicle 6225 and ambulance 6212 are based there along with the Haz-Mat Squad.
*Station 3- located on N. Wantagh Ave adjacent to the NCPD Eighth Precinct. Ladder 6 (626), Engine 7 (627) and ambulance 6218 are based there. Station 3 includes the Department's training grounds with a full-sized building whose interior walls and floors can be moved to create multiple training scenarios, including confined space awareness, hose handling and ladder training. The Department's fully restored 1952 Pierce pumper, which was the first piece of apparatus ever purchased by the Department is also housed there. It used for for parades, funeral processions and other special events.

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