It started with a barn fire on the Sponable property in 1915. A handful of concerned citizens decided the Town of Clay needed its own fire company — and within two years, the Clay Volunteer Fire Department was incorporated. More than a century later, we're still here. Still volunteer. Still answering the call.
A barn fire at the Sponable residence becomes the catalyst that brings concerned citizens of the Town of Clay together. They begin to organize, recognizing the need for a dedicated volunteer fire company to protect their community.
On October 16, 1916, the first recorded meeting of the Clay Fire Department is held at Schnieder's Hall. Calvin Bonstead serves as Chairman of the committee. The volunteer company takes its first formal steps.
On February 19, 1917, the Clay Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. is officially incorporated — a milestone that established the legal and organizational foundation the department still operates under today.
Through the postwar boom, Clay Fire upgrades from early motorized equipment to a modern apparatus fleet, expanding its capacity to serve a rapidly growing Town of Clay.
To better serve the eastern half of the district, Station 3 opens at 8129 Caughdenoy Road as the department's specialty house — home to the ladder truck and dramatically improving response times east of the railroad.
More than a century after the founding, Clay Fire continues to operate as a fully volunteer department — no career staff, no taxpayer-funded salaries for firefighters. Just neighbors, training together at the Town of Clay Training Tower, ready when called.
The challenges have changed. The technology has changed. But the model — neighbors trained to help neighbors — has not. As we look ahead to the second century of Clay Fire, we are committed to the same standard of service that has defined this department since 1917.
Every new member we train, every piece of apparatus we add, every minute we shave off a response time — it all flows from the same source. We're here because the people of Clay deserve someone to answer when they call.
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