Fire District 2 celebrated 100 years of service to the community at an Aug. 13 celebration. 

“It’s a celebration to honor the men and women that have served here over the last 100 years,” said Chief Erick Turcotte. 

Sunday also marked the opening of a permanent “Memory Lane” inside the building. Lining the hallway are photographs, many of them donated by residents, that catalog the last 100 years of the Fire District’s history. 

According to an archival history from the 50th anniversary celebration in 1973, Fire District 2 began as Russells Mills Fire Department in 1922, when a group of men met at Grange Hall to create a “Fire Association for the Protection of Life and Property in Russells Mills.”

The first president, the essay goes on to say, was Eli B. Mosher. The only man to work for the district all 50 years, from 1922 to 1972, was Raymond F. Davoll, who was also the district’s first treasurer. The first truck was a $3,000 Ford Model T. 

Celebrations like Sunday’s help “bring a good friendship between the firefighters and their community,” Turcotte said. 

“The fire department working with the community is a design that keeps everyone safe,” Turcotte said.

As for what’s changed over the past 100 years, former acting chief Greg Edcomb said the fire district today is “more ingrained in the community” and vice versa: the community is also more connected to the district.

To that point, Edgcomb said one benefit of the prudential committee changes that have shaken district 2 is the renewed interest by residents of the community in the district’s affairs. 

“The community over the past year has had a significantly better understanding of [the fire district],” Edgcomb said.