Crime & Safety

Garden City Park Fire Department Through Its 100 Years

Here's a look at the department throughout its existence.

The Garden City Park Fire Department, which was started in March of 1911, has come a long way since the horse-drawn hook and ladder and bucket brigade it had toward its inception.

Chief William Rudnick said the following of holding this position at this momentous time, "Being Chief of Department for the one hundredth anniversary is a great honor.  It is quite an accomplishment for our department -- 100 years of volunteers dedicating countless hours to help their neighbors, friends and strangers...  The training and dedication that go along with being a volunteer firefighter are tremendous."

The GCPFD's first chief was George Malvese; before Malvese, the department was led by a foreman named Peter Krumholz, Sr.

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The department started with horse-drawn apparatuses and graduated to a second-hand truck in 1917. The GCPFD is now made up of 118 volunteers who help 6,300 families and 600 businesses in 3.4 square miles including parts of New Hyde Park, Williston Park, North Hills and Roslyn.

During the department's 100 years, two men died in the line of duty. Captain Richard Provost was hit in the head and chest with a propane cylinder while responding to a van fire in 1977. passed away earlier this year as a result of a fall.

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The department is having a parade and carnival to commemorate this occasion this weekend. The carnival is at .


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