Formation of the Wells Branch Fire Association

After a disastrous fire, which scorched six buildings and several acres of land,
passed through the Wells Branch area of town in 1943, local residents gathered to discuss the possibility of getting a portable pump and some hose to slow future fires while waiting for the Wells Corner and Wells Beach Fire Departments to arrive.

 

Led by Waldo Chick and Willis Gowen among others, with the help of the
Community League, Ladies Aid and the Free Baptist Church (which donated the land where the “Little Station” still stands) residents were able to build a small building to house the original pump, a trailer, and 1,500 feet of hose. The Town helped with the cost of the pump and hose. At first, local trailers were used to haul the pump and hose to fires.

 

The organization existed informally in this fashion until April of 1947 when 19 men
of the community, most of them just returned from the service during World War II, met at the Wells Branch Community Hall, to form a more formal fire department. On April 25th , these men voted to establish the Wells Branch Fire Association.

The Charter members of the Wells Branch Fire Association are immortalized on the monument in front of the current Wells Branch Fire Station, which was originally the Wells School District School House for Division #16.

Since that time in 1947, well over 100 men and women have served as firefighters out of this station until the last truck was removed in 2019 and relocated at the current substation near the Town Garage.

The WBFA still exists as an entity serving the Wells Branch Community League,
caring for 2 cemeteries, and supporting the current fire department and its personnel. In 2023, we opened the Wells Branch Fire Station as a fire museum in order to honor all Wells Firefighters who have served this town for over a century.