A spectacular fire caused by lightning engulfed the top of Curley’s grain elevator at Main Street and North Avenue resulting in a third alarm at 7:06 P.M. on Wednesday, June 19, 1957.
On Saturday, May 16, 1959, a spectacular three-alarm fire in the Sunlite Bowladrome on Water Street, opposite Wakefield Avenue caused damage estimated at over $250,000.
In 1960, the 1954 Reo-Boyertown rescue was repainted red, eliminating the traditional white and blue Civil Defense colors.
On Sunday, April 3, 1960, a third alarm was transmitted on Box 314 at 9:50 A.M. for a fire that caused $50,000 damage to the New England Basket Company on Hart Street.
More than ten firefighters were overcome by smoke and fumes during a $50,000, three-alarm fire at Hill’s Boat House and Dance Hall at the end of Lake Avenue on Tuesday, July 12, 1960.
In late December 1960, a new Mack 750 8pm pumper arrived in town from Allentown, PA and was put in service on February 4, 1861, as Engine 3. This pumper, purchased at a cost of $19,888, has a 300-gallon tank with 1250 feet of 2 1/2 inch hose and preconnected 1 1/2 inch hose. It replaced the 1938 Seagrave sedan pumper, then sold to the town of Effingham, NH.
During 1960, the department had 185 box alarms and 570 still alarms, for a total of 755 incidents.
On Monday, March 27, 1961, Box 121 was received at 9:15 P.M. for a fire in the Lead Lined Pipe Company at 33 Broadway, near North Avenue. A third alarm was requested at 9:16 P.M. for what eventually was one of the more spectacular fires in the town’s history, causing $150,000 damage to the sprawling one-story frame building. Apparatus responded from eight communities.
A new fire station for Greenwood Engine 2 was begun in the fall of 1962. Engine 2 was relocated to Classen’s Garage on Main Street, on September 12; and personnel were housed in an adjacent small office. Demolition, begun in September, took only a few days. Construction began in November on the one-story combination Fire Station and Library at 5 Oak Street and was completed in May of 1963 at a total cost of $125,429.45.
As a result of long continuous pumping during flooding conditions in Greenwood, the 1929 Seagrave used by the Auxiliary Fire Department failed and was eventually discarded in 1962.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 4, 1963, a three-alarm fire in the Most Blessed Sacrament Church resulted in an excellent stop, confining the fire to the basement and first floor rear of the fame church building.
