1940 – 1960

Progress was put on hold during World War II and a shortage of manpower became a serious problem for the fire company. To alleviate this shortage, the fire company’s by-laws were changed to allow men to join at the age of 16 rather than 18 years of age. The fire alarm system was expanded during the war, with the addition of 5 air-raid sirens around the township. In addition to their use for Civil Defense, these sirens were also used to notify the members of a fire.

The late 1940’s and early 1950’s saw the fire company on an expansion program that not only included apparatus but also included an addition to the firehouse. Another new addition was the start of an Ambulance Corps. On a cold winter day in 1948, a pedestrian was struck by a car on Baltimore Pike near Saxer Avenue. Don Eastman, owner of the Springfield Beverage Distributing Co., rendered aid to the seriously injured person, covering him with newspapers and blankets to keep him warm. Don tried desperately for two hours to get an ambulance for the injured man. No surrounding towns had an ambulance at that time. Finally, an ambulance from Philadelphia was obtained and it took the injured pedestrian (who died enroute) to a Philadelphia hospital. It was at this time that Don decided that Springfield needed its own ambulance. Through the Springfield Betterment Association and Eastman, a door-to-door fund drive was started to purchase an ambulance. After four months, $13,000 had been collected in the drive. They then purchased a brand new fully equipped Cadillac ambulance for $8,700. The balance of the collected funds was put into the organization which they founded, and was to be known as “The Springfield Fire Company Ambulance Corps”, a committee of the fire company.