Carle Place is a hamlet within the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, Long Island, New York – giving rise to the ever-popular nickname “The Hamlet Boys” for the men and women of the Carle Place Fire Department.

Carle Place went fairly unnoticed by colonists – until the beginning of the 18th century, when a New York City merchant, Silas Carle, came along to escape to the quiet and peace of the City. Most sources believe Silas came to Carle Place in the 1830’s, and in 1835, after purchasing 220 acres of farmland, had a country home built for him and his wife. Captured by its beauty, the home became known to the local townspeople as “The Carle Place.” Today, this house still stands at the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Old Westbury Road.

The Department’s roots trace back to 1910, when a group of local men gathered in the home of J. McLoughlin to discuss creating a fire company. In July 1910, the Fire Department was founded as Mineola Park (the then current name of the town) and was housed in a farm building moved from the Treadwell Estate in Old Westbury to the northeast corner of Rushmore and Westbury Avenue. The original piece of apparatus was a horse-drawn wagon which carried water buckets and ladders. The first Carle Place Fire Department Chief was Tyne Wickey, one of eight brothers, all of whom became Chiefs! Casper Wickey's wife Louise was the only woman member or the Department at the time, and she served faithfully as dispatcher until her death in 1947.

At the June 6, 1916 Department meeting, the first steps were taken to change the company name to Carle Place Hook, Ladder and Hose Co. 1. – to reflect a change in the name of the town from Mineola Park to Carle Place.

In 1920, the horse and wagon were retired, and replaced with a used truck donated by Mrs. R. Bacon, in appreciation for the job the Department did fighting a fire at her estate in what is now known as Old Westbury.

Work began on a new firehouse in 1923, and by 1924 the volunteers were responding to a siren, as opposed to a ringing bell. The original department bell, however, serves as a memorial site to honor our departed members outside our current Headquarters. 

As the Roosevelt Air Field grew in traffic and popularity, the Department was often called to respond to plan crashes. One of the more memorable crashes occurred in November 1929, when, during a demonstration of a three-engine take-off, the first Fokker F-32 (the first four-engined passenger aircraft designed and built in the United States) crashed into a home in Carle Place. A prop from the plane still hangs outside the Department’s meeting room, and a current Department member and Ex-Captain still lives in that home.

In 1946, developer William J. Levitt bought 19 acres for an experiment. His crews brought pre-cut lumber to the site and rapidly assembled 600 low-cost houses on a site near the Carle Place station of the Long Island Railroad, offering affordable suburban living with an easy commute into offices in New York City.

Within five years, returning veterans and their families swelled the population by 500 percent. It transformed Carle Place, and served as the prototype for the gargantuan development Levitt began the following year a few miles away: Levittown.

In 1952 the present headquarters was built. Around that time, the Long Island Rail Road switched from steam engines to diesel trains, much to the relief of the Department volunteers, who were called on countless times to put out small fire caused by sparks emanating from the stacks of passing trains.  Alterations were made to the present headquarters in 1965 and again in 1978, to house the growing amount of specialty equipment needed to protect the community.

In 1977 the culmination of one of the most successful community projects came to fruition when the keys to Rescue Vehicle 913 (the Department’s first ambulance) were presented to the company by the Carle Place Civic Association.

The desire to serve is as strong today among our current members as it was nearly 110 years ago. Today, the Fire Department boasts two dedicated engines, a rescue pumper, a ladder truck, two ambulances, and a host of other support vehicles. Although the names of the members, the apparatus, and the tactics may have changed, what has remained constant is our member’s desire to serve and protect this little slice of Nassau County.