On April 3, 19885, the Committee on the Fire Department published a recommendation in the Stamford Advocate for a partially paid (call) Fire Department for the Borough.
According to the recommendation, it should have a Chief Engineer and Engineman who give their full time to the service and are paid accordingly.
It should have two Assistant Engineers
- An Assistant Engineman
- Fireman/driver of the horses for the Steamer.
Four Fire Companies, each which should have:
- One Foreman.
- One Assistant Foreman.
- One Steward (except in the case of the steam engine)
- Nine hose men for each of the hose companies
- Twelve men for the truck company
- twelve men for the steamer company.
All except the Chief Engineer, Engineman, and Driver should be allowed to carry on with their own existing person business but should be paid at a moderate salary to compensate for lost time.
It should be the duty of the Chief Engineer, among other things, to visit the houses, inspect apparatus, look after supplies, and assure the general keep of the Department and its equipment.
The Engineman should be at the engine house, ready for duty 8 to 10 hours per day, relieved by the Assistant Engineman and the Chief Engineer.
The plan calls for the Borough to install four or five signal boxes and use bells in the tower of Town Hall and fire stations to signal the alarm of fire.
Port Chester newspapers wasted no time basically condemning the plan. On April 23, 1885, the Port Chester Journal wrote:
