A meeting of the citizens of the town of Lebanon was held in the evening of April 11th, 1923, to arrange a fire company for Lebanon Fire District # 1. Elections were held and the fire company was founded. One member offered to donate $ 100 towards the purchase of an engine from the Morristown Fire Department for $ 1000 if nine other members would match this amount. On that basis Lebanon's first fire truck was purchased - A Simplex Pumper. On April 18, 1925, a special meeting was held for the purpose of purchasing a 50ft lot on Main Street. The lot was purchased, and the fire company had its first home.

The next year a building was constructed to house the fire engine, Lebanon's first and only firehouse. In the beginning, a general store occupied half the building. Eventually the entire building became the firehouse. Throughout the years, there have been many additions to the building, including adding additional bays to hold the much-needed apparatus. However, the front of the building still looks the same today as it did back in 1925.

The Lebanon Fire Company's origin can be traced back to 1923 when a Gas Explosion occurred in the original Post Office/Hotel on the corner of Main Street & Cokesbury Road which killed 11 people. It was at this time that Lebanon Borough agreed to start its own Fire Company. Coincidentally, the General Store which replaced the Post Office/Hotel after the explosion, caught fire and burned down in 1980. Today it is a vacant lot used for parking.

Originally named "The Lebanon Volunteer Fire Company #1" our name was shortened in the late '80's to just "Lebanon Fire Company" dropping the volunteer designation for a more professional title. We became Incorporated in the 1990's and began complying with the new regulations concerning training and equipment. We began filing the NIFRS in 1991 which was an optional incident reporting to the state. Early Firefighting was different than today because of the training, equipment and type of incidents that occur. The State of NJ began keeping closer tabs on volunteers and regulations started to spring up to make the job safer and more efficient. In the early years of the Fire Company, residents would make a phone call to a fireman when they had trouble, this member in turn would respond to the station and ring an Iron Ring mounted in front of the station to signal a fire. Then the members would respond to get the apparatus. Later in time the Iron Ring was replaced by an electric siren mounted on the roof of the station, then a countywide 911 system went into place. The Iron Ring is mounted in front of our station in a garden to signify our long history and how far we have come. The electric siren was also utilized during time of war as an Air Raid warning and Civil Defense device and is still in service today.

In the past, all of the firefighter's gear was stored on the trucks and members would respond to the scene and gear up when they were there. The trucks would roll to a call, sometimes with only one member, relying on others to show up. They didn't have a City Water system and had to rely on the water that was carried on the trucks or drafting water from ponds and/or streams near the fire. The invention of Tanker trucks was a very welcomed technology. Now fire companies could bring water to the scene in tankers, some holding up to 2000 gallons, and with the addition of a City Water systems with Fire Hydrants, the fire companies could now rely on a steady water source located throughout the community.

Today, the Lebanon Fire Company continues to serve the borough of Lebanon and provide assistance to surrounding communities. They cover a square mile in the borough and offer aid to neighboring areas, playing a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of residents.