‘Older than the town’ : Manhattan Volunteer Fire Department celebrates 120th anniversary

William Johnson, a 20-year firefighter, EMT, chaplain and the department's public information officer, noted that the milestone marks a long history in the Gallatin Valley, tracing back to a small group of local volunteers in 1906.

“The town of Manhattan wasn’t actually incorporated until 1911,” Johnson said. “So the fire department's five years older than the town.”

Even as music played and neighbors filled the street, the reality of emergency response was never far off. Moments after Johnson and other firefighters stepped off the dance floor, a crew was already moving toward their cubbies, suiting up and hustling out of the celebration to answer a call.

“We’ve got some that are appointed to go that while we stay back and help out with the event that’s going on,” Johnson said. “It happens in the middle of our breakfast sometimes, too.”

The call, triggered by an automated iPhone crash notification, was a typical example of how duty interrupts daily life for the volunteers. Johnson said they get paged via a phone app at home or at their day jobs before rushing to the station to suit up.

While medical incidents make up the majority of their local calls, the crew regularly responds beyond town limits, providing automatic mutual aid to surrounding areas like Three Forks, Belgrade and Bozeman for major crashes, structure fires and wildland blazes.

In 2025, Johnson said the department responded to 362 calls, marking the third year in a row it averaged roughly one call per day. Because the volunteer firefighters are entirely unpaid and members must balance daily calls and weekly training alongside full-time jobs, Johnson said recruitment has typically been a challenge for the two decades he’s served in the department.

But a recent surge in interest has built the department's roster to 18 members, enough to require purchasing additional gear to outfit the new recruits.

“We've been very fortunate that we've had some young guys join the department,” Johnson said. “We're probably at the most we've ever had.”

With tax revenue covering only basic operating expenses, community events like the anniversary party and the department’s annual Potato Festival pancake breakfast are critical for raising funds to purchase capital items like the new equipment.

“We’ve raised a lot of money because they support us so well,” Johnson said of the Manhattan community.

In his 20 years with the department, Johnson has found that the sense of community extends well beyond town support to the tight-knit bonds built inside the station house.

Two decades ago, Johnson had never considered being a firefighter. He was working as a local pastor when a pair of firefighters knocked on his door selling raffle tickets for turkeys and asked if he would consider volunteering.

“It's been like a family since,” Johnson said. “When you serve together, you go out on dangerous things together, you learn to trust each other. You learn who's going to be there, who's got your back. They’re volunteering, so you know they're giving their heart to it so you can trust them with your own family.”