EMFD to Celebrate 95th Anniversary with Parade and Community Block Party

The East Meadow Volunteer Fire Department invites the community to celebrate the department’s 95th anniversary with a parade and community block party on Saturday, September 6, 2025. The EMFD is the host for this year’s Sixth Battalion parade, which will feature fire departments from surrounding communities marching with their department’s apparatus, as well as marching bands, community-based organizations, antique fire trucks, and local dignitaries. The parade will begin at 5:00 p.m. at East Meadow and Stuyvesant Avenues and proceed north along East Meadow Avenue to Fire Headquarters at East Meadow Avenue and Front Street.

Immediately following the parade, the community is encouraged to continue the celebration at the block party at Fire Headquarters, located next to the East Meadow Library. The block party, which is free to attend, will feature food, music by “Long Island’s Premier Band,” The Mystic, refreshments, a children’s fun zone with slides, jumping castles, face painting, fire prevention materials, and many more lively and fun activities for the children.

The East Meadow Fire District was created on January 27, 1930, by the then-Nassau County Board of Supervisors upon the recommendation of the East Meadow Volunteer Firemen’s Association to establish a tax district to fund the fire department to provide fire protection to a growing community that included East Meadow and parts of Westbury (Salisbury) and Island Trees (Levittown). These boundaries were established by the Town of Hempstead in 1923 when the East Meadow Volunteer Firemen’s Benevolent Association was approved to operate as a fire company.

The fire department experienced exponential growth during the post-World War II building boom, which led to the suburban sprawl that exists today. In addition to building new fire stations, the all-volunteer fire department has continued to evolve, utilizing the latest advances in firefighting and emergency medical technologies to provide residents with superior fire protection and emergency medical response, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“In celebration of our milestone 95th anniversary, we extend our gratitude to the community for their unwavering support of the men and women of the East Meadow Volunteer Fire Department," said Commissioner William J. Neill, Vice Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners. "We invite you to join us at the parade and block party as a way to show our appreciation. We look forward to seeing our friends and neighbors on Saturday, September 6.”

The Sixth Battalion consists of ten volunteer fire departments— Bellmore, East Meadow, Levittown, Massapequa, Merrick, North Bellmore, North Massapequa, North Merrick, Seaford, and Wantagh.

The East Meadow Fire Department, which covers East Meadow and parts of Levittown and Westbury (Salisbury), always looks for new members to join their ranks as firefighters or emergency medical personnel; no experience is necessary. The fire department provides the training required. There are numerous benefits associated with volunteering, including tax breaks, college scholarships, annual health checkups, life insurance, and a service award pension program, all at no cost. For more information on volunteering with the East Meadow Fire Department, visit www.eastmeadowfd.com, or call 516-542-4565.