The Amherst College Fire Department was organized in the fall of 1941 by Theodore S. Bacon, Jr. (AC Class of 1942) and Assistant Dean Richard MacMeekin as part of the College Civilian Defense Program. The original group of 24 men were trained in fire fighting techniques by the Chief of the Amherst Fire Department. Later the brigade was reorganized into two student companies and a permanent company of six men from the College's Buildings and Grounds Department.