With the overwhelming approval of village residents, the Board of Trustees began to organize a Fire Department, purchase fire equipment and build reservoirs. On September 10, 1884, the Union Fire Department of Marcellus, N.Y. was officially organized. A Fire Chief, Dr. Henry W. Post, was appointed by the Board of Trustees, along with Myron Whiting as the Assistant Chief. Today, The Marcellus Fire Chief has expanded to include three assistant chiefs. In addition, a list of names, as members of the Fire Company, was submitted to the Village Board for approval, just as they are today. The Village Board also awarded the contract for building of fire reservoirs in the Village to Mark Dorchester. These underground reservoirs, or cisterns, were to be built in the Village in locations thought to be appropriate - primarily near the Churches in the Village Center. ¨ ¨

As recently as 1997, one of these reservoirs was uncovered while work has been done on Main Street reconstruction. In the Village of Marcellus today, fire hydrants have replaced the need for cisterns, but in certain areas of the Town of Marcellus, serviced by the Marcellus Fire Department, there is a need for what are called "dry hydrants", water reservoirs similar to those used over 100 years ago in the Village. The Village Board, similar to today's practice, also received recommendations from the Fire Department for equipment purchases, approving or disallowing such appropriations. ¨