In 2007 the Thompson Fire Engine Company will be 175 years old. The Company was organized in 1832 and was the tenth fire company to form in the State of Connecticut and the first in Windham County. In May 1832 the Assembly in Hartford recorded that the Selectmen of the town of Thompson had authorized the formation of a fire company consisting of sixteen persons, twelve of whom were to be withdrawn from the militia and had to live within one-half mile of the meeting house. The Company came into being on July 4, 1832 at the inn owned by Captain Vernon Stiles. Members of the Company were exempt from militia service and payment of the poll tax provided that they had "a good engine". The engine was purchased with subscriptions from local business men and worthy members of the community.

Five years after its formation, the Company was granted a Charter June 10th of 1837. The proprietors and founding members included Captain Vernon Stiles and B. Gay, who was the cashier of the Thompson Bank. Jerome Crosby was elected to be the first Secretary of the Company and he copied the original charter by hand into the book of minutes.

In 1852 the owners of the engine had failed to provide for its maintenance. The company dissolved but shortly thereafter reformed with the agreement that the engine should belong to the Company. This was just in time because the Company saved two barns from destruction by fire that year. With the twenty-five dollars donated by the grateful insurers the Company decided to buy books and form what became the first effective public library in Thompson. Noted historian, Ellen Larned attended Company suppers; she also helped the Company and witnessed fires. Later, she wrote but did not publish her memoir called "Thompson Fires and fire engine". The Fire Engine Company books were given to Thompson Library Incorporated in 1902.

Without hydrants and lacking support from the community to pay for a steamer no new equipment was obtained until 1915 when the Village Improvement Society provided two big chemical fire extinguishers on wheels for use by the Company. These extinguishers and the engine prevented collateral damage when the Baptist Church Burned down in 1917. In 1938 the Company bought its first motorized fire truck complete with a pump and a 500-gallon water tank.

The Company now has two engine tankers, a forestry fire truck and a rescue truck. Fire calls have increased from 20 to 30 per year to 120 to 150 per year now that the Company is a "first responder" and attends medical emergencies and vehicle accidents. The members are still all volunteers.