There was one problem, however. At the time Watervliet had no fire department, and the nearest one was in downtown Albany, several miles to the south. Such a slow response time in the event of a fire such as the one that had destroyed Fuller's previous place of employment was not a risk the Felt Company's management could retain, and so they created their own fire department for the plant. To provide water to douse any flames, they diverted Rendert's Stream, a small tributary of the Hudson that flowed through the site, into a reservoir with fire hydrants to be used in such an event.
