History

FAMILY owned and operated since 1955

Burtonsville Fuel Company was started in 1955 by Settimio “Cy” Santini and Allan “Jake” Bryan when a customer showed up at the Gulf filling station (converted to Burtonsville Fuel Company) asking for 50 gallons of Kerosene to be delivered to his house. Cy loaded a 50-gallon barrel into the back of a pickup truck, hooked air pressure up to the drum, and delivered the fuel to that same customer!

It was then that Cy and Jake realized that many homeowners in the area could benefit from a delivery standpoint so the men later purchased two used International trucks which they would load with fuel in Washington, DC at the Gulf plant.

The current owner (Cy’s son) Tom Santini recalls the accounts being recorded in composition books when the company first started, upgrading later to a file box and card system kept by Cy’s wife Frances.

Two pickup trucks were added to the fleet so service and maintenance could take place, originally the cleaning was a free service! When cleanings were first charged for it would cost $7.50 per unit.

In the ’60s the company was able to upgrade to have two-way radio’s in the truck allowing the office manager to communicate with the drivers. This made a huge difference for both delivery and service calls. Tom recalls the “call letters” for the radios to be KCQ727.

When clientele grew the company was able to place above-ground storage tanks on the property and load the trucks at the company, saving the drivers many hours in mileage and time. Gulf transported fuel directly to the storage tanks on site.

Many customers in the area had coal furnaces that would be converted over to fuel, increasing the demand for deliveries. To this day, we have several homes that we obtained for delivery and service back in 1955.

Cy and Frances have sadly passed on, but Tom continues to own and operate the company along with his two boys Sandy and Wesley as well as his daughter-in-law Lisa and their son Jess.