Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company - History
Now Serving 101 Years
The Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company was organized December 10, 1906. The first President was Guy Hoch. Vice-President was Kirby Comer and Second Marshall was Emmanuel Bear. The membership fee was 25 cents and the dues were 10 cents each month. There was a fine assessed of not less than 10 cents or more than 25 cents for failure to appear at a fire without a reasonable excuse.
From the time of the organization in 1906 until December 1912 there was a total of 149 members on the roll. From 1912 until 1919 they added 76 more members.
Norfolk and Western played an important roll with the Fire Company. The first alarm was a series of whistle blasts from the whistle mounted on the water tower.
At the first meeting, E. Bear was authorized to purchase two axes. These arrived by freight on January 7, 1907 at a total cost of $4.59.
A new building was erected in 1968 ( current building ). It was completed October30th of that year. A modern structure with five bays and a beutiful recreation hall on the second floor with a kitchen.
The Fire Company , most recognized today as CO 70, covers an area that stretches from the Page / Rockingham County lines to our south to as far north as Landing Lane in Newport. Our town is nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains which the Skyline Drive passes over and the Massanutten Mountains which lies to the west of the beautiful Shenandoah River.
We currently house three class A pumpers, one tanker, a brush unit, a squad / salvage unit and two utility units as well as a rescue boat. Our membership consists of 108 members, 22 which are active and 34 life members. Applicants are accepted every 3 months to serve a 6 month probationary period. Our entire county fire departments are 100 % volunteer. Our company averages over 200 calls per year, ranging from rescue assists, auto accidents, mutual aid, to structure and mountain fires. We provide a wide range of public services to the community as well.
History of Equipment
| Hand pulled reel about 1908 | 1961 Chevy Tanker 1250 Gallon Tank |
| Coal fire boiler horse drawn 1915 | 1961 Chevy panel truck $350 |
| 1928 Chevy truck built by members | 1963 Chevy crash truck $15,000 |
| 1929 Buick built by members | 1952 Dodge brush truck $1000 from Madison Fire Co. |
| 1930 GMC built by members front mount pump | 1954 Custom Seagraves Pumper $4,200 |
| 1936 First new truck bought by the town $5,500 | 1974 KW-Seagraves pumper 1000 gal. tank $42,000 |
| 1948 Chevy panel truck bought for rescue and hauling | 1961 Dodge Power Wagon bought in 1975 |
| 1956 Ford pumper bought new for $14,500 by members | 1982 Ford Pumper Tanker 1800 gal. tank $90,000 |
| 1948 Packard Ambulance donated by Kyger Funeral Home | 1972 Ford Tanker 1200 gal. tank $5,000 |
| 1961 Custom Seagraves Pumper $22,600 | 1974 Seagraves Pumper 1250 Pump 500 gal. tank |