Since the Evergreen Volunteers opted to be taken over by Prince William County there have been multiple changes at our local station including maintenance improvements involving the building as well as a brand new fire truck.  In addition we have a renewed relationship with the station personnel, and our Fire Wise program.

Prince William County now totally runs both Gainesville stations, Evergreen, a station in Dumfries and Coles.  In addition to the 24 hour crews in these stations the county has 24/7/365  engine staffing in 4 more stations and staffs a heavy rescue squad, a ladder truck and 9 Medic units.  Though there is no Medic unit at Station 15, the 24 hour crew is fully capable of providing Basic Life Support until the arrival of a Medic from either the Antioch or Gainesville station.

The county just took delivery of 5 new pumpers in a long needed standardization program.  One went to our local station and there was a ceremony the other day where the new pumper was “pushed in” by the crew – a tradition dating back to the horse drawn steamers.  Since the horses were not good at backing up, the steamer had to be disconnected from the horses and pushed by hand into the station bay.  With the introduction of the motorized fire truck and horses put out to pasture, the first time a new pumper was put in service at it’s new home, it was pushed in by the crew and others for the last time.  As is often the case water from the old fire truck was poured into the tank of the new one for a sense of continuity.