The Westminster Volunteer Fire Department has a rich history in Carroll County! You can learn more below in the History Timeline, or you can The Historical Museum of the Westminster Fire Department!
| 1823: Organized and constructed first station on Carroll Street. | |
| 1834: Moved engine house to Main Street at Court Street. | |
| 1851: Mayor and Council ordered the engine be sold. They then ordered hooks and ladders as the only tools available. |  |
| 1868: Efforts to start a second department on the west end failed. | |
| 1879: Department reorganized and incorporated under the current name. Land purchased to build new station on Main Street. | |
| 1881: Fire Bell purchased for engine house – Cost $.25/pound. | |
| 1883: Major fire destroys a complete city block. Fireman from Baltimore were brought in by Western Maryland Railroad to help. |
Click here for more information! |
| 1885: Town water system completed and the pumper was disposed of and replaced with reels of hose. |  |
| 1887: Two hose houses erected at each end of town. | |
| 1896: New 3 story engine house constructed at 66 E Main St. This included a clock tower that would house the bell which was transferred from the old station. |  |
| 1918: First motorized engine purchased – Republic 350 gallon pumper. | |
| 1919: American LaFrance 750 gallon pumper purchased. | |
| 1924: American LaFrance Ladder Wagon purchased. Within 24 hours of its arrival, the ladder wagon was used in fighting a large fire at Wm Myers Meat Packing plant. This unit still runs and can be seen in our museum. Click on the image to see a larger image. |  |
| 1926: Four paid engine drivers hired to maintain a presence 24 x 7. | |
| 1928: Ambulance Service started with the Rotary Club convincing the City Council to buy the ambulance for the fire department. |  |
| 1929: Purchased American LaFrance 500 GPM pumper. | |
| 1933: Purchased American LaFrance 750 GPM Pumper which still runs and can be seen in our museum. |  |
| 1936: Purchased American LaFrance 650 GPM Pumper. | |
| 1948: Purchased American LaFrance 700 series 750 GPM Pumper. |  |
| 1955: Purchased American LaFrance 700 series 750 GPM Pumper. This unit in excellent condition and owned as a show piece by one of our members. |  |
| 1962: Purchased a Ford 750 GPM pumper. |  |
| 1969: Purchased American LaFrance 750 GPM 100 foot Aerial Ladder. This unit remained in service until sold in 1998. |  |
| 1975: Purchased Engine 33 – American LaFrance Century Series |  |
| 1981: Purchased Engine 34 – Grumman Engine |  |
| 1986: Purchased Engine 31 – Hahn Engine. This engine is now privately owned and still local in Westminster, MD. |  |
| 1997: Purchased new E-1 105′ Tower to replace the 1969 Truck. Delivered in early 1998. |  |
| 1998: October 24, 1998 – Retired Station 3 at 66 East Main Street at 12:00 hrs. Dedicated and placed new Station 3 at 28 John Street In-Service at 13:00 hrs. At the time of the opening, this station was the second largest volunteer station in Maryland covering 35,280 sq.ft.. |  |
| 2000: Purchased new Peirce Engine to replace Engine 34 but was numbered Engine 32. The previous Engine 32 was retired years before. |  |
| 2001: Purchased new Peirce Engine to replace Engine 33. |  |
| 2002: New Utility to replace aged GMC Suburban. |  |
| 2003: New Ambulance 38 Horton on Ford Chassis. |  |
| 2005: New Ambulance 37 Horton on ford Chassis. Department made the decision based on EMS statistics to have a 3rd EMS unit for reserve and has a 3rd unit out as volunteer staffing allows. |  |
| 2005: Department purchases a special unit for small type incidents, use at the airport ( FOAM Equipped ) and does not take specialty class of license to drive. 2005 Ford Super Duty chassis. |  |
| 2006: Rechassis Ambulance 39 Horton on Ford Chassis. |  |
| 2007: New Brush 35 purchased. |  |
| 2011: New Engine 31 purchased. |  |
| 2018: New Engine 32 purchased. |  |
| 2020: New Tower 3 purchased. A 2020 E-One Typhoon ladder truck. |  |
