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: Union Fire Company of the Town of Westminster formed. The first station was located on Church 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. | |
1879-1896: Firehouse located at 37 E. Main Street next to T.W. Mather Store | |
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. | |
April 9, 1883: Major fire destroys a complete city block. Firemen 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. | |
1885: Two hose houses erected at each end of town. | |
1885: East End Hose House | |
1888: West End Hose House | |
1896: New 3-story engine house was constructed at 66 E Main St. This included a clock tower that would house the bell, which was transferred from the old station. | |
February 7-8, 1904: Firemen with two hose reels and hose traveled via train to assist with The Great Baltimore Fire | |
1918: First motorized engine purchased – Republic 350-gallon pumper, arriving in early 1919. | |
1921: American LaFrance Type 75 Combined pumping and chemical engine purchased for $12,500 | |
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. | |
1926: An addition is put onto the firehouse, located at 66 E. Main Street. | |
1928: Ambulance Service started with the Rotary Club convincing the City Council to buy the ambulance for the fire department. | |
1929: Purchased American LaFrance Type 91 500 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.. Scroll down to see the embedded video on YouTube. | |
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. | |
2023: Celebrated our 200th Anniversary serving Westminster and the surrounding communities. |