SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2016 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 231
Commending the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 5, 2016
Agreed to by the Senate, February 11, 2016

 

WHEREAS, in 2016, the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department celebrates its 75th anniversary of providing outstanding service and protection to the residents and businesses of Poquoson; and

WHEREAS, the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department has its origins in 1941, when 18 residents held an organizational meeting that October to discuss establishing a volunteer fire department and procuring funding for needed equipment; and

WHEREAS, in a month’s time, enough money was collected to purchase a flatbed truck, steel for a 650-gallon water tank, running boards, four Indian pumps, a high-pressure pump, and hoses, and in December 1941, the Poquoson Volunteer Fire Department was formally established; and

WHEREAS, the first fire truck that the Poquoson Volunteer Fire Department owned was kept at an old barrel factory while the town’s volunteer fire station was under construction; the truck was leased to the federal government during World War II to serve a nearby community of wartime workers; and

WHEREAS, the fire department’s first station was completed in 1943; it was on Poquoson Avenue in Messick across the street from Trinity United Methodist Church, which had lent the land to the Town of Poquoson; and

WHEREAS, in the early days, fire calls were routed to a local store as the Poquoson Fire Station had no telephone; when a call for assistance was received, the store would send someone to the fire station who wrote the address on a chalkboard, and the first firefighter to arrive drove the truck; and

WHEREAS, in 1949, less than 10 years after it began operation, the Poquoson Fire Department hired its first career firefighter, William H. Proctor, followed soon afterward by Lorenza Insley and Clarence Evans; and

WHEREAS, for a few years beginning in 1960, a second volunteer fire department served the central and western sections of Poquoson; the members bought equipment and began construction on a new building that would house Poquoson Fire Department No. 2; and

WHEREAS, the Poquoson Town Council voted in 1962 to place all fire department operations in a central location; the site of the second volunteer company became the town’s public works department and vehicle service yard; and

WHEREAS, in the ensuing years, the Poquoson government created a combined emergency response department; today, the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department includes volunteer and career firefighters and an active Ladies Auxiliary; and

WHEREAS, Fire Station 1 was rebuilt after suffering serious damage in 2003 during Hurricane Isabel; as Poquoson has grown, the Poquoson Fire Department has kept pace, and today two fire stations protect and serve the community; and

WHEREAS, the people of Poquoson are well served by the dedicated staff of highly trained volunteer and professional fire department personnel; all members of the Poquoson Fire Department are committed to providing outstanding fire protection and firefighting expertise; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Poquoson Fire and Rescue Department as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect and admiration for its dedication to the safety of the people of Poquoson.