A Historical Review: 1942-1999
The 1940's
The 1950's
The 1960's
The 1970's
The 1980's
The 1990's
Prepared by Andrew T. Eastman
The 1960's
In 1960, a change to the bylaws made it permissible for paid firefighters
to hold elected office in the department, except as a line officer. The Ladies
Auxiliary bought new furniture for the addition to the firehouse. The minimum
age for a volunteer was raised to eighteen. Due to extended response times,
the Board of Trustees drafted a letter to the Fire Commission requesting
permission to build an auxiliary firehouse in Merrifield, but it was denied.
A night standby crew system was implemented and the first Bingo games, called
Lingo for legal purposes, were held at the firehouse on Wednesdays run by both
the firefighters and the auxiliary. A total of 207 fire calls and 476 ambulance
calls were run, and founding member, Carl Plaugher, Sr. dies.
A welfare fund was established in 1961 to provide one dollar per member per
year that, in turn, would provide fifty dollars to survivors of a member of
the fire department killed in the line of duty. The department purchased a
1961 Mack 750-gpm, 500-gallon tank, fire pumper. Improvements were made to
the bunkroom bath. By now the department had dipped in numbers and now stood
at 87 members. The Board of Trustees requested a fourth paid firefighter.
The first request to station a ladder truck at Company 13 was sent to the Fire
Commission in 1962. The request was denied and the truck sent to the lower end
of the county. The county selected a site for the planned training academy.
Collision insurance was purchased to cover drivers and a county firefighter
blood bank was established. New covers were installed over the doorway
entrances, the building was painted, a donated clock was installed over the
door at front of building, the roof was repaired, forced ventilation was
installed in the restrooms, vents were installed in the bunkroom, and new
bunks were purchased. A driver test was developed in order to sign off
drivers. The fourth paid firefighter was added to the station compliment,
and a committee was formed to look into plan for a new fire station.
Founding member and past president John J. Meyer was made a life member.
The department ran 226 fire calls and 454 ambulance calls.
In 1963, Anton "Pop" Groff, the first paid firefighter at Dunn Loring retired.
The first mention of a paid county fire chief, to act as a liaison between
the Fire Commission and the volunteer departments, surfaced. It was clearly
stated that the position would not interfere with the business of the individual
departments. Later that year, the department voted in favor of the position
and backed George Tacey as the candidate. The Fire Commission’s system of
representation changed from one person per volunteer department to one per
magisterial district. The Fireman’s Association, now known at the Fairfax
County Fire and Rescue Association, requested the volunteer departments to
coordinate their fund drives to run simultaneously in order to avoid confusion.
A severe money shortfall hit the county fire and rescue budget in 1963. As a
result, the petition presented to the Board of Supervisors by the department
for paving and improvements to Wolftrap Road was turned down. Six volunteer
members became the first to complete a radiological monitoring course. This
course was taught to prepare men in the county to be able to respond to a
nuclear attack. A new warning siren was installed, and the Ladies Auxiliary,
on behalf of the department, purchased a 1963 International ambulance. The
firehouse was painted inside and out, the roof was repaired, and screen
doors were purchased and installed. 1963 was also the first year to see
organized drills and the formalization of the position of drill instructor.
A significant increase was seen in the total number of calls: 371 fire and
608 ambulance. An astonishing 245,238 hours were volunteered. Sadly, founding
member Dr. Thomas P. Martin died.
The first policy allowing a paid crew to respond without volunteers was
adopted in 1964. Deemed necessary by Chief Carl Plaugher, Jr. to ensure
a rapid response time, the first engine would leave the station with a paid
crew and volunteers would staff the subsequent units. The department purchased
the property adjacent to the firehouse belonging to member Albert Ludwig. A
new resuscitator was acquired for the ambulance and a new respirator for the
firefighters. Requests for the Ladies Auxiliary to provide food at nighttime
firefighting incidents began and help initiate the creation the canteen service.
Saturday night Bingo started and the department requests a fifth paid firefighter.
Glenn A. Gaines, later to become Fairfax County’s Fire Chief was selected to be
the 5th paid firefighter.
The existing firehouse, a series of buildings joined together over the first
23 years of the department’s history, was becoming increasingly expensive to
maintain and no longer met the demands of one of the top five busiest fire
stations in the county. So, in 1965, planning began for a new fire station.
After much discussion with the county over location of the new station, the
decision was made to build right behind the existing structure. An architectural
firm was commissioned and the process began. It was in this year that the first
discussions occurred regarding the official designation of paid firefighters as
day crew and volunteers as the night crew. Requirements were made by the chief
that volunteers must ride a minimum of three nights per month. A sixth paid
firefighter was added to staff after arguments with the county over the
abolishment of the eligibility list. The county assumed payment for fuel and
revised operating procedures to differentiate between wagons and engines. The
department began issuing calling cards on each call run, and as a sign of the
times, began allowing colored people to get water at the firehouse. Ambulance
calls for 1965 topped at 675.
The use of red warning lights in privately owned vehicles was further restricted
in 1966 and not allowed at all in the Town of Vienna. Standard operating procedures
were changed to require three firefighters on an engine before it could depart
the station. The county began insuring all fire apparatus including volunteer
owned pieces and began standardizing uniforms worn by paid staff. In an effort
to show their appreciation to volunteers, the personal property tax on personally
owned vehicles was now assumed by the county. 1966 was also the year a seventh
paid firefighter was added to the staff at Dunn Loring. As a new requirement,
the county now required the department to select paid firefighters from an
eligibility list, or face losing all of their paid staff. Wayne Hess became
the first disabled volunteer voted into the department.
In 1967, the board and membership voted to make the treasurer an ex-officio
member of the board. The approval was given and construction began on the new
fire station. A hall rental committee was formed to manage the business of the
hall and maximize the financial gain that can be realized from its rental. The
department purchased a 1964 Cadillac ambulance and shifted the fund drive
strategy from door-to-door to mailings. While a eighth and ninth paid firefighter
were added to staff, new minimum standards were set for firefighters. Red
warning lights were restricted to Dunn Loring’s first due area for its members.
The county established a new rank for paid firefighters called technician and
Charles Mills became the first one at Dunn Loring in 1968. Glenn Gaines
transferred out of Company 13 to become a technician elsewhere in the county
however he continued his membership as a volunteer. The membership voted to
have a monthly board meeting and opened them to the general membership. The
board voted to accept the new county uniform standards for the paid staff,
disapproved of the concept of a battalion chief, opposed new county enforced
apparatus specifications and officially requested the assignment of a ladder
truck to Dunn Loring. Meanwhile, at the county level, discussions occurred
about the legality of fire departments running Bingo. Not discouraged, the
department purchased a new Bingo machine. In October of 1968, the new building
was dedicated and occupied. That same fall during a dance the social hall was
fire bombed. A group of poor people camped in the properties behind the station
were suspected of the incident. The department purchased a new Oren pumper and
sold the old GMC while fire calls soared to 677 and ambulance calls to 933.
In 1969, a Jeep for use in brush firefighting and a new Chevrolet ambulance
were purchased. The county purchased a new ladder truck and assigned it to
Company 13. The paid firefighter compliment increased to fourteen with shifts
now covered into the night. Two additional firefighters were expected to be on
staff by the year’s end. Lt. Curtis Miller became the first paid Captain
assigned at Dunn Loring, transferred from Great Falls. The board voted to
pave the parking lot around the new building, sponsored a Boy Scout troop,
and censured the Penn Daw Volunteer Fire Department for turning over its
property, facilities and assets to the county.
More History: The 1970's