Goochland Volunteer Fire-Rescue at a glance:

• Founded 1951 in Manakin with privately owned fire truck
• First rescue squad formed 1965.
• River rescue unit formed 1978 (James River forms Goochland County's entire southern border)
• Today six fire and five rescue companies are housed in six stations throughout the county (at this time, Crozier does not have an ambulance)
• Combining fire and rescue in one organization not only provides economy (one building to house both fire trucks and ambulances) but allows members to become cross trained in both fire fighting and pre-hospital emergency care skills
• In 2001, our nearly 300 volunteers responded to 1,442 rescue calls and 1,011 fires.
• Volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians and firefighters receive the same training as paid personnel in other jurisdictions and must obtain State certification
• Received the Life Safety Achievement Award from the Residential Fire Safety Institute because there were no residential fire fatalities in Goochland County during 1998.
• Funded by a combination of tax dollars and tax deductible donations
• Volunteers come from all walks of life and all corners of Goochland as well as Hanover, Henrico, and Louisa counties.
• Both firefighter and EMS courses are offered in alternating years as part of the curriculum at Goochland High School. Minimum age to volunteer is 16.
• Goochland Fire-Rescue has a volunteer Board of Directors: Joseph T. Wynne, President; a volunteer Chief, L. Franklin Wise, Jr. and Assistant Chief-EMS, D.E. "Eddie" Ferguson, Jr.
• Contract EMS workers have been hired on a temporary basis to provide emergency medical coverage to selected parts of Goochland during daytime weekdays hours. It is hoped that a rigorous recruiting campaign will enable Goochland fire-rescue to remain truly all volunteer.