The History of Greenwood Rural Volunteer Fire Department

     In 2006, the firefighters of Greenwood Rural VFD celebrated the 40^the Anniversary of the Department’s founding. Prior to 1966, the Weatherford Fire Department provided fire and rescue service to the citizens of Greenwood and surrounding area. For this service, Parker County Precinct No. 3 paid a nominal fee to the City of Weatherford.  In late 1965, the City of Weatherford proposed a significant increase for this service to $10,000 annually. Precinct No. 3’s Commissioner, at the time, thought that the increase was not justified and decided to evaluate whether the citizens of the area would be interested in forming a volunteer fire department to avoid the service fee altogether.

     So early in 1966, at the urging of the Commissioner, the initial meeting of potential firefighters was held.  In attendance were:  D. L. Engel, S. L. Moss, Herbert Walker, Terry Young, Gene Light, Dale Romer,  J.W. Young, Harvey Light, Fred Tucker, and Kenneth Young.  The decision was made to proceed and the adventurous band of firefighters, none of which had any experience, set forth on a mission that has lasted over forty years. They elected officers and the first Chief of the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department was Kenneth Young.  Kenneth’s legacy continues today.  His son, J.W. Young, celebrated his 40^th  Anniversary with the Department in 2006.  Kenneth’s grandson, John Young, is also an active member of the Department.

     Parker County Precinct No. 3 gave the group a few hundred dollars to get started and they used the money to buy five government surplus trucks from the Carswell Air Force Base.  At that point they had no fire station in which to house the equipment, so they convinced a local businessman to let them house the trucks at his service station near the corner of Jones Road and Ranger highway.

     The newly formed department then focused its energies on two tasks….training the recruits on the science of firefighting and transforming the surplus trucks into firefighting vehicles.

     This picture shows the first fire truck owned by Greenwood VFD and the firefighters in the picture are Kenneth Young and an unidentified department member.

     The Greenwood Department has come a long way since 1966. During the intervening years, the Greenwood Fire Department has been involved in hundreds of fires and has saved much property and probably a few lives as well.   In 2006 the department started running EMS calls and in 2009 became a State Certified First Responder Organization.  Emergency Medical Service has become our largest growth area.  Today the department is a thriving organization with about thirty-five members and twenty-five active firefighters.

     The following chart shows the kinds of incidents that the department has handled over the last several years:

 

Type of Emergency	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Structure Fire	7	13	20	29	38	36	28	33	33	47
Vehicle Fire	7	7	9	11	9	6	8	12	7	12
Ground Cover Fire	61	48	37	55	45	119	98	63	69	58
Motor Vehicle	18	20	21	25	44	46	34	51	42	40
Rescue	6	12	7	15	13	22	9	9	20	26
Emergency Medical	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	14	56	74	127
Other	6	11	14	18	27	0	37	26	83	72
Annual Totals	105	111	108	153	176	229	228	250	328	382

 

        The growing number of structure fires and total calls is an indication of the growth of the Greenwood area. Parker County is one of the fastest growing Counties in Texas and our district has shared in that growth.

     Currently we have 25 firefighters and eight auxiliary members who provide support for the department. We have an aggressive training program aimed at certifying all department members within their first three years of membership.

     The department has been very fortunate in winning grants the past few years and has acquired many new pieces of firefighting equipment including three new Apparatus, SCBA’s, Bunker Gear, a new rescue tool (Jaws of Life), two Thermal Imaging Cameras and Technical Rescue Equipment.

     Our station was built by hand by the members in 1972.  It was insulated in the 1990s.  Also in the early 1990′s a third bay was added.  In 2001 a fourth bay was added.  And in 2004-2005 the station was doubled in size and a kitchen/day area and bath were added.

     Here is a picture of the Greenwood Station in the late 1990’s shortly before the fourth bay was added.  

   Below is a picture of the station as it looks today.  It has seven bays for trucks but has inadequate living space.  One of our high priority projects for the future is to add adequate office space, training facilities and living quarters. 

      With the passage of  Parker County ESD #7 in November of 2009, we are hopeful that the Department will have the financial stability to address our significant challenges for the future.  Over the next several years our priority strategic needs are:

• To transition to a combination department which will have some paid personnel during the weekday daytime hours when our volunteers are out-of-pocket.
• To expand the current station to include office space, training facilities and living quarters.
• To add a Mini-Rescue Apparatus which would be concentrated on our motor vehicle accident activities, which are numerous and sometimes extremely traumatic because we cover large stretches of IH-20 and US-180, two major E-W Highways.
• To increase our capabilities and skills such that all firefighters are SFFMA  Advanced Accredited or TCFP Accredited and have Medical Certification from the State of Texas.
• To improve our ISO rating to a “4″ or “5″ from the current rating of a “6.”

     The future of the Greenwood Rural VFD is bright and full of promise.  We are committed to constantly improving our skills and abilities and we are dedicated to providing the best possible service to the people of our fire district.