Grasonville Fire Department

Grasonville Fire Department

History

The Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department was first established in the summer of 1958. There were 36 original charter members in 1958. These thirty six men, together with nothing more than a desire to serve their community, founded one of the finest fire companies in Maryland.

The thirty six charter members started with absolutely nothing more than a vision. Together, with the help of the County Commissioners, they purchased a fire engine from Civil Defense for $100. The members housed this engine in a garage behind the Grasonville Post Office. How did they respond to fires, one might ask? When there was an emergency, residents would telephone either Leonard Smith's Store or Holly's restaurant, where the members often gathered. In this modern era of Computer Aided Dispatch and Radio Pagers, anyone half way familiar with the fire service in days of old must shake there head in bewilderment, but it worked for them.

history_4
history_3

The Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department has had a long tradition of being first. The Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department became the first Rescue company in Queen Anne's County and in 1971 the department became the very first department in Queen Anne's County to have a Hurst tool (Jaws-of-Life Rescue Tool). This standard of being first has been up held throughout the years as demonstrated in 1999 when the Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department became the first Department in Queen Anne's County to have a Thermal Imager.

As our community grew so did the fire department, in 1960 Governor of Maryland G. Millard Tawes presided over the dedication of the Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department's Fire Station (Queen Anne's County Sta. 2). That Fire Station has remained relatively untouched for 45 years. When Oyster Cove was built, the Grasonville Vol. Fire Department underwent another massive change by adding a Truck company. The first Ladder Truck was purchased in 1986 from Owings Mills and was a 1957 Ward-LaFrance. In 1992 the Department purchased Ladder 16 a Seagrave from Manhattan NY. In 1998 the Department purchased its first new and current Ladder Truck, a 1998 105' Pierce Quint (Ladder w/Pump).

history_2
history1

The Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department as it stands today has roughly 90 members, five major firefighting/rescue apparatus, a brush truck, a fire boat, and more importantly, the respect and admiration of the community we serve. The Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department has had only Six Fire Chiefs in 54 years, the 6th and current Chief Jason Anthony, Sr. is aware of where we have come from and looks forward to the future. He looks forward to the replacement of the Fire Station. The fire service has changed dramatically in only 54 years. Firefighters now are expected to handle hazardous materials calls, complicated rescue situations, and calls involving weapons of mass destruction. It is a very different fire department from the one that was founded in the summer of 1958, and the days of responding in a $100 fire engine from the back of the Grasonville Post Office. Our Fire Department has progressed to responding in half a million dollar fire apparatus to an ever changing community. The one thing that has always remained constant, is the same thing that the charter members had at the very first meeting in the Knights of Pythias Hall Lodge no. 115, the desire to serve their community.

The current Department members are dedicated to remembering those who came before us and blazed the trail that we continue to follow, our Charter Members.

Donald Anthony
Charles Bryan
Winifred Clevenger
Gene Collier

Christian Gernert

Vernon Haddaway
Charles Jewell
Holmes Lynch
Pete Quinn
Preston Ruth
Hiriam Ruth
Wesley Ruth Jr.
Jay Seltzer
Leonard Smith
Emerson Tarr Sr.
WM. E. (Mike) Thompson
Charles Tongue
Bryan Walters
William Benton
Calvin Burns
W.M. Clevenger
William Dorrell
Kenneth Haddaway
Stewart Hoxter
Elston Lynch
Jack Quinn
Jack Reed
Stephen Ruth
Wesley Ruth Sr.
Joseph Saddler Jr.
WM. G. Smith
Norman Smith
John Thomas
Richard E. Thompson
John Ulrich
Fred Wooters

Donate To Us!

  • Home
  • Links
  • Gallery
  • Events
  • History
  • Apparatus
  • Members
  • Operations
  • Recruitment
  • Downloads
  • Videos
  • Store
  • Contact Us

Weather Forecast

Grasonville, MD
33°
mostly cloudy
55% humidity
wind: 4mph SE
H 38 • L 33
43°
Tue
45°
Wed
32°
Thu
30°
Fri

Current Radar

Monthly Calls

2020FIRE
JANUARY36
FEBRUARY31
MARCH33
APRIL28
MAY42
JUNE51
JULY51
AUGUST61
SEPTEMBER39
OCTOBER28
NOVEMBER31
DECEMBER40
TOTAL471

Latest Tweets

  • Just after Noon today, Truck 2 responded on the 2nd Alarm Building fire on North Street in the town of Easton. The… t.co/Ys2cQLwm8G Time ago 2 Days via Twitter for iPhone
  • Cold / Ice Rescue Training Last Night t.co/HuSsbiuEeu Time ago 2 Days via Twitter for iPhone
  • Our Monthly Dinners start back up this Wednesday January 20th and You don’t want to miss the Menu for this dinner.… t.co/LWLpTc87SO Time ago 7 Days via Twitter for iPhone

Follow @GrasonvilleVFD on twitter.

Instagram Feed

gvfdofficial

239

gvfdofficial

View

Jan 23

Open
Just after Noon today, Truck 2 responded on the 2nd Alarm Building fire on North Street in the town of Easton.  The Crew of Truck 2 was put in the RIT Group initially and then assisted crews with opening up the roof to extinguish hot spots.  The Truck cleared the fireground about an hour later.

Just after Noon today, Truck 2 responded on the 2nd Alarm Building fire on North Street in the town of Easton. The Crew of Truck 2 was put in the RIT Group initially and then assisted crews with opening up the roof to extinguish hot spots. The Truck cleared the fireground about an hour later. ...

gvfdofficial

View

Jan 22

Open
Cold / Ice Rescue Training Last Night

Cold / Ice Rescue Training Last Night ...

gvfdofficial

View

Jan 15

Open
Drivers Training Yesterday Afternoon

Drivers Training Yesterday Afternoon ...

gvfdofficial

View

Dec 25

Open
Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours! ...

gvfdofficial

View

Dec 17

Open
The past and present engine companies of the GVFD.

The past and present engine companies of the GVFD. ...

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Contact Information

Grasonville Fire Department
4128 Main Street
P.O. Box 457
Grasonville, MD 21638

Follow Us

Phone

Emergency: 911
Phone: 410-827-8100
Fax: 410-827-4496

Website Statistics

Visits Today: 11
Visits Yesterday: 67
Visits Past Year: 51,272

Member Links

  • Member Login
  • Member Only News
  • Store
  • Account
Site proudly maintained by the Grasonville Fire Department
Site designed and hosted by FireCompanies.com

Copyright © 2021