Mission
The mission of the Virginia Fire Department is to provide fire protection, suppression and rescue services to the citizens of Virginia and to communities and organizations that have mutual aid agreements with the City of Virginia and its Fire Department. In addition, the Virginia Fire Department shall provide advanced life support ambulance service to the area specified in the license and to areas where the City of Virginia has mutual aid agreements. It is our goal as Fire Department team members to keep our work skills sharp, vehicles and tools of our trade maintained and our bodies and minds fit for the tasks we may encounter. The Virginia Fire Department members will strive to accomplish these duties in a safe, compassionate and professional manner.

Vision
The Members of the Virginia Fire Department:

Strive to be role models in the community and leaders in our profession.

Will be accountable to those we serve, each other and any fire service organizations we interact with.

Are committed to providing the best public service through innovative training, education and equipment.

Will take the fire department into the future through productive teamwork, open and honest communications and participative decision-making throughout the organization.

Are committed to our values, mission, and dedicated to our fire service profession. Our organization is driven to provide a cost effective and efficient fire department while honoring our values, accomplishing our mission and achieving our goals.

Values
Honesty …in both our leadership and our employees, resulting in the highest level of trustworthiness.
Integrity …in our dealings with each other and those we serve, always adhering to a sound code of moral and ethical conduct.

Teamwork …as we believe that availing ourselves of each person’s talent enhances the services we deliver and that cooperation improves our relationships.

Commitment to Excellence …demonstrating itself through consistent professionalism, pride, and a positive attitude.
Health & Safety …as we believe health and safety are essential to fulfilling our mission. We are committed to providing quality health and safety programs to ensure operational readiness and personal well-being.

Knowledge …as it forms the foundation for effective decisions, actions, and increased safety.

Respect …for each person as an individual, an attitude that recognizes the worth of others and exhibits compassion for those in need.

Virginia Fire & Ambulance

History

On March 10, 1893, four months after Virginia was voted village status, nearly all able bodied men in the community met at the rear of Hayes Hall. They formed Virginia’s first firefighting company. E. W. Coons was made first fire chief. Firefighters equipped with rubber boots, coats, helmets, and a hose cart with 500 feet of hose.

During the last 123 years Virginia has experienced a multitude of incidents from minor to catastrophic. Two major fires all but leveled the city and prompted the requirement that downtown businesses be constructed of non-combustible materials. In 1911 the Virginia Fire Department answered 61 alarms. In 1920 the last horse was sold due to converting the horse drawn steamers to motor power. In 1928 Virginia Fire responded to 96 alarms, but by 1937 Virginia Fire was responding to 162 alarms a year. In 1947 Virginia Fire assumed the ambulance service and in 1989 Virginia fire began utilizing paramedics as an Advanced Life Support ambulance service in addition to supplying tactical paramedics to the St. Louis County Emergency Response Team.

The Virginia Fire Department has undergone a number of changes throughout the years as we have remodeled our fire hall many times, integrated women into the fire service and increased our level of medical care and frequency of service.

Over the years some of our members have paid the ultimate price by giving their lives in the line of duty. On August 10, 1933, Firefighter John Grym, died of asphyxiation while trying to rescue victims from a well. Firefighter Harry Hawkinson died while fighting a garage fire January 3, 1940. Chauncey Pettinelli died June 16, 1958, after falling from the back of a fire engine responding to a fire. In 1990, Tom Stellmach died in a tragic accident at the Fire Station.