After 5 devastating fires in the early 1950’s, the citizens of Waskom, Tx met in the High School Auditorium

and agreed to raise money to purchase firefighting equipment.  One fire truck was purchased from the City of

Marshall and a mobile trailer also purchased and delivered 30 days later.  The fire truck was kept at Artie Wells’

Humble Service Station until a fire station could be constructed.

On April 20, 1952, a group of Waskom citizens met and organized a volunteer fire department.

On May 5, 1952, a Constitution and By-Laws were adopted and the following officers were elected:

            Fire Chief—K.P. Lewis

            Assistant Fire Chief—Alton Graves

            Secretary/Treasurer—Floyd Lindsey

The 27 members of the newly formed Waskom Volunteer Fire Department held meetings every Monday at

7:30p.m. at the American Legion Hut.  One long blast of the siren was sounded every Monday night before each

meeting.

In case of a fire, the siren was sounded off in volleys of four, so that it was distinguished from sirens on police

cars and ambulances passing through the city.

Waskom VFD began service with a 1928 American LaFrance Pumper, a 1929 American LaFrance Pumper, and a 1942 GMC 1 ton truck given to the department by Claude Henry Bagley.

In 1955 the department built a 1955 Chevy truck and in 1975 the department received a 1976 1 ton initial attack fire truck from the Texas Forest Service through the Rural Fire Defense Program.

In 1985, the department had 26 members and was able to supply pagers for them.  Equipment at this time included five firefighting units: 

1970 Hahn Pumper with 1,000 gallon capacity

1966 Ford F600 the department had built themselves

1967 Chevrolet Pumper with 350 gallon capacity

1976 Chevrolet Emergency Equipment Van equipped with stretchers, air packs, first aid equipment, extra air tanks, breathing oxygen, a 7500 watt generator and miscellaneous supplies.

In 1988, the department purchased its first ambulance; a 1983 Type III BLS Unit.  Initial EMS staffing was 10 EMS

certified members.

Through the years the department has continued to improve and upgrade its equipment and services, and provide

firefighter training and continuing education for the WVFD members.

In June 2005, the department moved into its present location with a brand new 8,800 sq ft building.  There are

four double drive through truck bays, classroom, kitchen, offices, upstairs day room and storage area.

In 2006, with many months of hard work, the fire department attained an ISO (Insurance Services Office) Rating

of 3/8b.

Today our equipment includes :

 2009 Type 1 Dodge 3500 ALS Capable Ambulance

 2009 Chevrolet C5500 Quick attack mini-pumper fire truck 500/500 gallon capacity with CAFFS system

 2008 Chevrolet C5500 Rescue mini-pumper truck 500/500 gallon capacity with jaws of life

 1996 Ford F450 Pumper truck 1250/1,000 gallon capacity

 1987 Pierce pumper truck 1500/750 gallon capacity

 1990 Kenworth tanker truck 500/3,000 gallon capacity

 2003 Ford F350 Brush truck 250/300 gallon capacity

 2011 Ford F350 Brush truck 250/250 gallon capacity with class A foam and a mobile trailer command system

with SCBA refilling cascade system.

After 58 years of service to the community, relying entirely on donations and fund raisers in order to provide local fire protection and emergency services, the Waskom Volunteer Fire Department began receiving funding assistance from the county, collected from the residents in our services district.

In April 2011 we started staffing the fire department, starting out with 12 hour shifts with about a 60% coverage for the first month.  Each month since we have increased our coverage, we are now staffed with about a 90% coverage for the month. With this coverage we have a average of 7 minutes from page to on scene.

By July 2011 there were 43 members of the WVFD of which 23 were EMS certified and Firefighters were certified through the State Fireman's and Fire Marshals Association of Texas.

In May 2012 with hard work, new personnel and training of existing personnel we are up to 27 certified EMS and able to upgrade our ambulance with the Texas Department of State Health Services to a Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU)