Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department History

 

     The Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department originated in Stockdale, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Situated in the industrial Monongahela River Valley, the town attracted people of many nationalities: German, Polish, English, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian, and Greeks. Among those new residents there was a strong community feeling of responsibility expressed in the formation of a fire department. The closeness of the community was overtly expressed when three double houses owned by the Braznell Coal Mining Company were completely burned on April 30th, 1926, and six families were left homeless. Fighting fires in Stockdale during this period was limited to fighting fires with water supplied by bucket brigade and by an Ajax Chemical fire cart. In fighting the Braznell fire every water source available was used; the cisterns, the swamp adjacent to the railroad tracks, and from the tender of the railroad engines which came from Brownsville eight miles away. Help also came from other fire departments: Charleroi, North Charleroi, California, and the small nearby communities of Roscoe and Allenport. Although there were other fires that occurred previously in Stockdale, it was the Braznell fire that proved to be the spark which caused the citizens to form the fire department.

     The Stockdale volunteer fire department was officially organized in 1926 and it consisted of the membership of forty-seven men, for the sole purpose of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property. As a non-profit entity, it adopted its own by-laws and elected its own officers who consisted of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, chief and assistant chief. However, before they accomplished anything, water had to be made available. Through their unified effort, the newly formed department pressured the "Citizens Water Company" into hurrying the installation of four fire hydrants that were contracted for the borough in the latter part of 1925. The firemen also felt the need for an alarm system since the only means available for calling for help was the ringing of the school bell (which is now located out front of our fire station). Eventually this was found to be inadequate since the school janitor did not maintain around-the-clock duty.  After world war two, the men in the service rejoined the fire department. It was then that the firemen began to detect the obsolescence of their equipment and techniques and realized what technological improvements had upon firefighting practices. With civil defense duties still added to their routines, it was necessary for them to become more versatile and to obtain more specialized equipment. By 1950 that had raised money for the purpose of buying a new fire engine from the central firefighting equipment company. The day of its arrival was marred when the engine had to be garaged elsewhere; it did not fit into the old building.

     The dept. was in need for a new building to house the new truck; the Stockdale volunteer fireman again solicited the help of all the organizations in town. A meeting was called to discuss the building of a community center, however, after several meetings the idea was dropped because of the lack of adequate leadership and interest in the project. The firemen persevered. During the following years, money was raised by various projects for the purpose of building a fire station. In July 1956, ground was broken and the building began with most of the labor donated by the firemen and townspeople. The new fire station/social hall was dedicated November 17, 1957.

     A major expansion began in September 1977 on property adjacent to the building constructed in 1957. Once again the members found it was time to expand. The plan was to completely re-model the old station into a large event center and build a brand-new fire station. The new fire station was completed in 1979, and it’s the current station that we operate out of today. With the help of various grants ranging from federal to state grants, the department has gone through many facelifts throughout the years.

     In 2007 a major face lift of the fire hall included restoration of the original floor in the auditorium and construction of new restrooms. Complemented by a spacious parking lot, the Stockdale VFD complex is deemed one of the most accommodating facilities of its kind in the region. In 2008, the department received its first federal FEMA grant, purchasing a state-of-the-art custom built fire engine (Toyne) for a total of $315,000.

      In 2012, the department was approached by Allenport Borough Council in hopes of partaking in a merger of fire departments between the Stockdale and Allenport Fire Departments. After a year and a half long process, on May 13th, 2013, the two departments officially became one, with the successor name being the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department. Equipment and apparatus were renamed, with the successor name, as well as new patches and other department correspondence incorporating both municipalities’ names (Stockdale & Allenport). This was a major, historic event merging 2 fire departments together and it wouldn't have been possible without the help and dedication of the officers of both fire departments as well as the municipalities and their governing bodies. 

      In 2018, the department was faced with a new task: with dwindeling membership effecting the volunteer fire service in Pennsylvania, & the unstable current sources of fundraising, how could the department get ahead of the issues at hand and come up with a low demand, simple way of generating funds to continue operating the department well into the future. The leadership came up with the solution: utilize the large amount of property the department owns and place storage units on the property. At the time of this writing, the stockdale volunteer fire department has 3 storage facilities on site. The profits go right back into the department treasurey, enabling us to operate to the best of our abilities! With the funds generated so far, we were able to purchase the first new apparatus since 2008: a new Toyne/International commercial fire engine.

More history to come!