Our History From Yesterday to Tomorrow
				Left: Photo from early 2004, Right: a picture from mid-2005, only the Ford Pumper has remained in our fleet, all other vehicles have been upgraded. Included a 1995 Wynn Tanker and a 1998 GMC 1 ton mini/rescue. Not pictured: 2005 Kawasaki Mule and a rescue boat purchased with FEMA grants
		The East Fork Volunteer Fire Department proudly protects 2000 people living in an area of 24 square miles. We operate out of one station that protects a primarily residential area. Our department is a public department whose members are on a volunteer status. We have an ISO rating of Class 9. The Community of East Fork of Twelve Pole at Dingess, WV., held a public meeting to discuss the need for fire protection. The first public meeting was held at the Church of Christ on August 29, 1993 there was a total of 30 community members who attended the meeting, along with members of the Lenore Volunteer Fire Department, which is about 20 miles away and takes about 30 to 45 minutes one way due to the narrow roads and traffic to reach our community. There were several more meetings held throughout the community. On November 11, 1993 the East Fork Volunteer Fire Department was Chartered through the West Virginia Secretary of States Office as a volunteer fire department. The land which the fire station was built on was donated by Betty L. Thomas of Dingess WV., was a hole in the ground, an old family saw mill was located there years ago. It took a lot of cleaning and filling to make a lot 300 X 100. The equipment and labor which was used to do all the landscaping was donated by Riley(Munk) Sartin of Lee Sartin Trucking of Kermit WV. With the help of community, donations and fund raisers, the Mingo County Commission and a grant from the West Virginia Governors Office and a lot of hard work the EAST FORK VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT was built. We have a very nice 36 X 65 three bay building with a kitchen and office area, during the fall of 2000, the Emergency Services office of the State of West Virginia gave our department a grant to expand our building to include a fourth bay and additional office space. The first Fire Chief and Asst. Chief were Ted Petroskey and James Stroud, respectively. Both chiefs along with several other volunteers took the necessary training which is required by the State Fire Marshal's Office through the WVU Fire Service Extension Training Program to become a certified firefighter. On June 13, 1997 the East Fork Volunteer Fire Department became certified through the West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office as a volunteer fire department which made us eligible to receive state funding    Our first truck was a 1973 International Pumper, along with several other pieces of “starter” equipment including: 1980 Ford Tanker with a capacity of 2200 gallons, built in-house. Also a 1975 GMC tanker with a capacity of 1200 gallons and 1986 Chevy 3/4 Ton Mini-Pumper/Brush Truck with a 300 gallon capacity. But given their age and the terrain we have to deal with, the repair bills were too costly. The 1975 GMC and 1986 Chevy were donated to our department by the WV Division of Forestry. So with opportunities to upgrade equipment, those units were returned to the WVDOF.    Today, our equipment includes a 1998 E-One Ford Pumper (Unit 691) which was purchased by the department. It has a 1000 gallon tank with a 1250 GPM mid-ship Hale Pump. This truck was purchased through All American Fire Equipment of Ona, WV. Additional equipment was purchased, from Wynn Fire & Rescue Equipment of Corbin, KY.  In 2004 we took the opportunity to purchase a quality tanker, which is a must with our rural area, having no fire hydrants available. We purchased a 1995 GMC Tanker (Unit 692), built by Wynn Fire Equipment, with a 2000gal capacity and a 400gpm Gorman pump.  We also have a 1998 GMC 3500 1-ton 4x4 Rescue/Mini-pumper(Unit 693), built in-house with donations from some very helpful community minded businesses. This unit has a 250 gal skid unit with 1” electric booster reel, (2) 1.5” discharges as well as foam tank, it will also carry BLS medical supplies, AED, TNT© Jaws of Life unit, plus our brush equipment. We also have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Command Vehicle (Unit 690). In 2004 we were awarded a FEMA grant, which allowed us to upgrade some equipment and branch out into new missions. We purchased new bunker gear and upgraded out-dated SCBA, as well as our communications equipment. We purchased a Life-Pak 500 AED due to extended ETA on critical medical calls, Our new mission areas include Mountain and Trail rescue with the purchase of a Kawasaki Mule ATV (Unit 694), equipped with radio communications and  stokes/backboard for patient transport. We also purchased a rescue boat for use during water rescue situations. We are now led by Fire Chief John Hall, Jr., and James Stroud still serves as our Deputy Chief (to view a complete list of members, click here).   Our department has a very small budget with which to operate, we have annual fund raisers to help cover the expense of the building and equipment. We have 15 members in the department who work very hard, along with our contributory members and Board of Directors, to keep the community in which we live, safe. If anyone who deserves a pat on the back this department does. As stated before we started with a hole in the ground. And you can see that this department has become a very successful and dedicated fire department