The following information has been derived from past business meeting minutes, letters and stories from past members. If you have additional history or more accurate information, please contact Weston Davis.
Beach City Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1967. W.V. Lawrence served as the first Chief and W.D. Bush the first President. The needs of the area were simple. The coverage was almost entirely rural and the fires were either grass fires or barn fires. The department existed on the donations of the farmers around the area and to some extent on the private funds the members contributed to maintain the equipment and buy gas. The budget during these years seldom exceeded $5,000.
It is unknown why, but on April 7th 1980 the name was changed to Tri-City Beach VFD and incorporated as such. At which time Doyle Niemtschk served as both Fire Chief and President.
In April of 1999 the membership voted to change the department's name back to Beach City Volunteer Fire Department and amended the Articles of Incorporation. At which time Jim Josey served as Fire Chief and Mike Muir as President. The officers then filed for and received status as a 501 (c) (3) with the IRS.
The first of two vehicles purchased was a 4-wheel drive Dodge with a 350-gallon tank built in the 1950's and obtained as surplus property from the Federal government. It had a 24-volt electrical system. We could never get it to run more than 45 miles per hour. This limit as to its top speed was probably a good thing since the brakes were so bad. Engine drag and down shifting were the most effective means of slowing this vehicle down. It had a Briggs and Stratton engine mounted on the back of the truck to pump water. Two members drove it down from Oklahoma and it took them a long time.
The second
vehicle was our pride and joy. A pumper/tanker on a 1976 Chevy Truck Chassis
with a water capacity of 1,400 gallons. At first a station wasn’t possible so
the 4-wheel drive vehicle was stored at a garage behind the Tri City Beach
grocery store. Mr. and Mrs. Barr owned the grocery store and at one time Mr.
Barr was the fire chief.
The firemen were activated by a special ring on their telephones. The first
member to answer the phone had to call all the other firemen to inform them of
the call.
OPERATIONS TODAY
Budget requirements have grown as the area has expanded to its current population of 1,700 residents over 35 square miles. Once again the area has taken a sharp up turn in population, home building and industry. We are serving an ever-growing community on a very limited budget. We operate on an estimated budget of $45,000.00 on a good year. This allows us to maintain the priorities, while responding to a variety of calls ranging from Residential, Industrial, Farm, Oil well, Pipelines, Interstate accidents, Haz-Mat, and Railroad events.
The Chief, Tactical officers, Board Members and Volunteers receive no compensation for their services or time. We provide an excellent service with highly dedicated, knowledgeable volunteers who take pride in what we do. We continually struggle to maintain the quality service our community has grown to expect. We struggle to provide the adequate gear and equipment to protect our members in the harshest of atmospheres.