Washington Texas VFD

We are the volunteers and public service members for the Washington, Texas Volunteer Fire Department.
Our current volunteer fire station was founded 44 years ago in 1972 by the charter members after the original Frieden's church built back in 1880 burned to the ground and folks started talking about the importance of fire safety for our historical community.
Some of these same charter members still serve our community today and work tirelessly to operate the Volunteer Fire Department funded solely by the donations of the Washington County residents who live and work in our Response Area.
Our community is unique to Texas like no other because our community is the Birthplace of Texas. Our Volunteer Fire Department protects and serves not only our personal and business properties but one of our state's most treasured museums and parks: The Washington on the Brazos State Park where the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico was signed on March 2, 1836 by our founding fathers.
Since 1972, our community has grown by leaps and bounds and has thousands of people living in the 62 square miles served by our Volunteer Fire Department. Recent developments for several master-planned communities have already been developed or are in development now.
These new communities such as Gates Ranch, The Ranches of Doe Run and the Hatfield Plantations are very large, encompass thousands of acres and have many new homesteads.
Our Volunteer Fire Department serves a very broad economic demographic, ranging from the very wealthy to the very poor. Because we lack the necessary means and the proper equipment, our volunteers are struggling to protect and serve these newly developed and expansive homesteads in the event of an emergency.
These new residents and communities have had a huge impact on our Volunteer Fire Department which operates our response area with only 20 Volunteer Fire Fighters. These valuable public servants act as our first responders on a daily basis. Not only do these volunteers fight fires, and respond to resident emergencies, they also play a very large part in community education. Our volunteers educate our community members daily on many different topics ranging from education for the proper way to store combustibles, to answering concerns on how to deal with a grease fire on a stove top. And this is all accomplished without receiving any sort of Impact Fee from the state of Texas to defray costs.
Our Response Area is bordered by the Brazos River and Bluff Road on the north, the Brazos River and FM 1370 on the east, Old Plantation Road on the south, and FM 390N on the west side.
Our current fire-truck-storage building is now 40-years old and was outgrown long ago. Built in 1976, the building is really starting to show its age. It is located at the intersection of FM 1155 and Bosse Road just across the street from the re-built Frieden's Church. The present building is really just a storage barn built back in 1972 in an effort to store two fire trucks. Now with a larger community to service, the truck fleet has grown to five trucks and those trucks are jam-packed into the same facility originally built for two! We are currently landlocked on a .365-acre tract of land with no room for expansion.
Fortunately for us, one of our gracious charter Volunteer Fire Department members, Robert Jensen recently donated a much larger tract of land (2.5 acres) to us to help us make this dream a reality.
Our vision for a new Washington, Texas Volunteer Fire Department and Community Training Center is simple but designed to be an effective and integral asset for Washington County and the surrounding communities.
We have plans to build a facility which will allow our fire fighters to operate 24-hours a day and seven days a week if the need arises.
We have the following three goals in mind for our new Community Home:
1. Provide a 24-Hour Fire Response and Rescue Facility that is Emergency Medical Service Capable (EMS).
a. Washington County does not currently have an Emergency Services District (ESD) meaning it is not publicly funded and operates solely on donations from the community.
b. Each year, we operate the Fire Department with an Annual Operating fund of approximately $30,000.
c. Currently, our Volunteer Fire Department is one of 11 area fire departments which respond to all auto alarms in a “Mutual Aid Agreement”. All of these departments are Volunteer Fire Departments with the exception of the Brenham Fire Department. The 11 area Fire Departments are as follows:
1. Berlin – Mill Creek VFD
2. Brenham FD
3. Burton VFD
4. Chappell Hill VFD
5. Gay Hill/Mound/Cedar VFD
6. Latium VFD
7. Meyersville VFD
8. Prairie Hill/Rocky VFD
9. Rocky Creek VFD
10. Salem VFD
11. Washington
2. Offer Education to the Community
a. Commercial, Residential and Farmland Fire Safety Training
b. Forestry Education
c. First Aid and CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Certification
d. General Community Awareness Meetings
e. Annual National Night Out
f. Fundraisers for the Fire Department and other Community Sponsored Activities
3. Provide a Central Location for Emergency Staging Areas in an Emergency or Natural Disaster
a. EMS Staging for Catastrophic Events
b. Tornado Warning/Alert System
c. Hurricane Supply Distribution
d. Red Cross Staging Area
Our plans include erecting a custom Mueller metal building, with a T-shaped floor plan. The 12,200 square foot building will be erected on 2.6 acres of land located at 15250 Hwy. 105, in Washington, Texas.
Out of the 12,200 sf., 6,800 sf. will be allocated to a fire truck/apparatus bay area which will be used to house the five fire trucks and associated equipment (hoses, generators, uniforms, ladders, etc.). This same area will include additional storage for Red Cross or other EMS units. No air-conditioning is planned for the fire truck bay Area but we have projected costs for heating this location during the cold months.
Approximately 5,500 sf. will be air-conditioned/heated and will be used for kitchen facilities, a day room and a community education center to accommodate at least 40 people (see item 2, Offer Education to the Community noted above). The remainder of this square footage will allow for firefighter sleeping areas, two showers, an exercise room, and four small administrative offices for the Command Center, Fire Chief, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Lastly, the property and improvements will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and have a public parking area for at least 30 vehicles. Please help us BUILD for the FUTURE of Washington County and PROTECT the Birthplace of Texas!