The York County Department of Fire and Life Safety was not always as it is now. Prior to 1954, York County government depended upon Warwick County (now a part of the City of Newport News), the Naval Mine Warfare School FD (now US Coast Guard Station Yorktown), the Naval Mine Depot (now Naval Weapons Station Yorktown), and the National Park Service for fire protection, as well as Amory Funeral Home for ambulance service.  All of that changed fifty years ago on April 27, 1954 when a group of community minded citizens met at Amory Funeral Home and organized the York Volunteer Fire Department (YVFD), known to some as the York Volunteer Fire Department #1 or the Grafton-Bethel Volunteer Fire Department.

Using a ten-cent fire levy adopted by the County and the proceeds obtained from raffling off a 1954 Dodge automobile, the volunteers purchased its first pumper, a 1955 Dodge chassis and a Howe pump and fire engine body.  While waiting for the Dodge to be built, the volunteers made use of a chemical truck with a front mount 250 gpm (gallons per minute) pump loaned to them by the Howe Fire Apparatus Company and kept in a garage built next to the Grafton Garage located on Route 17.  The first station was a single bay cinder block building; it had a door in the back of the bay leading to a single room. A siren, mounted on a pole outside the station, alerted everyone that there was a call.

1955 Dodge/Howe Pumper (Still Owned by the Department)

Fire Station Located at Grafton Garage

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