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Fox
Chapel VFD Department History:
Fox Chapel Volunteer Fire Department circa 1991
Fox Chapel Volunteer Fire Department was originally
started by the Fox Chapel Authority, but was disbanded
at the end of World War II. At that time, Senator William
Flynn, who owned nearby Beechwood Farms, purchased two
Army Surplus fire trucks. One of which was kept at the
Borough building and one that was designated to Beechwood
Farms. Paul Boyle, the farm's foreman, trained the other
workers on how to use the truck.
Fox Chapel Volunteer Fire Department circa 1979.
In August of 1953, a group of men including Hap Humes,
Joe Becker, and Bob Fay met at the American Legion in
Aspinwall with plans to charter a new volunteer fire
company for the Fox Chapel area. They each attended
Allegheny County's fire school and were educated further
by the Guyasuta Fire Department.
They were fortunate enough to have a large amount of
volunteers, but equipment was scarce. For instance,
they were not radio dispatched. The local water plant
was responsible for taking all fire emergency calls
and contacting Beechwood Farms with the appropriate
information. Those on duty were responsible for sounding
the fire alarm by manually flipping the switch at the
base of the siren pole. In wasn't until 1958 that they
started using radios on the county wide dispatch service.
 The
following is a history of departmental vehicles owned
and operated by the FCVFD over the years.
The first truck was a 1939 Diamond T Pumper that was
bought from the Fox Chapel Authority. In 1947 they bought
a 4-wheel drive Army surplus fire truck still packed
in shipping grease and a 2-wheel drive Chevy Pumper. |
Those were followed by 1955 and 1958 Mack 750 Pumpers.
In 1955, they erected a building for department trucks
at Station #1, and in 1960 they built one for Truck
#2 across from Beechwood Farms.
1955 Mack B 750 Pumper
In 1960 they also bought an International Mini-pumper
and sent the Diamond T Pumper to Kennywood where it
went on display. In 1975 and 1978 they purchased Mack
CF Pumpers, and in 1982 they bought a Pierce Mini-Pumper
to replace the International Mini-Pumper.
Fox Chapel VFD Station 2
The newest departmental trucks are the two Seagrave
Pumpers, a Marion-built Heavy Rescue and a Marion-built
Light Pumper. The 1955 Mack Pumper cost $18,000, and
the latest Seagrave Pumper purchased in 1998 cost $210,000.
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