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HISTORY OF THE WEIRTON FIRE
SERVICE
The community now known as Weirton was started in 1909 by Ernest
T. Weir, for whom the city is named. When the first Weirton
mills were built, some 25 company houses were constructed on
nearby hillsides. On July 1, 1947 the City of Weirton was
incorporated and received it's charter from the State of West
Virginia. It consists of five communities: Holiday's Cove,
Weircrest, Weirton Heights Marland Heights, and Downtown
Weirton. Weirton is centrally located amongst major cities.
The City of Weirton Fire Department also started July 1, 1947. At the time, it
consisted of a Chief and six firefighters. A pumper truck was donated to the
department by the Weirton Steel Corporation. There were three volunteer departments
in the City that remained in existence until July 1, 2002. That year saw the creation of the
Volunteer Division where many of the volunteers from the three departments
joined. Some of their equipment was absorbed to help equip the new volunteers.
The City had finally created one combination department and partially staffed 2
paid/career engines/stations.
The first Weirton station was located on County Road where the Cities first
municipal building was located. In 1973, the City Department moved its
headquarters behind the Milsop Community Center. It is listed as station 1 on
the Station Location Map. In May of 1997, the Gilson Avenue Station was manned
with career personnel. The two stations are manned around the clock. The
volunteer personnel run out of all four stations with the Marland Heights
Station being their primary base of operations. They use this station for a
variety of events such as training and a meeting place for their Volunteer
Firefighters association.
In 1995, the City Fire Department started medical first responder program in
conjunction with the Weirton Area Ambulance And Rescue Squad, Inc. (WAARS). It
has been very successful with saving many lives. The program has received high
praise from the State of West Virginia and others.
Today 90% of the career personnel are trained to the HAzardous Materials
Technician Level with 12 career and 1 volunteer firefighters on the West
Virginia Weapons of Mass Destruction Regional Response Team. In 2002 an Office
Of Emergency Management was created in the City of Weirton and is administrated
out of the City Fire Department. The department is trained and equipped for many
types of rescue.
July 1, 2004 marked a new era in dispatching with the creation of a
centralized Hancock County 911 Dispatch Center located in New Cumberland, West
Virginia. Also in 2004, a new 100' Sutphen ladder truck was placed in service.
Presently there are 22 career and 40 volunteer professional personnel. Training,
purchasing new equipment and recruiting new volunteer personnel is ongoing.
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