| Department History |
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In Fairfax County south of Alexandria along U.S. Route One, there was a vast, underserved area bordered by the Potomac River on the east, extending west toward Franconia and south for miles to Fort Belvoir. The Office of Civil Defense took note of the inadequate fire and rescue protection here and was in contact with one of the residents of Groveton, a community which straddled Route One three miles south of the Alexandria City line. He was Col. Waldron Leonard, who was an important motivating force in convincing local residents to take action and form their own fire company. |
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In 1942 Col. Leonard purchased two adjacent lots at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Franklin Street and paid $800 for them. Construction of the first station began in May, 1942 and was completed by Christmas. The building was colonial in style with three apparatus bays facing north. As the community grew and required more services, additions to the orginal structure became necessary. Two rescue squad bays, a hose tower, and a ready room were added in 1951. In 1957 a watch room with office above provided much needed extra space, along with a new bunk room and brass pole. |
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Just what to call the new fire company was something of a problem. Although the 'Groveton Vol. Fire Department' seemed a logical choice, Col. Leonard was opposed to this. Instead, the name was taken from the motel at the intersection of Route One and King's Highway - the "Penn~Daw" Motor Hotel, established by S. Cooper Dawson and a Detroit builder, E.L. Pennell in 1928.The company also was officially assigned the number "11", since it was the eleventh to enter the Fairfax County network of fire stations. |
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Growth of the area after the war forced the County to hire ten full ~ time, paid firefighters in 1949 to work in several stations, at first mainly to drive apparatus to fire scenes for the volunteers to use. Joseph H. Dove was the first "paid man" at Penn ~ Daw. Others were gradually added as the need required, including Chester Chinn, E.C. "Brother" Trice, Jack Bailey, and Walter "Buggs" Seablom. In 1963 Fairfax County's first totally County ~ financed piece of apparatus, an 85 ~ foot Maxim aerial ladder truck was placed in service at the Penn ~ Daw station |
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Growth in Fairfax County through the 1950's and 1960's brought with it the need for a full time, professional emergency staff. Penn ~ Daw's calls had risen from about 300 per year in 1945 to 2500 in 1966. The number of paid firefighters assigned to Company 11 increased steadily. The volunteers realized that the citizens of their district deserved a level of service that they would not be able to provide much longer. As well, the lots on which the firehouse had been orginally built could not accommodate any further buildout. It became clear that a new station would be needed. The property at the corner of Beddoo Street and Hulvey Terrace was an ideal new location in the high Beacon Hill area eliminating the difficult climb up Richmond Highway from the old station on southbound runs. Construction of the new station featured a mainly one ~ level plan, with bays in front and back permitting drive ~ parking. |
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On November 4, 1967, Fairfax County Supervisor Joe Alexander and 8th District Rep. William Scott presided at the dedication of the facility. The volunteers turned over the deed to the station and vehicles to Fairfax County in December, 1968 - the first company in the County to do so. After thirty years of providing unselfish, first ~ line service to their area and laying the foundation for a professional department, they assumed a supportive role which they play even to this day. |
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In 1993 or 1994 Atech Randy Schwartz and Mtech Tim Sparrow sat around the kitchen table trying to think of a motto for the station and came up with the phrase (Pride of The Highway). Chief Jim O’Neal was the Battalion Chief, Captain Jim Heider was at Station 11, Captain Mike Ward at FS09 and Captain Roger Wilson was at FS24. Truck 11 had just gotten the power call siren and Chief O’Neal was always happy to hear that noise arriving on the scene. Pride was very high among the crews on the highway, especially at station 11. At the time the personnel at FS11 felt like they owned the highway and had the most pride in the job. The logo was a generic label from some company that they adapted with our saying. Lieutenant Ed Dodson worked on the painting on the kitchen wall. And as always there was controversy, not all of the units were on the original decal (day time ambulance) and people said we don't run ladders we run trucks. But the painting was complete and has become the logo for the Station know as Penn Daw Fire Station 11 (Pride of The Highway) |
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