About Us
Who We Are
The West Side Volunteer Fire Department was first chartered in 1948. Since then, we have grown leaps and bounds to become the fire department of today. Originally, as the affectionately named "old-timers" tell it, the fire department building was across the street on the property that now houses the 7-11 Convenience store. The building that the fire department occupied was a "hut" style building, just large enough to house the single fire truck that was operated in that era. Our founding members responded frequently to areas such as Nitro, St. Albans, Teays Valley, Tornado, Lakewood, and beyond. Due to this large response area, we were nick-named "World Wide West Side," a name that we hold close to our hearts.
We now have five trucks that have a Class-A pump rating. Of those four trucks, three of them are designated as engines, one as a rescue, and one as a tanker. We have a "squad" that is a general purpose truck that is used for the hard to reach roads, brush fires and auto accidents. We also have a cutting edge Polaris 6x6 off-road utility vehicle that is used for woodland rescue and firefighting.
Our department consists of over 45 ALL VOLUNTEER members, that are dedicated to providing the best life saving services around.
