History of the Vestavia Hills Fire Department
In 1950 the 607 residents of “a city on a hill” became part of a municipality when their community was incorporated as Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The next year Alderman R. M. Maddox was appointed to organize a fire department. The Vestavia Hills Volunteer Fire Department consisted of 12 members who utilized a motorized fire truck which had been purchased from the city of Birmingham and was already a veteran of the fire service.
The truck, built by the American LaFrance Company of Elmira New York, was delivered to Birmingham for service at Fire Station 24 in January 1928. Soon after its arrival in the Magic City, politics intervened and the destination of the truck was changed to Station 19. It served as a front-line pumper at Birmingham’s newest fire station for some 20 years. On the driver’s side of the truck was, as on every American LaFrance, a red-lined locomotive-style brass bell topped with an American eagle.
The Vestavia Hills council agreed to purchase the American LaFrance truck from Birmingham for $750 on February 21, 1951. Birmingham Fire Captain J. F. Drake trained the town’s original firefighters on the American LaFrance. As tradition called for, Captain Drake rang the bell once as the truck left the station and again upon its safe return.
In 1953 the city purchased its first new fire engine, a 1953 Ford pumper, for $9700. The American LaFrance continued in service with Vestavia Hills for 4 more years as a reserve engine before it was sold to a highway patrolman, but without its red-lined brass bell. Bill Maddox kept the bell for sentimental reasons as a reminder of the first truck. The brass bell was again placed in service on the new 1953 Ford. When the Ford was retired from service in the late 1980’s the bell was removed but not forgotten.
The American LaFrance was subsequently sold to Kurt’s Truck and Parts Company. In 1959 it was loaned to Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at the University of Alabama to serve as a parade truck, returning to Kurt’s Salvage Yard in 1961. In the 1970’s the truck was displayed as the centerpiece at a bar in Birmingham’s newly created Morris Avenue entertainment district. The bar closed not long after it opened and the truck sat locked up for several years in a vacant building before eventually making its way back to Kurt’s. A decade later a Vestavia Hills firefighter found the old LaFrance and called the Bessemer Hall of History. The Hall acquired the once proud truck and it sits there today. Part of the American LaFrance fire engine, the restored brass bell, serves the Vestavia Hills Fire Department ceremonially at retirements, promotions, and funerals.
By 1955 the first firemen, twelve volunteers, provided service from one firehouse; for their contributions they received $15 per month and free garbage pickup. The first paid members of the department began receiving a city paycheck in 1960 at a salary of $325 per month with no benefits. There were three full time firemen; Chief J. Hartley Ayers, Bill Towers and Mack Warren.
The fire department grew along with the City. The original fire station, located across Montgomery Highway from the current City Hall, was a small white house in which city business was conducted. In 1956 the first City Hall was built and the fire station was moved into the basement, affectionately referred to as “The Dungeon”.
Chief Ayer’s vision for the department included improving the ISO rating. The Insurance Service Organization grades fire departments on a scale of 1 (which is the best rating) to 10 (which represents no fire protection). The department’s Class 9 rating was costly to residents who paid high fire insurance rates. A requirement of ISO to improve the rate was a reserve fire engine, and in 1962 Bill Towers, who would serve as Fire Chief for 29 years and lead the department through a remarkable period of growth, recalled that he and Mack Warren went to Fort Rucker to pick up an old army truck the City had purchased for $100. Since the engine was blown, the two used a new garbage truck to tow the fire department’s new apparatus and arrived home before sunset, the deadline set by Mayor Bob Guilliott.
A new engine was installed along with a front-mount pump that would deliver 300 gallons per minute. Cecil Tant was hired, increasing staffing to 4. Encouraged by the paid staff, 8 volunteers, the 1953 Ford and the rebuilt army truck, Chief Ayers called for an ISO survey that resulted in an improvement to Class 6 and reduced insurance rates.
In June of 1969 Chief Ayers retired and Bill F. Towers was promoted to Fire Chief. The department’s staffing included 12 members. Station 2 was built on Columbiana Road to serve the City’s southwestward expansion and opened in April 1971 with an additional 12 firefighters. It still houses Engine 2 and Rescue 30 with 21 firefighters and firemedics.
The department’s Emergency Medical Services program was originally based at Station 2 and resulted from a 1971 accident involving three Vestavia Hills High School coaches who were killed in the city due to a runaway truck on Montgomery Highway. Soon after the tragedy a TV show called “Emergency” debuted featuring two Paramedics, John and Roy. The public’s awareness of what pre-hospital care could do to save lives was heightened and the Mayor and Council began the process of getting the first paramedics in the state trained. In 1973 the cities of Birmingham, Homewood and Vestavia Hills sent 33 firemen to the University of Alabama at Birmingham which had developed a paramedic training program. A federal grant from the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare required a rescue unit, trained and equipped personnel, and a communication network. Rescue 30, Vestavia-Hoover Fire Department, was soon put into service.
By the late 1980’s the department needed a fire station near Vestavia Hills High School. Neighborhood associations, however, objected to the plans. A compromise was worked out for the station to be built to resemble a home comparable with those of the neighborhood. Station 3 opened in April 1988 and looks like a house; the long bay and doors cannot be seen from the street. A training building was also built next to the station but out of sight of passers-by. Station 3 currently houses Engine 3, which is staffed by 12 firefighters and Engine 3-Reserve, which is unstaffed. Also in 1988, residents of Vestavia Hills voted to levy a fee upon themselves to provide for an emergency telephone system. The Communications Department now handles over 43,000 calls for service each year, including E-911 calls.
In 1991 the department opened the current four-bay Station 1 that was built to house Command Car 8, Engine 1, and Rescue 31 along with Truck 1 which is unstaffed. Station 1 is staffed by 24 firefighters and firemedics,
In 1996 the Liberty Park Joint Venture grew to the point that a fourth fire station was needed. The Joint Venture provided funds for the City to build a station and purchase a new fire engine and Advanced Cardiac Life Support equipment. The department had grown to include 61 members by the end of 1996. Station 4 currently houses Engine 4 with 12 firefighters assigned.
In 1998 Alberto C. “Butch” Zaragoza, Jr., was appointed Fire Chief, a position he held until 2008, retiring to run for Mayor of the City. He won the election and took office that fall. Chief Zaragoza had joined the department in 1969 and had previously served as Fire Marshal and Assistant Chief. During his tenure the department grew and increased the value it added to the community. The department also became regarded regionally because of the Chief’s active role in statewide professional organizations and his service as President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Southeastern Division.
As a pioneer in Emergency Medical Services, the department responded to many medical calls, provided advanced care, but then relinquished care to ambulance crews. After experiencing long waits to transport the injured and ill to area hospitals, the department purchased two rescue/transport vehicles in 2000 and was able to continue treatment until the patients’ care was transferred at the hospital.
The 2002 annexation of the Cahaba Heights community by Vestavia Hills included assuming operations of the Cahaba Height Fire Department. Station 5 currently houses Engine 5, Rescue 34 and is staffed by 21 firefighters and firemedics.
As the fire service evolved into an all-hazards response role nationally, the Vestavia Hills Fire Department responded to increasing numbers of calls that required rescue of a technical nature as well as medical care. The area’s rugged terrain provided challenges to firefighters arriving at the scene of falls. Trench collapses, confined space rescues, and water rescues had also been the reason for calls to the department. Preparation for such calls had already begun when federal and state initiatives became available and accelerated development of capabilities in those disciplines. The department’s technical rescue assets constitute Medium Rescue 5 of the Alabama Mutual Aid System, and Vestavia Hills Fire Department is ready to provide those services within the City as well as in the greater community.
Today the department operates from five fire stations staffed by 98 members who are cross-trained in a number of disciplines to preserve life and protect property. Vestavia Hills Fire provides a host of emergency and non-emergency services to the community including fire suppression and prevention, emergency medical services, hazardous materials response, and technical rescue, any of which can be accessed with the touch of 3 digits on a telephone keypad.