Bill Text: VA HJR949 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Commending the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-02-23 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ949ER) [HJR949 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-HJR949-Introduced.html
WHEREAS, in 2017, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department is celebrating 75 years of service to the residents of Fairfax County by aiding in the preservation of life and property; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department, also known as Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Station 12, has a rich history in the community and is staffed by dedicated, highly-trained volunteers and career professionals who are housed in a new environmentally-friendly, world-class station; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department was incorporated on May 5, 1942, as the Forestville Volunteer Fire Department, to serve Forestville and Fairfax County as an auxiliary to the McLean Volunteer Fire Department; and
WHEREAS, founded with 29 dues-paying members, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department's first piece of equipment was a 1942 Chevrolet truck with a 500-gallon tank and front-mounted 500-gallon-per-minute pump; and
WHEREAS, land for the first fire house was donated on August 1, 1942, and the name was changed to the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department in November 1955; and
WHEREAS, in 1961, a new fire station was completed and five years later sleeping and living quarters were added to the building to accommodate the new full-time paid staff assigned to 24-hour coverage to supplement the volunteers; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department's brand new Station 12 opened in November 2011; it is certified as a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold building because of the green technologies used in its construction, the first Fairfax County government building to meet this standard; and
WHEREAS, the dedicated men and women of Northern Virginia who make up the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department donate their time to serve as firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and administrative support staff; and
WHEREAS, there are 22 career firefighters on duty at the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department today, in addition to the 40 volunteer members who serve in operational and administrative positions; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department owns five of the emergency vehicles housed at the station and was the first department in Fairfax County to have four-wheel drive ambulances; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department works closely with the Fairfax Fire and Rescue Department by pooling resources and providing support at community events throughout Fairfax County, keeping the public safety of the citizens of Great Falls foremost in mind; and
WHEREAS, the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department is thankful for the generous and continuing support of the Great Falls community and its leaders, without whom construction of the new state-of-the-art fire station would not have been possible; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department on the 75th anniversary of its founding; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Douglas Wessel, chief of the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department, as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for the department's honorable service preserving the life and property of the residents of Great Falls and Fairfax County.
