Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company getting upgrades to building

SHENANDOAH, Va. (WHSV) - The Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company broke ground on renovations that will expand and improve its firehouse.

The fire company has been in this building since 1968.

“Currently we have apparatus that sits outside including our rescue bed and our brush truck,” Dustin Lucas, fire chief at the Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company said.

However, that’s about to change.

Soon all equipment will have a home inside the Shenandoah Volunteer Fire Company house.

“The renovation will include a 5600 square foot building which will incorporate a five-bay expansion to the fire department,” Travis Lam, with Lam Construction, said.

Five bays will be added to the existing building on the sides and around the back.

This will give the fire company 10 bays for all apparatus and equipment storage.

“Within the facility, we added a de-con room for bunker gear, added a shower for guys to decontaminate after a fire scene but just more or less the primary purpose is to house fire apparatus and get equipment from being outside to inside within a controlled environment,” Lucas said.

Lucas said it has been more than 50 years since the fire company got any upgrade and in that time the fire service in the town of Shenandoah has grown in trucks and equipment.

“The last couple of pumpers we ordered we had to downsize you know just based on the current length of our building now we had to shorten the apparatus up which in turn cost the company more money you know but just to house fire apparatus and have custom spec pumpers to have them as big or as small as we need to have them,” Lucas said.

Lucas said he is thankful for the continued support the community gives to the fire company.

“That means a lot having a lot of the older guys here that built this place to where we are today and we’ve got a lot to be proud of and I’m proud of every one of y’all for what we’ve accomplished and what we are going too from here on out,” Lucas said in his speech before the ground breaking ceremony.

Lams Construction is slated to complete the project by Oct of this year.