Goochland County Fire-Rescue And Emergency Services

Goochland County Fire-Rescue traces its roots to October 1951, when the loss of the Dover Baptist Church to fire spurred local residents to organize the Dover-Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department. What began as a single Manakin company grew through the 1950s and 60s into a countywide network of six volunteer fire companies, each of which eventually added its own rescue squad and ambulance. The department's name changed twice as it grew, becoming Goochland County Volunteer Fire Department in 1960 and Goochland County Fire-Rescue Department Volunteer Association, Inc. in 1982.

The organization shifted toward a combination model starting in the late 1990s: a full-time Fire-Rescue Secretary was hired in 1981, a career Director of Fire-Rescue in 1998, and the first career Fire Chief in 2002. In 2009, the county hired its first group of ten career Firefighter/EMS providers, replacing a contract ambulance vendor and establishing the combination career-and-volunteer model that continues today. A seventh fire-rescue district, Station 8 in Sandy Hook, was added decades later as the county's first new district in over 60 years.

Today Goochland County Fire-Rescue operates out of seven numbered stations plus the Henley Fire-Rescue Training Center, staffed by a blend of career and volunteer firefighter/EMS personnel who respond to fire, EMS, hazardous materials, water rescue, and other emergencies across the county's fire-EMS districts.

Goochland County Fire-Rescue hires full-time Firefighter/EMS personnel at the Pre-Certified and Fire Recruit levels, and separately recruits volunteer Firefighter, EMS, and Auxiliary members at all six volunteer-era stations. As of this writing there are no open full-time Firefighter/EMS positions, but the department continuously accepts volunteer applications and applicants do not need to be county residents to apply.