ABOUT US
When Belpre became an organized Village in 1902 they did not have a fire company, only neighbors close to the fire passing buckets hoping to put it out. In June 1908 the Village Council started taking steps to form a volunteer fire company. On January 1, 1910 the Village of Belpre had its first organized volunteer fire department.
On Nov. 12, 1909 the Village council appointed Fred Dressel as its first fire chief. Chief Dressel was in charge of organizing the department and by the end of the month he had the departments first members.
Just after the first of the year a new chemical fire engine arrived from Elimira, New York for a thirty day test. The engine was tested and attainted up to 300 pounds of pressure.
The first fire station was erected on the property Chief Dressel. It housed the chemical engine and was located in the center of town. To alert firemen of a fire the bell at the methodist church was used.
Chief Dressel resigned in late 1911 due to conflicts with the fire company and Village. J. Sidney Stone was elected chief along with other new officers. The fire company met with the Village Council to try and get better equipment and more manpower. The Village council would not approve the manpower and kept posponing the approval of new equipment. Over the next several month firemen were slowly leaving the fire company.
From 1912 to 1936 there was no official fire company in Belpre. When there was a major fire they would call for help from Parkersburg.
Today
The Belpre Volunteer Fire Department has 35 active members. Its equipement includes 3 engines, 1 tower truck, 1 ladder truck, 1 heavy rescue truck, and 2 emergency squads. This equipment is housed in two station's located on opposite ends of the city. The BVFD has a training facility witch can be used for live burns, auto extracation, search and rescue, and numerous other training exerices