In October 1951 Gilbert Moore was passing Dover Baptist Church at 3 a.m. during his delivery Route-located on Rt. 621 (Manakin Road) 1/2 mile north of Rt. 6 (River Road West) when he saw flames through the windows inside of the church building. There were no close telephones available so he had to drive to the nearest one in the village of Manakin to summon any local citizens he could. The City of Richmond Fire Department sent a truck and someone knew of Mr. Ned Willis collection of fire department equipment on his Pembroke Farm on River Road and he was called as well. Though efforts were made to extinguish this fire it was to no avail- it went to the ground - Gilbert became a member of the first fire training class.

In November 1951- 20 men in the Manakin Area began organizing the present day fire department. In March 1952 the First Fire Training Class was held-which continued for several months of training. Mr. Willis offered training grounds at the corner of River Road and Page brook Drive. First Fire badges were issued "Pembroke Farm-Goochland County-Fire Department"

February 1952- Articles of Association were drafted and approved- "Dover-Pembroke Fire Department Volunteer Association" was born. In 1960 the name changed to Goochland County Volunteer Fire Department. And again in 1982-it became Goochland County Fire-Rescue Department Volunteer Association Inc.

The First piece of equipment for Co.1 was the 1920 American LaFrance which is still housed at Manakin Co.1 this was given by Mr. Ned Willis who became the first Chief. The second piece of equipment, a John Beam high pressure fog unit that carried 450 gallons of water, was purchased from Mr. Willis. Next came a 1955 Buffalo Hose wagon 1938 model purchased by Co.1 from Richmond City for $175.00-converted by members to serve as a small pumper. Goochland carried more water on wheels than any county in the State of Virginia.

In 1953 Mr. J. W. Harmon donated an acre of land on Rt. 6 east of Rt. 621 to the fire department and a firehouse was built by the men of the department and neighbors consisting of two bays and a hose tower. These are still part of the present new building built in 1998-1999. In 1975 Three Additional bays were added. In 1990 additional property to the west was given to the department by Mr. J. C. Wheat. 1998- Mr. Fleetwood Garner donated additional land on the NE corner for drain fields ECT. A contract was let to McGuire-Hearn Inc. for $600,000.00 to build the new building. June 27, 1999 a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house was held.

As Interest grew and men were trained throughtout the county, subsequent companies were formed, Crozier Co. 2 was organized in 1953, Centerville Co. 3 in 1954, Fife Co.4 and Goochland Co.5 in 1958 and hadensville Co. 6 shortly thereafter.

1955- We were called to respond to the town of Bowling Green for a massive fire on Easter Sunday, April 10th

1956- Co. 1 organized the Auxiliary - 1958 the kitchen and restrooms were added all interior work was don’t by members.

1958- All active firemen would receive free county auto tags

1959- A furnace was purchased to heat the firehouse of Co. 1

All Calls were dispatched by Telephones in private homes- this original dispatching system was replaced by radios- obtaining 3 state police radios with 2 being placed in equipment and the third became the base station-The Radio Dispatching headquarters which served as the communications headquarters was housed at Co 1 and manned by members until it was moved to the old stone jail in 1968 when central dispatching began. The Radios shared frequencies with F/R units in the counties of Orange. Louisa, Madison, and Curlpaper.

1967 Rescue was started at company 1 Mr. C.S. Luck donated a van which was converted to the fist ambulance at Co. 1. On April 1967 First call was made on the Rescue Squad.

Fundraisers held by company 1 were Turkey shoots, suppers, dances, fireman’s follies, parking details, and Brunswick stews- to name a few

1970's the Auxiliary was re-organized and Pancake suppers became their specialty for raising money for Co. 1

1972 The 100 Year Flood from hurricane Agnes a pumper truck from Co. 1 was sent to St. Mary’s Hospital to pump water from an Ashland fire tanker to the hospitals water system because the city water treatment plant had been washed out. The men from Co. 1 remained on site for approximately 2 weeks -night and day.

1980- Co. 1 was presented an award for registering the most average hours of training per man.

Chiefs Mr. Willis was the first Chief-Earl Henley was elected in 1954 when Mr. Willis retired Earl served 34 years and retired in 1988 Howard Henley served as Assistant Chief for 30 years was appointed the 3rd chief in 1988 following brothers Earls tenure. Howard retired as Chief in 1993 after 5 years but still remains an active member of Co.1.

There have been 7 Fire chiefs since the department began in 1951 Ned Willis, Earl Henley, Howard Henley, Tommy Carter, Wayne Allen, Franklin Wise, and Ken Brown.

Presently Co. 1 still remains all volunteer with Supplement county staff assistance as needed. We are all ways seeking highly trained and motivated members to join our team.