History of the fire service in the Town of Laurenville.
The Town of Laurenville was established in 1807. It was predominately a mill town where the villages grew out around the mills. The mills thrived throughout the 1800's with only the occasional, however usually devastating fire slowing them down. During this time the only fire protection these mills had were the fire brigades set up by the mill, consisting of mill workers. In 1890 the first organized fire department was established in the Markoag village of Laurenville. The Markoag Fire District not only protected the mills, but all of the buildings in its district. Four years later the village of Nathanville followed suit and created the Nathanville Fire District. This proved to be the beginning of a new era of fire service in the town.
In 1899 with the establishment of the Mt. Evan's Ski Area on Mt. Evans only a few years eariler, and the subsequent building of mountain "homes", a group of mountaineers formed the Mt. Evans Fire Company, protecting Mt. Evans and its surroundings. 1908 brought the first organized fire service to the eastern part of town when the Randallville Fire District formed. RFD at the time protected not only Randallville village, but also the villages of Calytonville and Mullen and eventually Mullen Field landing strip.
Nothing changed in Laurenville's fire service until 1927, when the people of the village of Edgewood, after always having to worry about which of the surrounding fire departments would come to their aid when needed, formed the Edgewood Fire District. Again almost two decades of no changes followed. It wasn't until 1945, after Mullen Field became Mullen Airport, and the small plane air traffic became more than what the Randallville Fire District could handle, the Mullen Fire Protection District was established to protect the airport and its surrounding area. The six districts, Markoag, Nathanville, Mt. Evans, Randallville, Edgewood, and Mullen would remain independent from each other for another 33 years.
In 1978 a trend was started that wasn't finished until 2007. The first change in service happened when the Markoag Fire District and the Mt. Evans Fire Company merged, keeping the Markoag name. Also merging the following year was the Randallville and Mullen fire districts, using Randallville as its name due to its longer history. That same year Nathanville Fire District opened a second station in the south side of the district located near the newly built highway Rt. 108, and also near many lakes. The lake proximity lead to the new station being referred to as the "Lakeville Station". At the close of the 1970's there were four fire districts operating out of seven stations.
Eighteen years followed before any more changes occured. During this time volunteers started receiving stipends based on the amount of runs they made. They would now be called paid-on-call firefighters. Also some districts hired a small number of full time firefighters to supplement the paid-on-call's and also for any administrative duties needed. And after five years of discussion, Randallville Fire District agreed to take over aircraft rescue firefighting services for Mullen Airport in 1993.
In 1996 the first use of the name Laurenville Fire District began when Nathanville and Randallville Fire Districts' merged. With this merger the now three fire districts decided to renumber all of their apparatus and stations in order to reduce redundency. The Markoag district took number one since the Markoag district was the town's first fire district, and number five for the Mt. Evans station. The new Laurenville district took the number two for Nathanville, the second district in town, number three for the Randallville station, number six for the Mullen station, and number seven for the Lakeville station. That left number four for the Edgewod district. Edgewood Fire District would see the writing on the wall and merge into the Laurenville Fire District four years later in 2000.
The year 2007 saw the final piece of the town wide fire district become reality when the Markoag and Laurenville Fire Districts merged. The Laurenville Fire District now consists of:
Station 1: Markoag, Station 2: Nathanville, Station 3: Randallville, Station 4: Edgewood, Station 5: Mt. Evans, Station 6: Mullen, Station 7: Lakeville. A new headquarters station has opened in Nathanville, It is designated station two.
In 1899 with the establishment of the Mt. Evan's Ski Area on Mt. Evans only a few years eariler, and the subsequent building of mountain "homes", a group of mountaineers formed the Mt. Evans Fire Company, protecting Mt. Evans and its surroundings. 1908 brought the first organized fire service to the eastern part of town when the Randallville Fire District formed. RFD at the time protected not only Randallville village, but also the villages of Calytonville and Mullen and eventually Mullen Field landing strip.
Nothing changed in Laurenville's fire service until 1927, when the people of the village of Edgewood, after always having to worry about which of the surrounding fire departments would come to their aid when needed, formed the Edgewood Fire District. Again almost two decades of no changes followed. It wasn't until 1945, after Mullen Field became Mullen Airport, and the small plane air traffic became more than what the Randallville Fire District could handle, the Mullen Fire Protection District was established to protect the airport and its surrounding area. The six districts, Markoag, Nathanville, Mt. Evans, Randallville, Edgewood, and Mullen would remain independent from each other for another 33 years.
In 1978 a trend was started that wasn't finished until 2007. The first change in service happened when the Markoag Fire District and the Mt. Evans Fire Company merged, keeping the Markoag name. Also merging the following year was the Randallville and Mullen fire districts, using Randallville as its name due to its longer history. That same year Nathanville Fire District opened a second station in the south side of the district located near the newly built highway Rt. 108, and also near many lakes. The lake proximity lead to the new station being referred to as the "Lakeville Station". At the close of the 1970's there were four fire districts operating out of seven stations.
Eighteen years followed before any more changes occured. During this time volunteers started receiving stipends based on the amount of runs they made. They would now be called paid-on-call firefighters. Also some districts hired a small number of full time firefighters to supplement the paid-on-call's and also for any administrative duties needed. And after five years of discussion, Randallville Fire District agreed to take over aircraft rescue firefighting services for Mullen Airport in 1993.
In 1996 the first use of the name Laurenville Fire District began when Nathanville and Randallville Fire Districts' merged. With this merger the now three fire districts decided to renumber all of their apparatus and stations in order to reduce redundency. The Markoag district took number one since the Markoag district was the town's first fire district, and number five for the Mt. Evans station. The new Laurenville district took the number two for Nathanville, the second district in town, number three for the Randallville station, number six for the Mullen station, and number seven for the Lakeville station. That left number four for the Edgewod district. Edgewood Fire District would see the writing on the wall and merge into the Laurenville Fire District four years later in 2000.
The year 2007 saw the final piece of the town wide fire district become reality when the Markoag and Laurenville Fire Districts merged. The Laurenville Fire District now consists of:
Station 1: Markoag, Station 2: Nathanville, Station 3: Randallville, Station 4: Edgewood, Station 5: Mt. Evans, Station 6: Mullen, Station 7: Lakeville. A new headquarters station has opened in Nathanville, It is designated station two.