Station 7 was built and opened in 1958. It opened with 1 paid
firefighter and a volunteer company. The St Brides Volunteer Company
purchased a used ambulance shortly thereafter to augment the 1 engine
that Norfolk County purchased (1959 Ford/American La France 500/750).
The station was originally built as a community center with teenage
dances on weekends. The station continues to be the voting place for
the Pleasant Grove Voting District. The original station had 2 small
bays to house equipment.
In 1977 a bay was added to house a tanker. The station has been
totally rebuilt, inside and outside, to better blend into the business
we now perform. We protect a large area of south Chesapeake. We have
mutual aid agreements and respond regularly, both fire and rescue, with
Virginia Beach, Northwest Radio Station, and Currituck County, North
Carolina.
Station 7 now houses 1 engine (2007 Pierce Quantum
Pumper/Tanker), and 1 medic unit (1995 Ford/First Response). Our
assigned personnel is 3 firefighters on the engine, and 2 paramedics on
the medic.
Station 7 does not handle the call volume that some of the
northern stations do, so we have extra duties assigned. We handle all of
the ground ladder testing for the fire department. We are the Personal
Accountability station, handling all of the supplies and design of the
accountability system components. We also have our own sign shop. We
mark helmets, assist with vehicle marking, make accountability names and
numbers for the members of the department.
The location of the station, within 5 miles of the North Carolina
border, has given the members assigned here to calling themselves "The
Border Patrol". If you have visited the outer banks of North Carolina,
you have probably passed our station. We realize that you don't want to
get out of the line of traffic, so just "beep" when you pass!
Equipment housed at Station 7: