On
November 8, 1908 at 5:30 a.m., a gentleman named Towles Terrell fell
asleep while smoking a cigarette. The resulting fire began to
consume buildings around the main portions of Town of Orange along
Railroad Avenue. The only night policeman for the town noticed smoke
shortly after 5:30 a.m. and sounded the community alarm by ringing
the bells of the Orange Baptist Church. Citizens responded to the
alarm since there was no established fire company in Orange. It was
reported that every citizen brought a bucket to fight the fire. The
community did own an antique hand-drawn Pumper, which was placed
into service from nearby wells. Since there was no public water
system, wells throughout the town were being utilized. The fire
continued to grow. At 8:00 a.m., a special telegraph was sent to
Charlottesville, Virginia requesting help to fight a now raging
inferno, which enveloped all of the business community of the town.
A special train arrived at 9:00 a.m. with 14 Charlottesville
firefighters, a steamer, 3 horses, a railroad tanker car of water,
and much needed firefighting equipment. The fire was extinguished
later that night. This was the Great Fire of Orange. In response to
this fire, a public water system was installed in 1910.Another
great fire occurred within the county in 1916. This fire was in
Gordonsville, which was the hub of the county at that time. A
volunteer fire company was begun in Gordonsville following the fire.
On January 24, 1921 a group of citizens met to begin the
formation of the Orange Volunteer Fire Company. Led by A.J. Harlow,
the Mayor of Orange, a campaign was initiated to obtain funds for
purchasing more fire fighting equipment. Also, E.H. Rouse was
appointed the first Fire Chief of the company. Dr. Rouse, as he was
called, was a pharmacist in town and often parked the company’s only
motor driven Pumper at his store. A small firehouse was constructed
behind the Orange Courthouse from donated labor and donated
materials. The company operated out of this building until 1939 when
it sold the building to Orange County for office space for $4,000.
Under Dr. Rouse uniforms consisting of white shirts, pants, and
hats with red chest sashes were created. Dr. Rouse organized
athletic teams and served as the coach. He also oversaw the
competition teams for the Virginia State Fire Convention. The
earliest record of the Orange team winning an event was reel team in
1925. Dr. Rouse organized a marching band in the 1930’s. Many of the
O.V.F.C. members had never played a musical instrument, but within 1
year they were giving musical concerts and marching in parades. The
base drum from the original band is still located at O.V.F.C.
In 1938, the company moved to the corner of Belleview Avenue and
Main Street into a new building which cost $32,000. This building
was three stories tall, had 18 rooms, a large banquet room including
a full kitchen, and a truck room that fronted Main Street. At the
time of the move, the company had three units: a salvage truck, a
Pumper, and a ladder truck. An addition was made to this building in
the early 1960’s to allow parking of the newer, larger fire
apparatus. The company remained at this location until 1984.
In 1984, the current Orange Volunteer Fire Company building was
completed. At a cost of $550,000, the building was built for the
future. It has four drive-through bays, meeting rooms, offices,
recreation room, and equipment rooms. The building is located on the
company’s fairgrounds near the intersection of Caroline Street and
Route 20.
The Company has won hundreds of trophies for its fire fighting
equipment, state competitions, athletic teams, the original band,
and parade appearances throughout the years. Noted in these, are
nine VSFA State Championships including 6 in a row between 1997 -
2002. Members of the company hold three VSFA competition records: 6
Man Ladder (1979 - previous rules), 6 Man Ladder (1997 - current
rules), and 2 Man Air-pack (2004 - current rules).
Succession of Chiefs:
E.H. Rouse
Ernest Brockman
Slim Winslow
Robert Whitlock
Wesley Tate (1972-1975)
Walker Carpenter (1976-1981)
E.A. Fox, Jr. (1982-1984)
E.S. Roby, III (1985-Present)
