THOMAS – Thomas Volunteer Fire Department members gathered with friends, community members and other emergency personnel for an open house to mark a milestone for the department – they are celebrating their 100th anniversary. Thomas VFD Chief Joe DiBacco said the department was very pleased to share this with the community which supports them.
DiBacco said the event was held Saturday at the department and said it featured hot dogs, cake, door prizes, kid prizes, a visit from HealthNet, the Tucker County Sheriff’s Department, the West Virginia State Police and many others.
“Folks were able to listen to a presentation by those from HealthNet and were able to go through the helicopter,” DiBacco said. “The Tucker County 911 Center brought their communications trailer up to Thomas and children enjoyed meeting Smokey Bear.”
DiBacco said those attending went on a tour of the Thomas Volunteer Fire Department facilities and said the children could go for a ride on one of the TVFD fire trucks.
During the day’s activities, DiBacco said there were from 200 to 300 people who took part in the activities.
“This is our 100th year in June,” DiBacco said. “On July 1, we will have our fireworks celebrations. We have been having fireworks during the 4th of July weekend for 60 years. This year the fireworks will be July 1 beginning around 9:30 p.m.”
DiBacco said he has been the TVFD Chief since 1982. Currently the department has 22 active responders that are fully trained and 15 associate members.
Apparatus owned by the TVFD includes a 1935 Seagrave, a 1982 Ford, a 2004 Seagrave Fire Engine, 2009 Pierce 4-Wheel Drive Engine and a newly purchased Suburban for transporting personnel and a new Pierce Rescue Truck.
DiBacco the TVFD averages approximately 150 calls per year including fires, car accidents, lost individuals, smoke detector activations, Carbon monoxide activations and medical calls.
“Since Corridor H has moved up, we are seeing a little bit of increase in our calls,” DiBacco said. “We expect when Corridor H is finished on both ends, our call load will increase quite a bit.”
DiBacco said he wants to thank everyone for their support.
“Throughout the year, the community helps support the TVFD,” DiBacco said. “If it were not for the people up here we could not survive. We get some support from the state and we get some money from the Tucker County Commission, but without the local support from the people, we could not survive.”
