Provided by City of Manassas
Fire and Rescue personnel, local officials and community supporters held a ribbon cutting ceremony May 14 for the new Manassas Fire and Rescue Station 21 at 10306 Dumfries Rd.
The new station is the first fire and rescue facility to open in the City since the Greater Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad (GMVRS) opened its station on Center Street in 1970, and the Manassas Volunteer Fire Company opened Station 1 on Centreville Road in 1956. Both of those facilities will continue to serve the community.
Fire and Rescue Chief William Garrett says the new station will help decrease emergency response times across the City. “For many years, as the City has grown, there has been a need for better coverage and response times for parts of our City, especially the southeastern side of the City. The location of new Station 21, along with Station 1, will allow better coverage and better response times throughout the City.”
“A fire and rescue station means more to a community than fighting fires and saving lives – it means safety,” Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger said at the ribbon cutting. “Feeling safe in our community is what we all hope for, and with the opening of Station 21, I know I feel safer in the knowledge that should I need them, these ladies and gentlemen will be on their way quickly and with the equipment they need to render that aid.”
The new station includes a four-story tower used for physical and special operations training, and a vehicle extrication pad that enables fire and rescue personnel to practice rescue operations onsite. In a nod to a feature often seen in historical fire houses, the station includes two fire poles, which will be used to reduce response time and reduce the potential for injury when firefighters are responding from the second floor of the station. A new diesel exhaust system will also remove harmful pollutants in the apparatus bays.
The City of Manassas Fire and Rescue System includes the career department established in 2008, GMVRS, founded in 1965, and the Manassas Volunteer Fire Company, founded in 1892. In addition to its 10 square mile response area, the system offers automatic aid with other Northern Virginia partnering agencies.
Fire and Rescue Station 21 will be open for service on Monday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m., and will be home to Battalion Chief 581, Medic 521, Rescue Engine 521, and Ambulance 521B. The career department will staff three shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. GMVRS will provide additional staffing in the evening and on weekends.
The 21,916 square foot, four-bay station, which is located on a 3.5-acre site, was a Capital Improvement Project initiated in 2016 after studies showed the need for enhanced emergency response times across the City. Construction of the $15.4 million project began in 2019.
