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\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any fire service out here in Unionville,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThough we started with nothing, today we have 18 volunteers, including one woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barber\u2019s son, Jason, who is also a volunteer, said, \u201cDad was one of the founding members, so I basically grew up in the fire service since the age of 12. The department has definitely instilled in me a passion for public service. Supporting and doing things for the members of our community has held true to me all these years. The department helped mold me into what I am today. This is why, even after 44 years, I still try to contribute as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jimmy Clark, who was a captain with the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department (UVFD) from 1983 to 1999, said, \u201cThe Unionville Jaycees got together and decided to make this a community project. Ricky King and Gale Barber did most of the footwork. Gale specifically was very devoted to it. He was running wide open every day to get it going. W.J. Crowell donated the land, and others donated the materials for a building. After that happened, James Mahaffey, who was the fire chief at Station 1 in Bedford County, put a \u2018grass truck\u2019 down here. I don\u2019t think anybody took it more seriously than we did. We trained, and we trained, and we trained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first fire station was built in 1982. A formal partnership was formed with Emergency Management Services, which began using the building in 2007. The current fire hall was built in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe success of the organization was truly a team effort. Our founding members brought a wide range of skills and talents that made the department possible. Dennis Stocstill played a vital role in constructing the fire hall through his construction expertise. Don and David Beasley generously opened their shop for countless repairs and refurbishments to our apparatus, including the first construction of one of our first tanker trucks. Wayne Sanders provided valuable financial leadership as treasurer, drawing on his experience from the Unionville Jaycees. Jerry Smith, equipped with our only air pack for many years, often served as our primary interior attack firefighter. While others also deserve recognition, we could never list every founding member and every family who played an important role in making the UVFD what it is today,\u201d Barber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Bedford County provides $25,000 annually, Clark said, \u201cA new fire truck runs a half million dollars. Turnout gear costs over $2,500, so each volunteer must provide their own. Franklin Yates, who was the editor of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, donated the money for our first Air Pac. The more our community supports us, the better we can serve our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the original volunteers worked for Jostens in Shelbyville. Clark said, \u201cVirgil Johnson, who was the resident manager, supported us. That was rare for a corporate guy. I\u2019m sure that when all of us left, it hurt production, but he always let us go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unionville has changed over the years. Douglas said, \u201cWe used to use directions like \u2018turn by where the barn burned two years ago,\u2019 but we can\u2019t do that now. When we used to get a call, our wives would get on the phone and begin calling the list of people so they could get headed to the fire. That helped our response time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clark said, \u201cWe bought a 1951 Ford firetruck from Indiana. We thought we had fallen into heaven. When we brought it to the station, we had the lights and siren blaring. We were thrilled. We finally had a \u2018real\u2019 fire truck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through victories, total losses, and sadly, the memory of a young girl who died in a fire decades ago, the brotherhood they have found here unites them forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Douglas said, \u201cWe had a vision, but our vision has gone a lot further than I ever thought it would. We must have determination to keep it going and to build on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community fundraisers help fill the financial gap. \u201cAlong with our annual contribution from the county, we do our annual Fourth of July fireworks sales, which is by far our biggest fundraiser. In the fall, we host our annual family portrait fundraiser. We\u2019ve been doing this one since the early 1990s. Both have been received well by our community,\u201d Barber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unionville is growing. Clark said, \u201cVolunteers are harder to find now. Some of our departments in the county are low on volunteers. Some people sit back and think, \u2018Let somebody else do it!\u2019 To ensure we are adequately protected, we need more volunteers.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The raging fire popped and hissed as it devoured the first floor. Flames licked the windows along the second story. One by one, the windows shattered, sending shards of glass onto the rose bushes below. Neighbors stared in disbelief. The owners wept, swiping soot-stained hands across their lashes. Instead of the water needed to smother […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[4,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","category-shelbyville"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/10\/2-2-1024x683.jpg\")
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