Centennial Celebration of Fire Station No. 8

P R O C L A M A T I O N

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CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF FIRE STATION NO. 8

WHEREAS, Arlington County Fire Department Station 8, one of two volunteer fire companies serving the historically segregated Negro communities of Halls Hill/High View Park and East Arlington, was organized and staffed by men in these segregated neighborhoods into the 1940s; and

WHEREAS, the Halls Hill Volunteer Fire Department (HHVFD) formed in 1918 during the Jim Crow era, formally organized in September 1925, and incorporated in 1927 to comply with the requirements of Chapter 20 of the Acts and Joint Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia that extended relief for active volunteer firemen when injury or death occurred while responding to emergencies; and

WHEREAS, the HHVFD’s firefighters continued to render faithful service with the leadership and support of its board, officers and members funded by the community through door-to-door canvassing and a monthly subscription of twenty-five cents a month, until the Arlington County Fire Department was formed and paid all volunteer companies for their use by 1940; and

WHEREAS, the HHVFD was renamed as the Arlington County Fire Department Engine No. 8 in 1944, still staffed by volunteers, began to receive fire apparatus and equipment as an active fire station, and hired paid firefighters who served with volunteers as of May 1951; and

WHEREAS, Fire Station No. 8, from its creation in 1918 through its legacy of service with honor for 100 years;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Christian Dorsey, Chairman of the County Board of Arlington, Virginia, do hereby declare January 26, 2019 to mark the

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF FIRE STATION NO. 8

in Arlington and call upon our residents to recognize its history and legacy as an organization of honor, integrity, and pride of a community, historically denied equal treatment, which positively impacted African Americans here and beyond.

Christian Dorsey

Chairman