History

The fire department was originally formed in 1850, and to the best of our knowledge, is one of the oldest fire departments in the State of Ohio.

The original fire engine was housed in the Historic Town Hall, in the garage section of the building.

In 1953 ZVFD requested from Village Council a piece of land on which to build a Fire Station, and the Village donated the land on which 2 Bays and a Kitchen and Restrooms were built. This was a flat roof building.

In 1974 two additional bays were added, at which time a pitched roof was added. Labor was all donated by the members and friends of ZVFD.

In 1986 a Third addition was done that created a training/meeting room and office. Labor to build was donated.

In 2007 another addition was added to the east side of the building to house storage, new walk-in cooler, etc. Other upgrades were done at that time to add new heating and air conditioning, make entrances and restrooms handicap accessible, etc. This project was in excess of $80,000.00, which we are still paying off by our fund raising Spaghetti Dinners and Pancake Breakfasts.

Grants were received from FEMA in 2005 for new turn out gear in the amount of $86,000.00.

Dodge utility truck was refurbished, to a Compressed Air Foam truck. This was paid for by ZVFD and Lawrence Township Trustees.

Reeves and Rosenberry Grant was received in 2007 to put up a severe weather warning/tornado warning siren to protect residents of Zoar and surrounding areas.

Reeves and Rosenberry Grant was received to purchase a Rescue Boat, Motor and Equipment, for a total of $10,000.00.

A Grant as received for a Laptop Computer and Color Printer in the amount of $1,500.00.

We refurbished a 1999 Ford Crew Cab Pickup, received from ODNR at a cost of $9,000.00.

2010 - We received a grant from the EPA, Countywide Landfill fine money, to put in a new Automatic generator to operate our facility in case of a power outage. Our fire station becomes central operations when our area is flooded and shut off from the outside. During the 2008 breach in the Zoar Levee, U.S. Army Corps staff had their office in our facility, at which time we prepared meals for them, the construction workers, and our volunteers.

2011 - We received a grant from Rosenberry Foundation in the amount of $3,773.00 for a new 2 door stainless steel upright freezer.

2011 - We received a grant from the Reeves Foundation for new flooring in our kitchen and bathrooms, and fencing for around our air conditioning units and new generator.