The Montana City Volunteer Fire Department celebrated 40 years of serving the community Saturday by welcoming the public.
The department held an open house at Fire Station 1 in Montana City. They held a barbecue, showed off their station and firefighting equipment, and even gave kids a chance to try using a fire hose.
The fire department was created in 1978, with a single small station on Saddle Mountain.
Rick Abraham joined the department 30 years ago, and has spent the last 19 years as chief. He said there’s been a dramatic change in the Montana City area since he started.
“We still serve the same 35 square miles,” he said. “But the growth has been exponential over 40 years. We’ve probably grown tenfold from where they started.”
Today, the Montana City Fire Department has about 30 volunteers, serving around 3,000 people. In 2016, they opened a large new station in town, closer to where much of their population lives.
Abraham said this open house event was a way to give back to the community.
“We just want to say thank you for the support that we’ve received,” he said. “Our mission has grown, and the need for our mission has grown over the years. We appreciate all the support we’ve gotten, and we continue to support the folks in the district.”
- Reported by Jonathon Ambarian
