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Ribbon cutting held for new Coles District Fire and Rescue Station 6

Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue held the official ribbon cutting ceremony Jan 29 to open the new Coles District Fire and Rescue Station 6 on VA 234.

Ann Wheeler, Chair of the Board of County Supervisors, told the crowd a new station was due since the original Coles District Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1949, when the county’s population was about 22,000 people. When the station was previously upgraded 41 years ago, in 1979, the county had grown to 145,000. The county now has a population of approximately 465,000.

Wheeler went on to say that while some things have changed, others have stayed the same, like the dedication of those in the fire and rescue system in serving the community and the board’s commitment to public safety. “The Board of County Supervisors fully supports our fire and rescue, and all of our public safety officials in our system. We want to make sure that you have the equipment, the facilities, the people needed to serve our community that keeps on growing.”

Wheeler also said, “We have a fire and rescue system that works 24/7, 365 days a year to protect us, and I’m truly thankful for that. We have men and women who rush toward danger when most of us are the ones who are running away.”

Yesli Vega, Coles District Supervisor, also spoke at the ceremony to open the 21,500-square-foot fire and rescue station. She said fire and rescue personnel deserve the best the county can offer. “The 21 men and women who will work out of this building and fight the raging forces of Mother Nature are the best we have in this county, and they deserve a first-class facility like this beautiful building we see here today.”

As the wife of a veteran, Vega said she appreciates it when people thank her husband for his service. She said firefighter and emergency medical technicians deserve the same. “The calls the men and women respond to represent no less of a sacrifice, and we owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. You all deserve this building and much more. May God bless you and keep you safe.”

Tim Keen, Chief of the Fire and Rescue System, said it was an honor to be at the ceremony to open the new station, which carries on “the tradition of being a cornerstone of the Coles District community.”

Keen said that when a group of county citizens formed the Coles District Volunteer Fire Department 71 years ago, to serve the district and the county at large, it included an engine company and an ambulance. Now, Keen said, the new station houses an engine company, a tanker, a heavy rescue unit, a brush truck, a hazmat unit and a safety officer and the staff to keep the equipment in operation.

“The men and women assigned here now have the appropriate living quarters that were needed while working a 24-hour shift at a station they can be proud of,” said Keen.

Keen went on to say that, over the coming months, all the county’s hazmat resources would move to the new station, with its central location, to better serve all parts of the county.

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