Our quest for a NEW HOME

  Who's Who in our Campaign

• Hon. William Donald Schaefer - Honorary Chairman

• Gordon 'Bud' Clark - General Chairman 

A sleepy little town on the railroad track

In 1938, when the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department was inaugurated, the town of Arbutus was literally that: a small village bisected by the Pennsy and the streetcar line from Baltimore to Halethorpe. Much of the surrounding land was devoted to small farms and the town, little more than a cluster of homes and small businesses seasoned with few churches, was still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression.

The new AVFD leased a parcel of land from the Arbutus Community Association and reclaimed lumber from the Association's carnival dance floor to begin construction on a new firehouse. Baltimore County recognizing the value of a new volunteer department to the west of the Pennsy line, appropriated $ 500 a year to the new organization and the Baltimore County Fire Department donated some used hose to help outfit the apparatus. 

The war bought some big changes to Arbutus as more and more people flooded into the Baltimore area to flesh out War industries. In 1942, the AVFD expanded into new quarters and bought a 1942 LaFrance Pumper and a Buick Ambulance. Part of the firehouse became the headquarters of the 13th District Civil Defense for Baltimore County, and the growth of the town and surroundings fostered new expansion and acquisition of new apparatus. When Victory's bell finally rang out, Arbutus was a much larger town and the demands on the AVFD has grown well beyond the town. 

OUR HOUSE

  BUILDING ON A COMMUNITY TRADITION