Welcome to Westsidevfd.org!

Westside Volunteer Fire Department History

Our department was chartered on August 18, 1980.

The Original Charter Members were:

(* Lifetime Charter Members)

*C.R. Andrews(Chief); *Ray Cambell(Asst. Chief); *R.C. Wilson(Asst. Chief); *Herman Jones(Capt.); *Robert Williamson; *James McCracken; *Pat O'Neal; Jimmy Durham; Al Seamanski; Steve Zabst.

Westside's district is a community on Lake Palestine, in East Texas, with a large percent of it's population being retired people. All though the area is not that large, we serve between 8,000 - 10,000 people (depending of the season).

The fore thought of our charter members was that our community would be better served by having a fire department in the middle of the area instead of relying on the increasingly heavy loads of either Chandler or Coffee City's fire departments.

It took from January  of 1979 until February 1980 to get the department going. From fund raising to the actual building of our station and buying the vehicles, the original members fought a hard battle.

The station started with three vehicles:

1)1981 Dodge Grass truck with a 250 gallon water capacity and an external pump with 200 feet of 1 inch "red line" (which is still in service).

2). 1975 Dodge Rescue Van

3). 2 1/2 ton Ford Tanker with a 1000 gallon water capacity and an external pump with 200 feet of 1 inch "red line" and 300 feet of 1 1/2 inch "attack line".

 Our past Chiefs:

C.R. (Andy) Andrews
R.C. Wilson
Ben Bowman

We serve the people of Henderson County in between Chandler and Coffee City on the west side of Lake Palestine.  We have 25 active firefighters at this time.

We meet at the fire station on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7 PM.

Our Mission

The Westside Volunteer Fire Department exists to meet needs created by a variety of crisis situations that demand a quick, efficient and professional emergency response. We strive to provide the highest quality of service while maximizing the productivity of our staff and reducing costs whenever possible. We will do as much as we can within the limitations of our resources to protect lives and property and limit the degree of human suffering when called to an emergency. It is through our training efforts that we strive to be prepared for, or otherwise limit, the extent of any fire or emergency.