Sugar Grove, West Virginia Naval Base FD

[CCFR-45]

The navel base is in Pendleton County West Virginia.... County seat for the county is Franklin West Virginia. 

[Roto-Ray]

Sugar Grove is in Pendleton Co, WV - the base is located 30 miles or so due west of Harrisonburg, VA.

[lawrencewhite111]

Nice Photos . I was under the impression that they were very strict on photographs . Always wondered what they ran . Thanks for sharing .

[Guest]

Nice photos of the equipment.  I wonder when the requirement for ambulances under the military changed from strict KKK white with 8" Omaha Orange stripe to whatever you like as witnessed on the C4500.

 

I could have sworn the last military spec I saw 3 years ago still had the KKK painting guideline.

 

Kris

[chief60]

Nice shoots and a fairly new looking station. I went to see what they do and it (wikipedia) says they are scheduled to close by September 30, 2015.  Someone will be getting some nice apparatus as hand me downs.

[ScaleCentral]

I seriously doubt it will completely close.  More than likely it will be repurposed and used in conjunction with the Green Banks Radio Telescope or for something that the government won't tell us about.

[radioinstl]

Nice pics.  While the Naval element may close, I am sure a 3 letter federal agency will continue to have comms equipment there. From a communications angle, was a cool place. It had 2 dinosaur cages.

[CCFR-45]

Yes they will be closing the lower part of the base in 2015. There is an upper part of the base, in the mountains with some special stuff that we aren't suppose to know about that will continue to operate. Last I heard, the state was wanting to turn the lower part of the base into a prison upon the navy's departure. 

 

Such a nice station, just to be closed. 

[VFN102]

Nice photos of the equipment.  I wonder when the requirement for ambulances under the military changed from strict KKK white with 8" Omaha Orange stripe to whatever you like as witnessed on the C4500.

 

I could have sworn the last military spec I saw 3 years ago still had the KKK painting guideline.

 

Kris

My apologies.

[ffemtwakeman]

The KKK-A-1822 standard was/is a standard from the federal government for ambulances, which requires them to be white with an orange stripe. But like any standard (NFPA), it doesn't have to be followed.


http://www.sysign.com/Ref_Files/KKK-A-1822F.pdf

[VFN102]

The KKK-A-1822 standard was/is a standard from the federal government for ambulances, which requires them to be white with an orange stripe. But like any standard (NFPA), it doesn't have to be followed.

http://www.sysign.com/Ref_Files/KKK-A-1822F.pdf

My apologies, I thought it was referencing something else.

[FireMedic049]

The KKK-A-1822 standard was/is a standard from the federal government for ambulances, which requires them to be white with an orange stripe. But like any standard (NFPA), it doesn't have to be followed.

http://www.sysign.com/Ref_Files/KKK-A-1822F.pdf

The KKK standard is/was a federal ambulance purchasing specification issued by the GSA.  It identified specific equipment, design and construction aspects for ambulances purchased by the federal government.  Non-federal agencies were never required to follow the standard itself, but it was adopted in whole or in part by more than half of the States. 

 

I think at this point it has been retired and as far as I know, the only ambulance manufacturing standard out there right now is NFPA 1917.

[hondok]

Yes they will be closing the lower part of the base in 2015. There is an upper part of the base, in the mountains with some special stuff that we aren't suppose to know about that will continue to operate. Last I heard, the state was wanting to turn the lower part of the base into a prison upon the navy's departure. 

 

Such a nice station, just to be closed. 

Our tax dollars at work!    The Army did something similar awhile back when they closed Fort Ritchie on the MD/PA border a year or so after they built a new fire station and several other new buildings there as well.

[Guest]

IIRC, the new station at FT. Ritchie was built in 1995, with base closure in 1998. The station was last used as a maintenance garage, don't know current status.

[hondok]

IIRC, the new station at FT. Ritchie was built in 1995, with base closure in 1998. The station was last used as a maintenance garage, don't know current status.

Wow! I had forgotten how long ago it actually happened!

[wvguy38]

They must have just moved into the new station within the last year or so. My wife is from Franklin, and I had the chance to visit the old fire station. The engine is newer than the one that I saw before. It's a shame to see all that money spent into the station only to be closed. 

 

I don't know what they're going to do, if anything with the lower part. Sounds like there are some ideas, but not sure if they will approve anything.

[EngineForLife]

Let's not forget the economic impact on the surrounding area as well. When Vint Hill farms Station finally closed in 1999or 2000 I believe, Fauquier County lost a very relied upon Medic Unit (Medic 20) and an Off Post fire unit (Wagon 20). At the time they were running ALS response units and maybe had 1 or 2 actual career medic units to cover the whole county. AND since the Base straddled to Fauquier/Prince William Line; Prince William lost the automatic aid use of Wagon 40 to calls in the Gainsville/Haymarket/Evergreen/Nokesville areas. I worked there as a Temp and left well before the disbandment of the station. I visited the night before the actual closure and it was kind of depressing, had a lot of brothers there that stayed until the final day. They all moved on to other departments mostly. I hope the Brothers at Sugar Grove have the same luck with getting other jobs. The booming growth growth around vint hill helped the area recover rather quickly, I don't know anything about Franklin,WV but hope they don't suffer to much because of the loss of jobs.

[CCFR-45]

Let's not forget the economic impact on the surrounding area as well. When Vint Hill farms Station finally closed in 1999or 2000 I believe, Fauquier County lost a very relied upon Medic Unit (Medic 20) and an Off Post fire unit (Wagon 20). At the time they were running ALS response units and maybe had 1 or 2 actual career medic units to cover the whole county. AND since the Base straddled to Fauquier/Prince William Line; Prince William lost the automatic aid use of Wagon 40 to calls in the Gainsville/Haymarket/Evergreen/Nokesville areas. I worked there as a Temp and left well before the disbandment of the station. I visited the night before the actual closure and it was kind of depressing, had a lot of brothers there that stayed until the final day. They all moved on to other departments mostly. I hope the Brothers at Sugar Grove have the same luck with getting other jobs. The booming growth growth around vint hill helped the area recover rather quickly, I don't know anything about Franklin,WV but hope they don't suffer to much because of the loss of jobs.

 

Franklin is very small, the base closing is going to have a big impact on the local economy. I was talking to some of the guys, and the DOD is moving most of the guys to somewhere in Washington DC. 

[nozzleman]

Great pictures and sad to see our tax dollars get wasted like that

[hank]

Good photos!

 

tHANKs