Weyers Cave Volunteer Fire Company – Apparatus Profile
By Mike Sanders – mnsand@comcast.net

Do you like Green fire trucks? If so, a visit to the Weyers Cave Volunteer Fire Company in Rockingham County should be on your to do list. Although the Weyers Cave Volunteer Fire Company was chartered in 1948, fire protection was actually organized in 1924 when three chemical tanks were purchased and placed throughout the community after several major fires.

Weyers Cave did not begin with green trucks. In fact, their first fire truck was red and is still owned by the fire department. Engine 51 is a 1948 Chevrolet/FMC High Pressure Fog Firefighter complete with a high pressure pump and carrying just over 400 gallons of water.

In the past, Weyers Cave experimented with other colors on their fire trucks. For example, a 1971 Ford C 750 gallon per minute engine that was built by FMC was delivered in yellow. Weyers Cave has also purchased used apparatus painted red.

In 1978, the green color became a fixture in Weyers Cave when the department purchased a used 1969 Peter Pirsch (also pictured below) engine from the Rouss Fire Company of Winchester, Virginia. Rouss also has a tradition of dark green fire apparatus, and thus the dark green began at Weyers Cave.

Current fire apparatus at Weyers Cave include:

Engine 52 – a 1988 Hahn four door engine complete with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and 500 gallon water tank.

Engine 53 – a 2008 KME Predator also with a 1500/500 and 30 gallons of foam. Engine 53 is a rescue engine, with firefighting equipment on the driver side and rescue equipment located in compartments on the officer’s side. A unique feature is that the light tower is located by the pump panel, and raises straight up without having to be folded.

Engine 54 – a 1998 four door Sutphen equipped with a 1500/500.

Tanker 50 was built by New Lexington on a 1994 Ford LS9000 cab and carries 1800 gallon of water and is equipped with a 500 gallon per minute pump.

Brush 55 – the Weyers Cave members used the skid mount from their old brush truck and placed it onto a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500. Work was completed by M&W.

Finally, SERV 56 is a donated 1994 Ford F350 pick up truck that is painted red and white. A donated trailer came with the pick up truck.

The Weyers Cave Volunteer Fire Company is located just off Interstate 81, not far from Harrisonburg. I want to thank Weyers Cave members Christian and Mason who took the time to move apparatus around for photographs.