About Serving portions of North and South Fayette for over 65 Years

Our Story

1943 - A toddler playing with matches catches the curtains on fire in the upstairs room of the Sturgeon Hotel (then located on Main Street across from the current fire hall parking lot). Fire departments from four adjacent communities respond to the fire and using the water from the nearby Robinson Run Creek, fight desperately to control the blaze. When it is all said and done, an entire block of Main Street burns to the ground leaving ten families, 35 people in all, homeless. The conflagration is one of the top stories in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette the following day.















1946 - After the nation settles back into a sense of normalcy following WWII, a group of men from the town come together realizing the need for fire protection in Sturgeon and other small communities bordering the town. Using a donated old 1929 American LaFrance pumper from Dravosburg Fire Department, the Sturgeon Volunteer Fire Department is formed. The truck is housed under a tarp in what is now the Lemon Tree parking lot.




Later in the year a Studebaker truck from the early 40’s that was used to collect garbage in Cuddy is purchased and retrofitted with the pump and equipment from the American LaFrance. The Studebaker will be the only truck the department has for the next 5 years.




1947 - The members charter as the second fire department in South Fayette Township and begin constructing a permanent home in the footprint of the 1943 disaster. The new double bay garage will not be complete until 1948.

When there was an emergency, the switchboard connected the caller with either Hajduk’s Bar (now the Lemon Tree) or Rank’s General Store (now Hunners Deli). Depending on who got the call, John Hajduk or Gaston Rank takes the information and triggers an old air raid siren on the roof of the store. The members hear the siren and, meeting at the station, call to get the information. Then they respond where needed.

A weekly bingo is started to generate revenue for the department and is held on the third floor of the Eagles Club (now the apartments at 7621 Noblestown Road). At the time, there is no bridge at the Noblestown end of Main Street and the townspeople coming to play have to cross a small foot bridge near the club.

1948 - With the new garage complete, Bingo is now moved from the Eagles Club. Each week, the truck is moved from the garage and tables set up for the players.




1949 - The department begins holding an annual fireman’s fair at the field of the town baseball team. The field is located on Noblestown Road between Main Street and Station Street just past where Allegheny Golf Cart Rentals is located today. Due to a heavy rain that turned the field to mud, the fair is only held there for the first year and then moved to the lot next to the station.

1952 - The first of what would be two brand new Mack open cab fire engines is purchased.




1954 - The second twin of the open cab Mack’s is purchased. This truck (later referred to by members as "the Old Mack") continues to respond to fires until the late 1980's when it is finally retired after shuttling water to a large barn fire on North Road.




The siren on Rank’s store is replaced with a new siren that is mounted on a pole at the station. The new siren is still sounded from either the bar or the store. The old store siren can still be seen today. Only now, it has been replaced with a newer model siren, but was used to alert the firefighters of Cecil V.F.D #3 on Millers Run Road up until the early 2000's.

1958 - A new Chevrolet Apache panel truck is purchased as a squad to help carry additional firefighters that can not fit on the twin Mack’s.




1964 - Members begin building onto the garage a social hall complete with kitchen, bathrooms and an office. It isn’t completed until 1966.

1971 - After twenty four years of being alerted by Ranks General Store (Hajduk’s Bar has since been replaced), the department now begins to be dispatched by KGD664 radio base out of Kane Hospital in Scott Township. The members now call via a base radio in the garage and respond as KEX215 Unit 34. Sturgeon VFD begins going by Station 34. The siren was set off by a set of radio tones that KGD664 sends out. These radio tones are the same that trigger the siren today.

The department begins holding a parade during the annual fair.

1972 - An addition is built onto the social hall that includes a stage, a bar, an additional office, and a foyer.

The first of the twin Mack’s which have been in service together for eighteen years is sold to Canton Township Fire Department to make way for a brand new 1972 Seagrave pumper.




1974 - A new Dodge ambulance style van is purchased to replace the Chevrolet Apache.




1978 - The 74’ Dodge begins being used to provide ambulance service for the local area.

1979 - The department now begins being dispatched by Control 6 radio base out of the North Fayette Township Building.

1980 - A second brand new Seagrave pumper is purchased and the 54' Mack becomes a reserve engine used for parades and larger fires. Up until now, all the trucks have been red. The new truck is now a yellow-green.




1988 - Members build a trussed roof above the old flat roof of the garage and social hall. Within the trusses, a meeting room, small kitchen, bathrooms, chief’s office, and large storage area are housed.

1989 - A pavilion is built in the rear lot to house bingo during the annual fair. Before that, a large carnival tent was rented each year.

1991 - After seventeen years of service, the Dodge ambulance is retired and a new Medtec Type III modular ambulance is purchased to continue the need for ambulance service in the area. It is the first vehicle to have the color scheme of all the department’s trucks today, white with blue and grey striping.



1993 - The pavilion that was built four years prior is enclosed and turned into a three bay garage. It is still used to hold the annual fair’s bingo, but talks begin about turning it into a new garage to alleviate the crowded conditions of the original double bay garage.




1995 - A Ford F350 4X4 extended cab pickup is purchased as a squad.

1996 - After sitting under a tarp for nearly a decade, the 54’ Mack is sold to a private owner. It still sits today in a garage on Robinson Highway just outside of McDonald.

1997 - The department, celebrating 50 years of service, hosts the Allegheny County Fireman’s Convention during its annual fair.

1998 - Due to the townships contracting out ambulance service to Southbridge EMS and Central EMS, the need for the department to run an ambulance vanishes. After 20 years of providing BLS service for the area, the 91’ Medtec is sold and a new era of running QRS (quick response service) begins. The squad begins responding QRS out of the utility box on the bed of the truck.

Allegheny County now begins its countywide 911 system. After twenty seven years as Station 34, Sturgeon VFD now becomes known as Allegheny County Station 267 and begins being dispatched out of the 911 center in Point Breeze.

1999 - After twenty seven years of service, the 72’ Seagrave is sold to make way for a new Pierce Saber engine. This is the department’s first engine with an enclosed cab, new color scheme, and new station number.




After nearly fifty years of holding the annual fair, the membership decides to no longer hold it due to the waning interest of the community and the large amount of work involved for minimal profit.

2000 - Because of a lack of space, the department begins responding out of both the original garage and the pavilion garage in back.

2002 - The 95’ squad is converted to a light rescue with a new rescue body in place of the bed. It carries equipment for QRS and for rescue calls including vehicle extrication tools. The department becomes state certified to run QRS.




2003 - An in-house refurbishment project begins on the 80’ Seagrave including rewiring, new emergency lights, and a white paint job with blue-gray striping and lettering to match the other trucks. The refurbishment is not complete until 2004.




2004 - Thanks to a federal grant, a new Scott air trailer is purchased complete with compressor, generator, and Revolvair technology. Air 267 begins providing mutual aid to many of the surrounding departments.




2005 - Construction begins on a new garage in the rear lot to accommodate the growing 267 fleet. It is an addition that connects the existing building with the old pavilion garage in the back lot. The new garage has two drive-through engine bays, bays for the rescue and air trailer, an additional bay for the future purchase of a squad, and a utility bay. The new garage also adds a twenty seat classroom and communications room to the station. Construction is complete in five months and the ribbon cutting ceremony is held in June.






2006 - A new Ford F350 4X4 pickup with crew cab and utility bed is purchased as a personnel carrier and to haul the air trailer. It is also equipped as a backup QRS and brush truck with brush brooms, a chainsaw, and Indian packs.




2007 - With a year over year increase in QRS calls and a growing desire within the department to provide a higher level of medical services, the department acquires the neccesary equipment to become a PA State Certified Quick Response Service



2008 - After 28 years of service, the 80’ Seagrave is sold to West Polk Fire in Kentucky and a 2001 E-One rescue engine is purchased from Company Two Fire Apparatus in South Carolina. The truck is a Mississippi survivor of hurricane Katrina and along with becoming the second-out engine, it is used for vehicle rescue, RIT, and standby responses.




2010 - After sixty three years, the weekly bingo is shut down do to a decline in players resulting from the Allegheny County smoking ban and the opening of local casinos.

The department becomes a state certified fire service.




2012 - A 2004 Ford F550 with American LaFrance rescue body is purchased from Barnard Fire District in Greece, New York to replace the 95’ Ford and provide more space for the growing amount of rescue equipment. The 95’ is sold to Kirwin Heights Fire Department in Collier Township and the new truck is used to respond to QRS as well as vehicle, water, and rope rescue calls.




The department becomes a state certified rescue company.




2013 - The department purchases a replacement emergency siren. The previous siren experienced constant failures and a more reliable siren was needed. The new siren alerts responders of emergencies and allows the town advance notice that emergency apparatus will soon be on the road.



Present Day - Sturgeon Volunteer Fire / Rescue Department strives to provide excellence in life and property protection services