Welcome to Abingdon Fire Department!
Abingdon Fire Department is located in the Historic Town of Abingdon, the County seat of Southwest Virginia’s Washington County, part of the Appalachian Region. The Department was formed in 1808 and chartered in 1949. On March 1, 2016 the Town of Abingdon hired its first full time Fire Chief. The 49 Member Fire Department is one of nine departments within Washington County covering 60 square miles of forested rolling steep rural countryside providing fire service operations for 16,000 people in our district. The Department faces the challenges of structure fire control in a small commercial district, several assisted living facilities, school buildings, small apartment complexes, several small manufacturing facilities, along with several hundred rural residences and wildland interfaces.
Past and Present Fire Chiefs of the Abingdon Fire Department
J. E. Deaton, W. R. Sheoff Morrison, Sam Mothner - Appointed Officers of the Abingdon Fire Company - January 21, 1890
J. E. Deaton - Elected Captain - August 8, 1890
W. T. Baldwin - Elected Captain - January 29, 1891
George M. Briget - Elected Chief - February 29, 1892
J. F. Branson - Elected Chief - April 6, 1925
S. H. Rhea - Elected Chief - 1928
Dr. F. H. Smith - Elected Chief - August 4, 1930
A. C. Hutton - Elected Chief - August 4, 1943 Resigned February 7, 1944
Robert Eden - Elected Chief - January 1, 1945 Resigned August 7, 1950
J. Nelson Berry - Appointed Chief - September 1, 1950
H. M. 'Bo' McCormick, Jr. - Appointed Chief - January 6, 1964 Retired June 30, 1996
M. L. 'Mert' Odum - Appointed Chief - July 1, 1996 Retired September 30, 2002
John W. Crigger, Sr. - Appointed Chief - October 1, 2002 Retired December 31, 2002
Joe W. 'Joey' Burke, Jr. - Appointed Chief - January 1, 2003 Retired December 31, 2013
John F. McCormick - Appointed Chief - January 1, 2014
The KNOX-BOX enables the Town of Abingdon Fire Department rapid entry to your business or home without damage if you are not there or unable to open the door. KNOX-BOX is a key safe mounted outside that can be unlocked only by the Town of Abingdon Fire Department. This is a voluntary alternative to forced entry, delayed entry or no entry when the Town of Abingdon Fire Department is called to your business or home for a fire alarm activation. The Town of Abingdon Fire Department is one of more than 11,500 departments in North America to use the KNOX-BOX RAPID ENTRY SYSTEM.
The Town of Abingdon Fire Department uses the KEYSECURE master key security system to control the KNOX-BOX master key. The KEYSECURE master key security system provides accountability with an audit trail giving the date, time and user ID for each key release.
Building entrance keys, access cards and floor plans can be stored in the high-security KNOX-BOX mounted near the building entrance. The KNOX-BOX is purchased by the property owner and is keyed to a single master key controlled by the Town of Abingdon Fire Department.
If you are interested in purchasing a KNOX-BOX you can visit https://knoxbox.com/store/registerDept.cfm Enter the City and State, press Search and Abingdon Fire Department eApprove will appear. Select the product you would like to purchase, press Proceed with Pre-Authorization Order. If you have any additional questions about the KNOX-BOX Program you can call (276) 628-5563 of e-mail jmccormick@abingdon-va.gov
© 2022 Abingdon Fire Department