Hello, and welcome to STVFD.

We encourage all community members, and prospective new members to come out to our station and get a feel for who we are, and what we do. The best way to go about this, is to schedule a ride-along. In general, we suggest coming out around 6pm, and riding with us for 3 or 4 hours.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, we ask that you ride with at least 4 of the 6 crews (5 volunteer, and the paid staff during the weekdays).

This page has some notes to and tips to help make your ride-along more enjoyable and try to avoid possible pitfalls:

• Scheduling Ride-Alongs
  • Call the station (434.973.1717), and talk to the officer on duty. Typically the volunteer officers come in between 5 and 5:30pm to prepare for the evening shift. Try calling then to schedule a ride along
  • Email: send a message to membershipcommittee@stvfd.org indicating the date and times you are interested in.
  • Transportation: we have many UVa student members. We usually have no problem picking you up and dropping you off on grounds, or the neighboring areas.
  • Dress Code: Dark pants, dark shoes, white or solid color shirt. Must be clean, no tears, logos, or graphics, etc. Ride-alongs will be assigned a red firefighter’s coat and “observer vest” to ride.
• Purpose of Ride-Alongs
  • Ride Alongs are a great chance to see how we operate. You get a chance to ride a fire engine/truck, and respond to emergency calls with us.
  • Unfortunately (well, fortunately for our community), some shifts do not get a call.
  • Apart from the excitement of responding to an emergency, the bigger purpose of a ride-along is to get to know the members, and let them get to know you.
  • Once your application is complete, and you've done ride-alongs with at least 4 different crews, you are ready to attend a Brigade Meeting, and have the members vote on your application.
  • Each one of us has gone through the process of doing ride-alongs, we realize it can be challenging to fit into our well established crew dynamics. However, make the effort to talk with people, share your interests, hobbies.... It may seem a bit awkward at first, but it will pay off over the long run.
• Parking:
  • Use the spots right in front of the building.
  • Ask around if they are full, or you are unsure (parking lot diagram on bulletin board in TV room.)
  • We rent the spots in "the middle" of the lot, so make sure you don't park there.
• Sleeping over:
  • You are welcome to stay the night.
  • We have linens, pillows, and blankets.
  • Please tell the officer on duty you intend to sleep over.
  • Get your linens and make you bed before 10pm.
  • Get in bed at a reasonable hour (i.e. by midnight). This is a subtle point, but as a guest, you will want to make sure you are not the last person to go to bed. Also, day shift comes in at 6am, and will most likely wake you up. Get to bed early(-ish), and get lots of rest. Even if some members stay up late, it is best to plan on going to sleep by 12am.
• Food:
  • Members have a meal stipend of $4/shift.
  • Many crews cook at the station.
  • Given notice of a ride-along, most crews will cook extra, however, sometimes crews go out to eat .
  • Unfortunately, the crew meal account does not include ride-alongs. Be prepared to buy dinner (i.e., bring a few dollars), but know that generally there is plenty of food and money for everyone.