[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN HONOR OF THE SPRING FIRE DEPARTMENT'S 65TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 20, 2018

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the brave men 
and women of the Spring Fire Department. For 65 years, Spring 
firefighters have run in where we run out.
  On April 29, 1953, seven people bound together with donated fire 
apparatus to form the Spring Volunteer Fire Department approximately 22 
miles north of downtown Houston. Local residents and businesses made 
donations to fund the department for its first three decades.
  As the department celebrated its 30th anniversary, the volunteers 
worked to form the Harris County Rural Fire Prevention District No. 1 
(HCRFPD). For the first time, the Spring Volunteer Fire Department 
began receiving tax dollars to help build fire stations, buy equipment 
and train volunteers.
  On Texas Independence Day in 1985, the Spring Fire Department 
suffered its only line-of-duty loss. District Chief Michael F. West 
died battling a 2-Alarm fire near Old Town Spring. His sacrifice is 
immortalized in bronze in front of the Spring Fire Department 
Administration building.
  As the population grew, the Spring Fire Department continued to 
evolve. During the 1990's, as Emergency Services Districts (ESD) began 
forming to provide stable funding for emergency services in the 
unincorporated areas of Texas counties, Harris County ESD No. 7 
replaced the outdated HCRFPD No. 1.
  In 1997, the Spring Volunteer Fire Department hired its first part-
time firefighters to staff an apparatus during business hours. Widely 
known as the duty crew, they responded to calls during the day when 
most volunteers were at work. As the population and staffing needs 
continued to grow, the department further evolved.
  In 2013, the department's first fulltime firefighters joined the 
Spring fire family. With a combination of fulltime, part-time, and 
volunteer firefighters, the decision was made to change the name to the 
Spring Fire Department (SFD).
  Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, today the 
Spring Fire Department is one of the largest combination departments in 
the state of Texas.
  SFD covers 62 square miles of northern Harris County serving an 
estimated population of 152,000 people. SFD's nine fire stations house 
a fleet of 25 pieces of fire and rescue apparatus along with 15 support 
vehicles. The Spring Fire Department is under the leadership of Fire 
Chief Scott Seifert and today we celebrate their 65 years of dedicated 
service to the Spring community.
  And that is just the way it is.

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