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History of W.R. Castle Fire & Rescue
In 1981, citizens from southern Lawrence County scheduled a meeting to discuss forming a fire department in the Lowmansville area. The meeting was held at W.R. Castle Memorial Elementary School in Johnson County, and several area residents attended hoping that the new fire department would benefit them.
They soon found that the Lowmansville Fire Department, once it was organized, would not provide any insurance benefits for the residents around the school. Thus they decided to start their own fire department.
In selecting a name, the group was in a quandary. The station was to be located in Wittensville, but the department would serve Nippa, Stambaugh, Tutor Key, Staffordsville, Turner Branch, Sitka, Chandlerville, and parts of Lowmansville. The uniting factor in all those communities was that most of the children attended W.R. Castle School. In order to give ownership to those citizens, the name was adopted as W.R. Castle Fire Department.
Later that year, with a retired army truck bearing very little equipment, the W.R. Castle Fire Department opened its doors. The building contained three bays and a training area, but no floor or insulation, and consequently no heat. The truck had a tree growing through the grill when the charter members retrieved it.
But by 1982, the department had its first true fire truck, Engine 310. Soon the original Tanker 311 and the original Squad 312 joined the fleet. In 1987 a Chevy-Allegheny mini-pumper became the new 312 and remains in service today. Shortly afterward a Ford tanker replaced the original 311. Engine 2, a 1986 GMC-FMC pumper, arrived next, and in 1997 a federal grant provided 75% of the cost of Engine 1, a 1998 Ford-Emergency One pumper. It replaced Engine 310, which was sold to the Flat Gap Fire Department and serves there as Engine 610.
