Something to Know

    Do you know who your Fire Department is?
  You can look at our fire department boundaries by clicking here. If you are in Knox, Whitley or Laurel counties and not sure who your fire department is, you can call us and we will try to help you. Do not panic if you get an answering machine. Our stations are not manned 24 hours a day. We have two 911 dispatch centers that page us to any incidents we have. 

    Do you realize the benefit of West Knox Volunteer Fire Rescue?
  The benefits of most fire departments have been buried in the "take for granted" category these days. That means, if it's something you have always had, you take it for granted. We are a 6th/9th class fire department. That means if you live within 5 driving miles of either of our stations, you are at least in a 9th class district. If you have a fire hydrant within 1000ft of your house, you are in a 6th class district. The financial benefit is seen in your insurance premium. In a $100,000.00 home you could save $673.00 a year. Contact your insurance company and ask them the difference in your cost without a fire department. The most important benefit to having a fire department with the dedication and drive to perform to the best of our abilities is your life. You can't put a price on the life of a loved one. We risk our lives and possibly the security of our families future to save yours. We train thousands of hours a year to minimize our risk and to maximize the likelihood of a good outcome in any emergency situation.
  In return for all of the volunteer time, insurance savings and life saving training we ask only for a $50.00 a year donation from those living in our service area. If you know someone who does not realize we need their donation, Please share this website with them.

    100% Volunteer Operation
  Our department is staffed by 100% volunteer firefighters. No one in our organization is paid anything. I know it must be hard to believe or understand that people would be willing to do this for nothing. The truth is that we don't do it for nothing. We do this for the people that live in our service area. It also gives you a high that no drug could possibly touch when you help your neighbor. When all is said and done, it cost us to do this. We are never re-paid for any cost we incur while doing our daily jobs as firefighters. Except for the feeling we get by doing what we do.
  Our Board of Directors are called The Fireman's Club. It consist of the volunteer firefighters. Our daily operations are done under the direction of Chief Darryl Baker. We have now added an Auxiliary to our fire department to help fund raise and educate the public about what we need to survive.

    New 2010 National Fire Protection Association Statistics
  NFPA estimates that there were approximately 1,103,300 firefighters in the US in 2010. Of the total number of firefighters 335,150 (30%) were career firefighters and 768,150 (70%) were volunteer firefighters. Most of the career firefighters are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people. Most of the volunteer firefighters (95%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 people. There are an estimated 30,125 fire departments in the U.S. Of these, 2,495 departments are all career, 1,860 mostly career, 5,290 are mostly volunteer and 20,480 are all volunteer.