Ozona VFD remodels station

Ozona—The Ozona Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) is finalizing the remodel for its station on Medical Drive.

The remodel, funded by the county, includes new floors, walls, and store rooms to accommodate the VFD.

“It was fairly simple,” Paula Ogles, a station attendant, said. “We tore down old walls and added new ones to make the building nicer. The storerooms were built from the ground up by the high school woodshop.”

“We got this building not long ago from Crockett County,” Eddie Martin, emergency service director, coordinator and fire chief of Ozona’s VFD, said.“This building has been around since 1974. Fesco Oil and Gas owned it until they moved to Midland, so the county generously bought it for us.

“We added a training room, as well as a kitchenette for our firefighters. This remodel will help us to expand our training and grow the community.

“The VFD is made up of about 40 people in the county who want to help their fellow citizens. The volunteers are wonderful people to serve with. For a typical grass fire, we will be out for four to six hours, but I remember times when we have fought fires for more than two weeks. These people use a ton of their time and resources for no pay,” he said.

The volunteers receive protective clothing from the organization.

“It’s amazing what these people will do; they come out to wash our trucks, come to regular trainings, and more,” Martin said.

Most firefighters in the department are young adults. However, the service also includes a few high school-age firefighters.

“These kids get experience and real-world training.They go to fires with us and get to do most of what our adults do,” Martin said. “We really use whatever we have.”

The building allows more than 20 vehicles to be stored, including fire trucks, ambulances, and utility task vehicles, as well as firefighting equipment.

“It’s a lot of space because we cover so much land,” Martinsaid. “All 2,900 square miles of Crockett County is under our care and protection, as well as every adjacent county, which we share mutual aid agreements with.”

The most important room renovated in the remodel was the training room, which was equipped with radio communications and high-speed Internet for classes and training for volunteers.

“We want this building to be nice and large for our instruction,” Martin said. “We want to expand classes and make them regional for everyone in surrounding counties for EMS training on top of our local VFD classes.”