In 1968, members of the Purcellville community led by Charlie Schonder (former members of the original Loudoun Rescue in Leesburg) started discussing the creation of a rescue squad specific to Purcellville. In 1969, the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad (PVRS) was formed. The first ambulance was bought from the Vienna Fire Department with money donated from the Purcellville Fire Department.
Many of the original charter members were also members of the Purcellville Fire Department. Members would respond to whichever call came first. In the beginning, Fire Department members helped drive the ambulances.Some of the founding members include: Ed Ashby, Charlie Bridge, Billy Buxton, Robert Grubb, Claude James, Douglas Lawlor, Allen Love, Dalton Millbourne, Charlie Schonder, Rex Shoemaker, Herbert (Sonny) Sisk, Bill Whirley, John C. Whit, and Roger Wright.
The original building was located in a garage on land owned by Charlie Holden. Mr. Holden later sold the land to PVRS. PVRS began construction on the building in 1971 with the addition of the southern most bay in 1974. Donating much of their time, Basham Simms and others laid all the brick for the building. Electrical work was performed by Wade Palmer and others. Creative Urethane supplied the spray-on attic insulation. The station only had to pay for the material. A large number of members donated their free time to work on the building. The official Dedication was on September 30, 1972.
The Loudon Time-Mirror reported:
The open house event at Purcellville’s new Volunteer Rescue Squad building last Saturday brought out many of the local citizens to admire the efforts of the Squad’s 18-member organization and its friends. Robert Grubb, president and veteran in Rescue Squad affairs, was on who heads the squad and is serving as fund drive chairmen was busy accepting donations that will defray cost of the $30,000 investment.
Many hands went into the construction of the building, chief among them Basham Simms, who was responsible for much of the labor. Simms, also a member of Purcellville Town Council, brought in a crew of fellow workmen from another section of Northern Virginia who contributed valuable work under his Supervision. All squad members are still at work in grading and landscaping the grounds.
Addressing the assemblage at ribbon cutting time was Purcellville Mayor Robert Harrks, Supervisor James Brownell, Sate senator Charles Waddell and others.
XXX Author, Loudoun Times Mirror
PVRS operated from the same building on 20th Street from 1969 until October, 2006 when renovations of the building began. From October 2006 until March of 2007 the station relocated to the Lauten Construction Building at 131 E. Main Street to allow for quicker renovations. In March of 2007, the squad moved back to the 20th Street station into its new 8,000 square foot facility. The original size of the facility had been barely 3,200 square feet, but the renovated building now included a second story and room for four vehicle bays and an adjoining car port area.
In 2008, PVRS joined in a joint effort with Purcellville Fire Department and Loudoun County to build a new station at 500 N. Maple with an expected opening date of Spring 2009.
2009 was a busy year for PVRS. The company moved out of its rennovated quarters on 20th street in June, into its brand new station, dubbed the Purcellville Public Safety Center (PPSC), with the Purcellville Fire Department at the intersection of North Maple Avenue and Hirst Road. This new 23,000 sq ft facility features two wings each with a large apparatus bay, multiple bunk rooms with showers, personnel lockers, and a core with a commerical kitchen, a full gym, and a training room.
The company also saw a large increase in membership, both operational and administrative, with approximately 35 new members joining over the course of the year. Each month, PVRS voted in at least two or three new members; leading to the largest growth in recent company history. Such growth prompted approximately 9 members to go through EMT-Basic training, and one through EMT-Enhanced training; all of whom are now precepting.
This new membership base helped both boost the companys total man hours for the year to over 29,000, and total calls ran to over 1,020. As the company has grown rapidly, it has bypassed numbers from prior years by leaps and bounds.
2010 promises to be a great year for PVRS: we are voting in new members every meeting, we are working hard to train our members to the level where we can run two units 24/7, and the company is endeavoring to widen our web and media presence.
PVRS is proud to be staffed 100% by volunteers and maintains an in-station crew around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7-days a week, 365 days a year.
We are always in need of new volunteers, both administrative and operational.
If you want to give back to your community, to help others, and to be apart of this great field, then please consider joining.