Fairfax County’s 12 volunteer fire and rescue departments face critical challenges that may impede their long-term viability, the Board of Supervisors heard on Tuesday (Oct. 14).
“We are concerned about the future,” said Shawn Stokes, who chairs the county’s Volunteer Fire Commission and serves as vice president of administration for the Fairfax County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.
Stokes’s presentation of the organization’s annual report to county supervisors was slightly less upbeat than the one he delivered a year before.
According to Stokes, the county’s volunteer fire departments have encountered a litany of challenges in recent years: aging facilities, increasingly expensive equipment and the task of recruiting new personnel.
“We are committed to continue,” Stokes told the Board of Supervisors, urging collaboration between the privately run organizations and the county government.
“We need to have a plan for the future — together,” he said.
Volunteer firefighters have served Fairfax County for nearly 125 years, first as the only fire-fighting personnel and later in collaboration with the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. At the Oct. 14 presentation, officials with the Volunteer Fire Commission were accompanied by Sparky, their mascot.
The report to supervisors leaned more on the stories of those who volunteer and less on statistical data. One of the issues Stokes brought up was the cost of housing in the county, which is pricing many people out of the market who might be eager to volunteer.
After the presentation, the 2025 Volunteer Fire & Rescue Awards were presented by the commission and supervisors.
Among those honored were:
- Steve Balk of the Centreville Volunteer Fire Department for firefighter of the year
- Myke Van Dyke of the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department for operational officer of the year
- Robert Mizer of the Burke Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, who earned the Fire Chief’s Award, an honor presented when warranted for exceptional achievement over an extended period
