An effort to organize a fire program in Carova began in the early 80s. The department was Chartered in 82’ as a non-profit  corporation under contract with Currituck County to provide fire and rescue  service to the area.   Acquiring property and  building the first section of the present building took most of the 80s. The early members, numbering less than twenty, put in a lot of personal time and resources to make that happen.  During that same period, meetings were held at individual homes, looking forward to the day they could conduct business at the station. The original charter and articles of incorporation were for Carova Beach Volunteer Fire Department.  In 2001 this was changed to Carova Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad Inc. in order to include the rescue activities.  An AKA was registered as Carova Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue or CBVF&R at that time.

The acquiring of fire and rescue equipment went through many growing pains during those early years. Trucks and parts of trucks were purchased from other department and from government surplus.  All of this effort resulted in one SUV type vehicle that was set up as a quick response vehicle, QRV for EMS, a pieced together brush truck of questionable quality and an engine that was affectionately  known as “Big Red” that spent a lot of time being repaired.

We Get New Equipment

Engine 735, the first vehicle spec'd out and purchased new by this department, a Grumman engine on an international chassis, was purchased in 1986. The lining of the one thousand gallon metal tank broke down and rust became a problem in the mid 90s, the tank was replaced with a fiber tank in 1999. A three inch pre-connect line and a non-jetted recycle line was added at the same time.  In 2007, Engine 735 was completely refurbished, including painting and undercoating the under-carriage .  It was the primary fire response vehicle for this department until 1991 when a second engine, 739, was purchased.  Water supply  became the primary task for this unit.  In 2008, Engine-735 was re-named  Engine-72 or E-72.

Conversion was made from make-do units  to a “real brush truck”, B-743, in 1990 with the purchase of a new F-250 and the installation of a 300 gallon “Fire Cracker” brush  unit.  It served  as the only brush unit for the department until 1995.  Its took second position in 1995 and was a back-up unit until 2007 when its primary function became water rescue support. The vehicle was reconditioned and storage compartments were added to facilitate the change.  The unit designation became Brush Truck 73, B-73.

Engine 739 was purchased  from Boardman in 1991. There were two pre-connected cross-lays on this unit to facilitate a quick response. The PTO shifting is electronic as apposed to the mechanical shifting on E 735.  A deck gun was added in 1993. A “Foam Pro” Class-A foam injection system was added in 1999. The pump discharge manifold was modified to include a flow transmitter and arranged in a way that permits foam in selected discharges only and prevents tank foam contamination.  At the same time, a non-jetted, full flow, recycle line and valve were added as well as a rear mounted vacuum line and valve.  This unit was completely refurbished in 2007. In 2008, Engine 739 was renamed Engine 71 or E-71.

With brush fires and vehicle fires being a major portion of the calls for Carova, the quick response brush trucks play a key roll station response.  In 1995 a second brush truck was purchased, it was a new 4 door crew cab  F-350 with again a “Fire Cracker” brush unit.   In 1999  the Fire Cracker unit was replaced with a state of the art, Class-A,  foam drop-in unit. This conversion included   a 300g. fiber-glass tank, drafting capability and higher water delivery rate.  The expectations of this unit and the equipment required to meet them, continued to expand over the next few years to the point that the back seat was not available for personnel.   In 2008, this unit was refurbished including vehicle repairs, painting and undercoating of under-carriage and upgrading of electronics.   Compartments were added to both sides of the bed during the refurbishing. This provided storage for fire and EMS equipment,  including SCBA units , medical responder bags etc..  In 2008 Brush Truck 744 became Brush 71 or B-71.

In 2005, the Carova Beach Fire & Rescue Auxiliary purchased a 2006 Ford 350 XL Super Duty chassis and donated it to the department for conversion to a brush truck.   A radio, light bar and siren were added and the unit was used as a service vehicle until a plan could be put together as to what equipment would be installed.  In December of 2006 the a CET Fire Pumps representative transported  the vehicle to Canada  for planned upgrades. These upgrades included the installation of a 300 gal. Compressed Air Foam system and support hardware. The completed vehicle was returned and placed in service as Brush Truck 745 in February 2007. In 2008 it became Brush Truck 72 or B-72.

In 1996  a 1991 Chevrolet Blazer was donated to the department .   It was appropriately outfitted and painted to function as a utility vehicle including light, siren and radio.  It served well as such but could not function adequately in emergency situations.

A new 2007 Nissan Titan was purchased in July as a  replacement for  746 with an expanded scope. The new 746, now C-7,  became the station command vehicle as well as a quick response vehicle for EMS and rescue response.  It is normally operated by the Chief or Assistant Chief but is available for special transport or training.

This station has provided some level of EMS services to the community from the early 80s. The first effort involved a specially outfitted SUV type vehicle and one trained individual .There was a determined effort to expand the stations EMS program over the years. On two occasions, EMT training courses were conducted at the station.  In 1994 a new  Wheel Coach walk through type-   ambulance, 785, was purchased.   This unit was outfitted at the ALS level.  The state granted a ALS Provider-ship, license, to Carova to provide EMS services to the area.  In 1996, because of the inability of this area to meet current state requirements for trained EMS personnel, this license was relinquished to the state.  A contract was signed with Corolla Fire and Rescue to operate under their license and for them to provide manpower and necessary EMS coverage. The ambulance, 785, would remain at Carova and would be operated as part of this joint effort.  As part of the agreement, 785 was staffed two days a week, days only,  with Corolla personnel. 

In 2006 a MR, Medical Responder, course and a First Responder course were conducted at Carova to strengthen the EMS effort at Carova.  In 2008, Currituck County completed the last phase of taking over all county EMS operations by incorporating Corolla and Carova in their program.  Title to Ambulance 785, now Medic 7, was signed over to Currituck EMS to remain at Station 7, Carova.   A joint effort between Carova volunteers and Currituck EMS now provides EMS coverage to the area.  Carova, the only county area without full time paid EMS, continues to request this additional coverage.