Historical Milestones
Woodbury Fire

• 1942
  Woodbury Township contracts St. Paul Park for fire protection.
  
  
• 1955
  First housing development built. Contract with East County Line Fire for protection of Northwest quadrant.
  
  
• 1959
  Garage fire reported as a grass fire; Woodbury civic organization begins process for organizing a fire department.
  
  
• 1961
  Woodbury Fire Department incorporates and starts operations.
  
  
• 1963
  First fire station built on Upper Afton Road.
  
  
• 1969
  The first manufactured fire apparatus is purchased. A 1969 Howe pumper, red in color.
  
  
• 1970
  Fire department agrees to staff the ambulance service for the Woodbury Ambulance Council.
  
  
• 1975
  New City Hall completed; includes city's second fire station at 2100 Radio Drive and the order of a ladder truck.
  
  
• 1977
  To meet the growing needs of the city, an 85-foot aerial ladder truck is delivered.
  
  
• 1979
  City appoints its first full-time fire marshal, Mike Reber.
  
  
• 1989
  Third fire station completed on Thames Road.
  
  
• 1990
  Radio drive station remodeled to include Public Safety and City Hall moves to the west.
  
  
• 1993
  The Fire Corporation sells all assets to city and the Woodbury Fire Department is born and appoints its first full-time fire chief, Ken Southorn.
  
  
• 1995
  Fire dispatching switched from Maplewood to Washington County to aid in a new two-tired advanced life support system. Again, to meet the growing needs of the community, the Fire Department orders for the first time twin fire trucks.
  
  
• 1996
  Mike Richardson is appointed as city's second full-time fire chief.
  
  
• 2002
  Two new fire stations are constructed to meet the city's needs. The Fox Run Fire Station is built at 1275 Woodbury Drive. In addition, a new station along Upper Afton Road is built to replace Woodbury's first fire station (built in 1963) at the same location.
  
  
• 2007
  The Thames Road Fire Station, located at 6975 Thames Road, is reconstructed to replace the original fire station (built in 1989) at the same location.
  
  

Since the department's inception in 1963, calls for service have risen dramatically (from only 13 to more than 2,600 in 2006). As the calls have risen significantly over recent years, the department has evolved from an all volunteer department in the 1990s to an integrated Public Safety Department today. The Fire Division is now staffed with a combination of full-time and paid-on-call personnel that together provide fire, rescue, hazardous materials and emergency medical services response. In addition, police officers cross-trained as paramedics or firefighters complement the Fire Division response for many emergencies. This combination provides an effective rapid deployment team that also is cost efficient.