About Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company #6

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From a Handful of Neighbors to Generations of Service

The history of Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company No. 6 is closely tied to the history and growth of the Garden City neighborhood itself.

In the years following World War II, Monroeville was changing rapidly. What had once been a largely rural farming community was beginning to develop into one of Pittsburgh’s growing suburban communities. New highways, commercial development, employment opportunities, and residential construction brought more families into the area and created an increasing need for organized fire protection.

Several major developments helped reshape Monroeville during this period. The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Monroeville interchange opened in 1950, Miracle Mile Shopping Center followed in 1954, and the Garden City residential development began taking shape in 1955. As Monroeville’s population expanded outward, the community’s existing fire protection system also had to expand. Three additional volunteer fire companies—Companies 4, 5, and 6—were organized in 1955, with Fire Company No. 6 established specifically to serve the growing Garden City area. 

The Beginning of Company 6

The beginnings of Company 6 were remarkably simple.

There was no large fire station, no modern apparatus bay, and no collection of specialized emergency vehicles. Instead, the organization began with a small group of neighbors who recognized that their growing community needed its own fire protection.

Historical accounts preserved by the Monroeville Historical Society provide a firsthand look at those early years. Edward Bailey, an architect who moved to Garden City in 1955 and later became a life member of Company 6, recalled that the original nucleus of the company came from the area around Lilac Drive, Azalea Drive, and Garden City Drive. According to Bailey, there were approximately five original members involved when the company began. 

Those first members did not even have a fire hall.

Bailey recalled that the volunteers initially met in members’ homes, and that the organization itself was formed at the home of Al Wolter, another Garden City resident. As additional residents from the different sections of Garden City became involved, the small neighborhood effort began developing into an organized volunteer fire company. 

Before Company 6 could become an established fire department, its members had to demonstrate that there was a legitimate need for another volunteer fire company in the Monroeville area. The early volunteers worked through the appropriate government process to establish the organization and demonstrate the need for additional fire protection in Garden City. Company 6 ultimately became the last of Monroeville’s numbered volunteer fire companies to be established.

Garden City Was Growing

The neighborhood Company 6 was created to protect was itself relatively new.

Garden City was one of the post-World War II planned residential communities that helped transform Monroeville. It was designed as more than simply a collection of houses. The development included residential neighborhoods as well as churches, recreation facilities, a swimming pool, and a shopping center.

Edward Bailey was among the early Garden City homeowners and became involved in organizing the neighborhood’s volunteer firefighters. His recollections provide an important connection between the development of Garden City and the creation of what would become Fire Company No. 6. 

As additional phases of Garden City were developed and more families moved into Plans 2, 3, and 4, participation in the new fire company increased. What began with only a few residents soon became a larger community organization.

The department was literally being built alongside the neighborhood it served.

The First Apparatus

Like many volunteer fire companies of the era, Company 6 did not begin with brand-new firefighting equipment.

Bailey remembered the department beginning with a secondhand pumper that was already approximately 10 to 15 years old. His recollection did not definitively identify the manufacturer, but the important part of the story is what that apparatus represented: Company 6 now had the beginnings of an operational firefighting organization. 

The volunteers still needed somewhere to keep it.

Their solution was simple and practical.

A local property owner allowed the firefighters to place a small structure on his property near the bend along Garden City Drive in the vicinity of the road leading toward Evergreen School. The members constructed a small wooden garage, approximately 12 feet wide and between 24 and 30 feet long, specifically to house the department’s first piece of equipment.  That modest wooden garage became Company 6’s first fire company building.

It was a far cry from the modern fire station that serves Garden City today, but it represented an important milestone. Company 6 had moved from meetings inside neighborhood homes to having its own apparatus and a dedicated location from which to operate.

Building the First Permanent Fire Station

As membership increased and the organization became more established, the small wooden garage was no longer enough.

Company 6 eventually developed a permanent station at the location associated with the company today. Edward Bailey, whose profession was architecture, played an important role in that project. He recalled preparing the architectural drawings for the company’s first permanent fire station at the present site.

The original building was relatively modest by modern standards. It consisted primarily of a two-bay apparatus garage, along with several smaller rooms and restroom facilities. Bailey’s architectural seal appeared on the plans for the building. 

Municipal records provide another documented milestone in the company’s development. On June 14, 1966, the Municipality approved a conditional-use permit for Monroeville Fire Company No. 6, reflecting the continued establishment and development of the company’s facilities. 

From the original meetings in private homes, to the small wooden apparatus garage, and eventually to a permanent fire station, each step reflected the determination of the company’s early members to create a lasting fire protection organization for their neighborhood.

Becoming Part of a Growing Monroeville

Company 6 was developing during one of the most transformative periods in Monroeville’s history.

The opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange, growth along Route 22, construction of new residential neighborhoods, development of major commercial properties, and eventually the extension of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway changed the nature of the community dramatically. 

Monroeville was no longer the quiet rural township it had once been.

More residents meant more homes.

More roadways meant more traffic and vehicle crashes.

More businesses meant larger and increasingly complex commercial structures.

As the community changed, the role of the volunteer firefighter changed with it.

Company 6 steadily expanded its training, apparatus, equipment, and operational capabilities to meet those challenges.

A Tradition of Training

Even during the company’s early years, training was an important part of its development.

Bailey recalled that the firefighters who became heavily involved in operational firefighting went through a strong training process. Although equipment and techniques were much different from those used today, the emphasis on preparing firefighters to safely and effectively respond to emergencies was already becoming part of Company 6’s culture.

That emphasis has become increasingly important as the fire service has evolved.

Modern volunteer firefighters are expected to understand structural firefighting, vehicle rescue, hazardous conditions, modern building construction, incident command, communications, firefighter survival, emergency medical operations, and numerous specialized disciplines.

The tools have changed dramatically since Company 6’s earliest members gathered in Garden City homes, but the need for trained people willing to answer the call has never changed.

More Than Firefighting

As Company 6 grew, so did its role in the community.

Volunteer fire departments have traditionally served as more than emergency response organizations. They have also functioned as neighborhood institutions, gathering places, sources of community support, and organizations where generations of residents have formed lifelong relationships.

Bailey recalled participating primarily on the administrative side of Company 6, serving in positions including secretary, treasurer, vice president, and eventually fire police captain. His experience illustrates something that remains true of volunteer fire companies today: it takes far more than firefighters riding apparatus to keep a department functioning.

Behind every emergency response are officers, administrative members, fundraisers, trainers, maintenance personnel, fire police, families, and community supporters.

Company 6 was built through all of those contributions.

An Integral Part of Monroeville’s Fire Protection System

Over time, Monroeville developed a coordinated system of volunteer fire companies responsible for protecting different areas of the municipality while working together during larger incidents.

A 2005 Monroeville comprehensive planning document noted that the municipality’s volunteer fire companies collectively operated numerous pumpers, aerial apparatus, rescue and utility vehicles, command units, and other specialized equipment while handling approximately 1,000 fire and related calls annually at that time. The document also noted that Monroeville’s later fire companies had been created during the mid-1950s specifically because increasing population and expanding neighborhoods required fire protection across a larger geographic area.

Company 6 was part of that expansion and remains part of Monroeville’s coordinated emergency response system today.

The municipality formally recognizes its volunteer fire departments and authorizes their members not only to perform firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical duties, but also to participate in training, pre-fire planning, community events, and other public-service activities. 

The Evolution of Company 6

The difference between Company 6 in the 1950s and Company 6 today is substantial.

The earliest members worked with limited resources and used a small wooden garage to protect a secondhand fire engine.

Today’s firefighters operate sophisticated emergency apparatus equipped with modern pumping systems, rescue equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus, thermal imaging cameras, advanced communications equipment, power tools, lighting systems, and other equipment designed for modern emergency operations.

The types of calls have expanded as well.

Company 6’s members must be prepared for structural fires, commercial incidents, motor vehicle crashes, rescues, alarm activations, hazardous conditions, severe weather, public-service calls, mutual-aid assignments, and other emergencies.

Yet the fundamental concept remains exactly what it was when those first residents gathered in a Garden City home:

Neighbors protecting neighbors.

70 Years of Volunteer Service

Company 6 marked more than seven decades of service in 2025.

Across those decades, countless firefighters and community members have contributed to its history.

Some served for only a few years.

Others devoted decades of their lives to the company.

Some became firefighters, officers, engineers, or rescue personnel. Others served in administrative positions, fire police, fundraising roles, or behind-the-scenes support positions.

Each contributed another chapter to the company’s story.

The trucks changed.

The protective equipment changed.

The station changed.

The neighborhood changed.

Monroeville changed.

But generations of Company 6 members continued answering the same call to service.

Company 6 Today

Today, Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company No. 6 operates from 600 Garden City Drive in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The Municipality of Monroeville currently identifies Corye Ramsey as Fire Chief of Company 6. 

The station that stands in Garden City today represents much more than an emergency-services building.

It represents more than seven decades of community history.

It represents the five original residents who helped organize a fire company when there was no station.

It represents meetings held inside neighborhood homes.

It represents the first secondhand pumper sheltered inside a small wooden garage.

It represents the volunteers who designed, built, expanded, maintained, and staffed the department.

It represents every firefighter who left dinner, work, family gatherings, holidays, and sleep when an alarm sounded.

And most importantly, it represents a promise that began in Garden City more than 70 years ago:

When our neighbors need help, Company 6 will answer.

Our History Is Still Being Written

The history of Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company No. 6 did not end with its founding generation.

It continues every time a new member joins.

Every time firefighters gather for training.

Every time an apparatus leaves the station.

Every time Company 6 assists another Monroeville company or neighboring department.

Every time a firefighter answers an alarm in the middle of the night.

From a handful of Garden City residents meeting inside their homes to a modern volunteer emergency response organization, Company 6 has grown alongside the community it was created to protect.

Established in 1955.

Built by volunteers.

Rooted in Garden City.

Serving Monroeville for generations.

Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company No. 6 — Our history is built on service, and our story continues with every call.