2018 was a good year for the department. With a wide array of changes and challenges the department faced-it ended on a solid note.
At the annual meeting held in December, elections were held for board and officer positions. All of the current officers will continue to hold their positions for 2019 with a few small changes to the members at large and county representatives.
The annual meeting had a good attendance and Chief Humbles shared a recap on 2018 and the departments aspirations for 2019 and beyond.
Community members were called to help in whatever capacity they are capable of helping, by donations or by volunteering. 

One of the changes this year was hosting the Senior Citizens in the fire department building for their weekly meetings and monthly railroad lunches. It has been a great way for the department to give back beyond their normal capabilities and it has been a good partnership.

At the annual meeting, recognition awards were given out to department members who showed admirable dedication to serve the department. In addition, gift cards were handed out to ALL members that achieved 100 hours of service and worked at least one night of bingo.
The department is looking forward to 2019 with strong leadership and promising changes.

April kept the department busy with quite a few calls throughout the month. Vehicle fires, landing zones and a tornado were some of the busy calls for the department.

Community involvement is very important to the department and April gave them lots of opportunities!
-They hosted their annual Easter Egg hunt!
-Department members contributed to the prescribed burn at James River State park.
-The volunteers sold food at the triathlon at James River State Park and were able to raise a few hundred dollars for the department. They also did standby for medical purposes and treated small injuries for the racers.

April 11- Prescribed burn at James River State Park

April 12-MVC on Allens Creek Road

April 14-Tornado mutual aid in Amherst County. 

April 28- MVC on Anderson HWY.

April 29- Rescue call/Landing Zone on Norwood road

​They say March comes in like a lion…which we can agree with at GVFRS. With over 15 calls on March 2nd alone and the rest of the month maintaining a large volume of calls, we are looking forward to see what April holds.
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Friday March 2nd- The day the county burned!
Started off at 4AM with a tractor trailer accident on Piedmont Road. Then toned for multiple trees down across the Gladstone area.
Around noon, the brush fires started and we had personnel fighting for over 10 hours in multiple counties. Brownings Cove and Falling Rock fires being the main ones.
While Lovingston (Company 1) crews were out, Gladstone personnel helped cover their station and responded to an MVC on Thomas Nelson HWY at about 8PM.
After more Lovingston personnel became available, Gladstone crews staffed the Company 4 building until about midnight.

​Friday March 16, Prescribed Burn at James River State Park.
The prescribed burn was cancelled due to high wind and low humidity. GVFRS went to provide support with the department UTV.

February was a great month for GVFRS. The monthly business meeting had very good attendance. A vendor came and spoke to the department, as well as sized multiple members for possible new gear. 
The rescue side covered many calls throughout the month.

February 5- MVC on Tye River Road.
Department members worked mutual aid with multiple other fire and EMS agencies, including Lovingston,  Faber, Wintergreen and Amherst.

February 11- Public Service Call on Gladstone Road.
Crews responded to pump water from a flooded roadway after large amounts of rainfall. After 5 hours, the road was able to be reopened. A big thank you to the residents of Gladstone who provided food for the volunteers.

Packing up hose after a call.

February 13- Structure fire on Thomas Nelson Highway.
Gladstone crews responded to this call late Tuesday night and stayed on scene for over 10 hours battling this blaze. A huge amount of personnel and apparatus responded from across the area.

February 23-25- 2018 Virginia Fire and Rescue Conference.
GVFRS was able to send four members to the 2018 VFRS conference at the end of the month. They attended classes throughout the weekend and plan to share new ideas with the department. They also were able to attend the Expo, during which they talked and networked with vendors.

The year started off busy for Gladstone Fire with multiple structure, chimney and vehicle fires. Rescue stayed busy as well with many transports.

January 2-Barn Fire on Norwood Road

January 3- Vehicle Fire on Redbird Lane

January 7-Mutual Aid structure fire on Grandma's Hill Road.
(Picture credits to News and Advance)

January 11- Vehicle and brush fire on Norwood Road.

January 22- Brush Fire on Stapleton Road.

January 27- Rescue call with patient extraction

The month of December kept the department busy, on both the fire and rescue sides.

December 10th- Lovingston Christmas Parade

December 26th-Landing Zone for rescue call.

December 27th-Chimney Fire on Piedmont Rd.

Rescue picked up over a dozen calls in Appomattox in November, along with multiple calls in Nelson and Amherst.

November 14-Trees down on Norwood Road.

November 17-Helping out in the kitchen at the Spout Springs Ruritan BINGO night.

October was a busy month for GVFRS for both fire and rescue. 
Rescue had a large call volume throughout the month. Fire responded to multiple brush fires.
The departments covered many public service calls:
-Engine 46 visited local schools for youth fire and emergency education.
-Multiple apparatus were entered in the Appomattox County Railroad Festival Parade. 
-The department attended and vended at James River State Park Fall Festival.  Rescue 151 was there to provide medical services for  the 5K Night Run. Tanker 42 was on standby for the bonfires. Members sold food throughout the event and were able to raise money for the department.

GVFRS Volunteers at Appomattox Railroad Festival Parade.

Preparing food at JRSP Fall Festival.

Young grill maestros hard at work!

Tanker 42 standing-by for the fire at JRSP Fall Festival at sunset.

Gladstone Rescue handled a large volume of rescue calls throughout the month of September. Including being called for and  responding to 5 calls in one day.

Gladstone 151 at UVA Hospital after a transport.

September 4- MVC on RT605

September 30- MVC at the intersection of RT60 and RT26.
This MVC was a multiple vehicle  incident where four occupants were transported to LGH. Appomattox Rescue responded and assisted in transporting three of the patients.

On the afternoon of August 5th Gladstone Fire was dispatched to a gas leak on Hampton Lane. They coordinated with Appomattox Fire and were able to quickly get things under control and release the home back to the residents.