The Woodlands' 50th Anniversary Community
BY VANESSA HOLT
Editor's note: This story is part of a monthly series that Community Impact will run through the 50th anniversary of The Woodlands in October 2024 highlighting the community.
As The Woodlands Fire Department looks back on 50 years of service in late 2023, it has grown from a volunteer-operated organization to one which serves more than 120,000 people from eight stations. Fire Chief Palmer Buck, who has been with the department since 2019, said the department began to form while the community was still in its earliest stages, and its rst retruck was driven down from New York by the initial volunteers. “In 1980, the rst dedication public safety center was a trailer in a barn ... and then all the stations are all numbered in the order they were built,” Buck said. The backstory The Woodlands Fire Department saw its rst paid re chief join in 1975, and the department transitioned from being all-volunteer to being all-paid in 1982. Along the way, since 1973 the department has grown to a total of eight stations and an Emer- gency Training Station as well as adding a contract with the city of Shenandoah to provide re response to that city. What’s happening In 2023, the department formed a tenth com- pany, meaning it now has 163 reghters with four-person stang on retrucks. In 2024, the department will also embark on rebuilding its Station No. 5, which is currently located on land where soil and fault line issues are causing structural damage. The $12 million rebuild will take place on township-owned land by the Sterling Ridge Park and Ride on McBeth Way. What’s next While single-family development in The Wood- lands is largely built out, additional multifamily and commercial growth is ongoing, Buck said. The Woodlands Fire Department looks back at 50 years of history
Chief Palmer Buck has been with The Woodlands Fire Department since late 2019.
50 years of history 1973: Volunteer re department formed 1975: Bill Neill hired as rst re chief 1980: Public Safety Center on Grogans Mill Road dedicated 1982: The department becomes The Woodlands Fire Department Inc.
1986: Station No. 2 dedicated 1995: Station No. 3 dedicated 1997: Station No. 4 dedicated 2003: Station No. 5 dedicated 2008: Station No. 6 dedicated 2011-12: Station No. 7 and 8 dedicated
The Woodlands Fire Department’s Ladder Truck No. 101 was in use around 1980.
SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS FIRE DEPARTMENTCOMMUNITY IMPACT
“The big thing is Town Center development,” he said. “We’re looking at the potential for multifam- ily dwellings being built and some more vertical development.” In early 2023, The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Mall discussed the potential for early 2025 groundbreaking on a project to expand the mall and add two new hotels to its footprint. In early 2024 the department will put together its vision for the coming years as the county continues to grow. “As the whole county starts adding people, I suspect by 2024 that Montgomery County will be at a million [residents] if not sooner,” Buck said.
A re in Garden Ridge in 2011 was one of the largest losses in the department’s history.
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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