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From station wagons to ALS: how Leesburg Fire Department expanded services
Summary
Chief Joe Mirra recounted that the department ran ambulance service using modified vehicles in the 1970s and 1980s and later became the first in the county to provide advanced life support; he also described growth in coverage area and interagency agreements.
Chief Joe Mirra told Inside Leesburg that, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Leesburg Fire Department ran ambulance service out of the fire station using converted vans and station wagons. "There's photos at the station of, vans and, you know, modified station wagons that were the ambulances that were ran out of the fire station," Mirra said.
Mirra added that the department later became the first in the county to begin providing advanced life support, after which all agencies in the area adopted ALS capabilities. He said those service expansions accompanied population and geographic growth, requiring mutual-aid agreements and changes in staffing and equipment to meet modern emergency medical and fire demands.
