Welcome to Pace Florida

Pace, Florida Volunteer Fire Department's History 

The Pace Volunteer Fire department was founded by a handful of citizens of approximately 10 members. Those few members were citizens of the Pace community and wanted to contribute their time and service to their community. The department established a Corporation in January 1959 and is still going strong and serving the community today. 

In the beginning, the department had two trucks that were donated to them to start responding to fire calls. The volunteers had to find their own source of funding, so, they were able to convince the powers that be to charge each household in the community $3 per year for fire protection. Yes, that seems a small amount for the hard work they performed.  

You might be wondering how the fire fighters were notified back in the day when there was a fire.  Well, there were two households who had what used to be called fire phones. There had to be someone home at these two households at all times. When a call came in, usually from Milton Fire Department, they in turn, called the fire phone in the Pace community. This call would be received at each of the residences in Pace.   

The Pace fire phone duty operator would then contact the firefighters at their home phone and tell them where the fire was located. They went down the list of names of the firefighters, calling all to have them respond. At the same time, someone would go to the fire station and sound the fire whistle. They had a code for the community when sounding the alarm. The community was divided into 4 sections.  

The section line was Highway 90, Chumuckla Highway and  Floridatown Road.  Section 1 was the Northwest Corner, any area north of Highway 90 and west of  Chumuckla Highway.  This section would get one whistle blast.  Section 2 was Northeast Corner, any area north of Highway 90 east of  Chumuckla Highway.  This section would get two whistles of the alarm. Section 3, the area south of Highway 90 and west of Floridatown Road , would get three whistles of the alarm, and Section 4, any area south of Highway 90 and east of  Floridatown Road, would get four whistles.  

These whistles not only told the firefighters that there was a fire, but also, what section of the community the fire was in.  The fire phone was later replaced with an alerting device called the "Plectron."  This alerting device would sound and advise the firefighter of the call and location.   

As time went on, firefighter’s wives organized a ladies auxiliary. Through the help of the auxiliary, the department held fundraisers to help with costs and expenses. The auxiliary conducted numerous special events in the community such as the Fourth of July Parade & Celebration, which was held at Floridatown Park. The wives put on fish frys, chicken dinners, wrestling matches, raffles, spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts, and any event that would help them raise money for the volunteer fire department.   

Eventually, the ladies auxiliary was disbanded. But the department still had to raise their own funds, so it became necessary to increase the community dues to offset. In 1974, the dues were $8 per residence. Even though the dues were raised and there were more residents, the firefighters had more calls to respond to.  Therefore, the department was still not getting enough funds to get by.  And they still were operating with  donated trucks from other departments.

At the time, the department had a Board of Directors who ran administrative meetings, Fire Line Officers, Chief, Asst. Chief, and Captains who were in control of fire scenes. The department had several Fire Chiefs. In the 1970's, the Chief was Elvin Fowler. Then it the title of Chief moved on to Tom Worring, Harry Cook, John Barlow, and now, James Crisco. There were other fire chiefs in the earlier years, 1959 - 1970. 

By 1980, the department was receiving funds of approximately $20,000 per year.  The equipment they had was old and worn, so, in 1980 the department had saved enough money to purchase a new tanker.  While the department had to make payments on the title, it was a truck the department needed. The firefighters were so excited and proud of their new truck.  

This tanker was needed because of the lack of water in some of the areas responded to. To respond to calls in these areas, they had to have more firefighters. By now, the department had grown to approximately 35 firefighters. In the beginning, these firefighters fought fire sometimes with nothing but the clothes they had on when they left their residence. Each year the department started buying bunker gear for the men. The gear generally lasted 5 to 6 years, but NFPA and fire codes have disbarred the old gear. Therefore, every three years the department has to raise funds to replace the bunker gear. 

Several years after that, the Fire Association joined with other departments in the county and went to the county commissioners and proposed an MSBU tax to all households in the unincorporated area.  Ever since this tax went into effect, the department has been able to purchase more new trucks and keep the men with updated equipment. They have also been able to expand, adding three sub-stations, which house the new trucks.  

The original Pace Volunteer Fire Department is still located at the original station, located at 4541 Majors Street.  Station 2 is located on Woodbine Roadon the south side of the Stonebrook subdivision. Station 3 is located on Highway 90 in the Pea Ridge area, and Station 4 is located on Chumuckla Highwayin front of the new Soccer Complex at Willard Norris Road.  This land was donated by the county to the department and the department paid for the building.

With all of these stations, all residences now fall within a 3-mile radius, which is required by ISO, an auditing insurance company that regulates the rating for homeowners insurance. The lower the fire department rating, the lower the insurance rates are.  

The Department sometimes holds fundraisers for the community, but these are usually because of the increasing expenses that occur after the budget has been prepared.  The only fundraiser the department currently holds is Photo Pictures by Excalibur. One of these fundraisers events paid for the ladder truck they have now.  In October 1999, The Pace Volunteer Fire department celebrated its 50^th anniversary with a fire fighters parade -- the first such parade ever held in Santa Rosa County.  Now the firefighter’s parade is held every year on the first Saturday in October.  

At present, there are 20 fire fighters and 10 associate members. As in all other organizations, there are usually a few that keep the organization going. Presently 2 members have been in the department over 30 years, 4 members over 25 years and 3 members over 15 years.  The Pace Volunteer Fire Department #21 is always in need of dedicated firefighters. 

In 2001, the Pace Volunteer Fire Department responded to over 1,400 calls. Each year this total increases. The Pace Volunteer Fire Department is very proud of its dedicated Volunteers and could not do without them.  These firefighters are heroes and life savers. 

Please help them be there for you when you need them the most.