In 1936, when the Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department was formally incorporated, the Department had only one fire truck to cover territory on both sides of Route 50, from Chantilly to the Loudoun Clarke County line at the top of Paris Mountain.

It became a volunteer "Fire and Rescue" department early in the 1950's, when it was given its first ambulance.

The early volunteers who served in Middleburg's Company C called themselves "The fightin' foxes."

This month the company announced that it would henceforth be part of the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services under W. Keith Brower, Chief of the County's Combined Fire Rescue System.

As such it will be staffed with paid professional firefighting personnel employed by the County.

All mourned the passing of a nearly 80-year old volunteer-driven community institution, which at times mustered as many as 60 volunteers, on call around the clock.

According to Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department President Edward Wallace, the department was simply not able to attract enough volunteer recruits with the free time necessary to meet county and state minimum requirements.

The Middleburg department's equipment and buildings will be taken over and maintained by the County.

Mayor Betsy Davis who had served both as a rescue volunteer and board member assured all those in the Company's service area that there would be "no difference" in either response times or the quality of service provided from the Middleburg station.