Rochford VFD

The Rochford Rural Fire Association was started after a number of houses in our small town and surrounding area burned to the ground because of having no local fire department. The two closest fire departments at that time were Lead and Hill City. We currently cover approximately 212 square miles with a very low population density. Our fire district is approximately 60% in Pennington County and 40% in Lawrence County.

The Rochford Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer department with a roster of 24 members. If you are interested in becoming a member you are welcome to come to our monthly business meeting on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM at the fire hall. You are welcome to attend even if just to see what the meetings are all about and what we do. If you decide to join, there is some time commitment involved but we don't ask you to make the fire department your entire life. We try to be as flexible as we can be with training, meeting attendance, etc. and we have a pretty good group right now that is social and friendly.

Right now the fire department operates four fire engines:
1. Engine 1 is a 2005 Crimson Fire Type I Structure truck that we received through the US Fire Administration's Fire Grant Program. It is on an International four wheel drive chassis, carries 1000 gallons of water, and has a 1250 GPM PTO driven Darley pump. It also has a small, portable pump mounted on it for pump and roll capabilities.
2. Tender 2 is a 1968 Kaiser 6x6 military surplus truck. It is classified as a Type I Tactical Tender or a Type III Structural Tender. It carries 2000 gallons of water, a 750 GPM pump and is pump and roll capable.
3. Engine 3 is a 2005 Pierce Type III Wildland Urban Interface Truck on a four wheel drive Freightliner chassis. It carries 1200 gallons of water, is pump and roll capable, and is also equipped with a FoamPro CAFS (Compressed Air Foam System). We received this truck through Pennington County cost-share as did a number of other Volunteer Fire Departments in Pennington County.
4. Brush 4 is a 1987 1 1/4 ton four wheel drive military surplus Chevy D50 truck. It is a Type VI brush truck with a 350 gallon tank and is pump and roll capable.

We also have a supply of AFFF foam for use on flammable liquid fires. Engine 1, Engine 3, and Brush 4 all carry the Barricade fire gel system for structure protection during wildland fires.

Over the past few years most of our calls have gone from wildland response and structure protection to medical calls. We are a basic first responder company capable of CPR/AED and basic first aid. We have some members who are South Dakota EM-First Responders. We treat what is within our scope of practice and wait for transport by either the Hill City Ambulance, the Lead/ Deadwood Ambulance, Black Hills Life Flight helicopter or the Rapid City Fire Department's Ambulance service. We have one AED (automatic external defibrillator). With us being in such a remote location, having a small population and fully volunteer, we work very hard to provide a timely, professional service to those in need of our help.

If you have any questions, concerns, or are interested in joining the fire department we can be reached at:

Rochford Rural Fire Association
11696 Rochford Road
Hill City, SD 57745
(605)584-2530
e-mail rochford fire dept