Station 1 “Lake of the Woods”

Boone County Fire Protection District Station 1 is located at the intersection of St. Charles road and Lake of the Woods road.  Station 1 serves the Lake of the Woods area east of Columbia and has a long history of dedicated volunteers dating back to 1964 when a small group of citizen band radio enthusiast established the Central Missouri Radio Squad.

John Patrick Barnes, one of the original members, owned a milk distributing operation in Columbia and donated a 1947 Chevrolet panel truck to the Central Missouri Radio Squad. The second apparatus was a 1942 Chevrolet pumper truck purchased for five hundred dollars which was funded by donations from community members and the volunteer firefighters themselves. These two pieces of equipment were housed in a converted chicken house on Hwy PP east of Columbia. In the spring of 1966, the newly named Boone County Volunteer Fire Department took delivery of a metal building which was erected by the volunteer firefighters on Hwy PP where the Casey’s general store sits today.

The station residency program began at Station 1 in 1966. John Wilke, who was a junior at the University of Missouri, started the tradition of students living in fire stations during their collage years. John Wilke is still an active volunteer with the Boone County Fire Protection District today and the residency program continues at every fire station in the district.

William “Bill” Westhoff was one of the first members of the Central Missouri Radio Squad and became the first Fire Chief of the Boone County Fire Protection District on July 11, 1970. Chief Westhoff brought academic accomplishments of a Bachelor’s Degree in fire science and was the director of firemanship training at the University of Missouri, a program that is known today as Fire and Rescue Training Institute or MUFRTI.  Chief Westhoff started the strong expectation of a well-trained volunteer fire department that has helped propel the careers of numerous firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, fire chiefs, doctors and nurses across the country, many of them started their journey as a volunteer firefighter at Station 1.

After the 1990 Bond Issue passed, the current station was built as a 4-bay fire station with 8 resident rooms. The station currently houses Engine 101, a 2000 fire engine, Truck 106, a 2011 Ford F450 that responds to medical emergencies and grass fires, Tanker 105 a 2015 tanker, Squad 104, a 2017 rescue squad, and a swift water rescue boat, Boat 107. There were 936 responses out of station 1 in 2020

Station Run Map

Station 1  “Lake of the Woods” Run Map

Pictures From The Station

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Meet The Station Manager - Benjamin Coe

Recent news and announcements

Voters approve Boone County Fire District Bond Issue on April 4th ballot News Image

Voters approve Boone County Fire District Bond Issue on April 4th ballot

On behalf of all the members of the Boone County Fire Protection District, the Fire Chief and the Board of Directors, we would like to say THANK...

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Memorial Unveiled for Assistant Chief Bryant Gladney at Fire District Headquarters News Image

Memorial Unveiled for Assistant Chief Bryant Gladney at Fire District Headquarters

On Monday, December 5th members gathered at Fire District Headquarters to dedicate a memorial to Assistant Chief Bryant Gladney’s life and legacy with the Boone County Fire...

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