A meeting of 6 citizens of the community of Slickville was held at the V&F Hall on July 10, 1956 for the purpose of organizing a fire department. The first job on the agenda was to have fund raisers such as raffles, envelope drives, ox roasts, and bingos to raise money to buy a fire truck. After only seven months into its existence, Slickville VFD purchased its first fire truck. It was a 1937 Inte
rnational which was purchase from Youngwood fire department for $500. Since there wasn’t a building to keep the truck in, it was housed at Nick Kitch’s garage at his residence. This also became the home to their second fire truck. On June 12, 1959 the very first Firemen’s Carnival was held at the current Firemen’s grounds. Now that the fire department owned two trucks, the members decided to look for property preferably between Askins Store and the bridge (which stood at that time by St. Their intentions were to build a fire house where the meetings could be held and the trucks could be housed. The only property that became available for purchase was the area surrounding the present day Post Office and Civic Center. It became official at the December 12, 1959 meeting that Slickville VFD purchased this property. After having many meetings and discussions on what type of building was needed, it was undecided to make it a one or two story building. The decision to make it a one story was made based on cost. Construction of the building started in September 1961. While these firemen were waiting for their new home to be built, they were still responding to emergency calls. To report an emergency, one would dial 468-4444 and that designated member who had an emergency line (Hot Line) would answer. That member would then set the siren off to notify others that there was an emergency. Eventually they got involved with the Civil Defense. In this system, to notify the members of an alarm, the designated member would either push the emergency line button at the V&F tavern or Fire hall in which the Civil Defense would sound off the siren that was on the fire house. In May of 1962 the first bingo for the Slickville VFD was held at the top of the V&F Hall. After moving to their new building, Slickville VFD held their first official meeting on May 9th, 1963.Then in June of 1967 the present day building that houses the kitchen at the carnival grounds was built. Also, later in date a pavilion was built that could be closed up when not being used. Across the creek was the original beer stand for the carnival. It was torn down recently and a new pavilion was built across from the kitchen. On July 17, 1966, the members felt that there was a need to take another step into the emergency field and start an ambulance fund. On November 17, 1968, additional lots were bought, which makes up the present day parking lot. A year later, the official name of the ambulance service became Slickville Ambulance Service. In 1970, an addition was built on to the fire house. Then in the spring of 1973, Westmoreland County 911 system began dispatching emergency calls for Slickville. Slickville VFD got its recognition as Station 59 by being the 59th department to join the 911 emergency system. With all the talk of women’s lib, in 1982, Slickville voted in their first female fire fighter. The first Hog Roast was held by the Fire Department in the Spring of 1984. This was the beginning of the Slickville’s reputation as “Hog Roast Capital of the World”. In October of 1985 the first Haunted House was held with the Slickville Ambulance Service above the Sportsman’s Club. In the 2000’s a new addition was built onto the fire department building. This now houses events and bingo. The hall is available for renting. Then in 2014 the Auxiliary was reestablished. In July 2014, the Firemen and Auxiliary will be hosting their very first car/bike show
