A fiery 60 years
Bon Air Volunteer Fire Department commemorates decades of service
By Becky Robinette Wright CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Becky Robinette Wright/Chesterfield Observer Matthew DelMonte peers out from a fire truck during the Bon Air Volunteer Fire Department's open house last fall.

In a blend of old and new, memories will be shared, old friends will unite, and the community will meet their local heroes when the Bon Air Volunteer Fire Department celebrates its 60th anniversary this weekend.

John Honaker is sure to be one of the longtime members in attendance.

"I served with Bon Air for 30 years," Honaker recounted. "Then District Chief Dan Bowen and a total of about eight members responded out of the old station at Buford Road. It was quite an adventure serving there."

"We had a huge 55-foot snorkel truck," Honaker continued, "and it barely would fit into the station. During a fire run we had to be very careful leaving the bay. That old snorkel got sent not only throughout Chesterfield, but we responded to the city of Richmond and other jurisdictions."

Many firefighters who served a tour at Bon Air went on to serve long-term with the county's fire and EMS department. They include Wayne Tunstal, David Palumbo, Billy Woodruff, former Chief Steve Elswick, Paul Shorter and even Chesterfield's current Chief Paul Mauger, just to name a few. Numerous members became battalion chiefs and officers in the department.

Bon Air made history when it became the first station in Chesterfield to have paid firefighters, Honaker explained. For many years, it was all volunteer.

"We have seen some days," Honaker recalled. "I remember a lot of fires at the Edgehill Apartments. At one incident, we had a close call. On Buford Road, a house was on fire. It was 2 a.m. Firefighter Wes Jones went in the front, and I had a hoseline and went in the back. The situation was more advanced than we knew. As we went in, the house flashed over (meaning the entire building became engulfed in fire). We scrambled, escaping the same way we had gone in. We were very lucky to have survived."

Honaker served at both the original Buford Road station and the current station on Polo Parkway. The station on Buford Road was operational from 1948 until 1989 when the new station opened.

Today, the Bon Air Volunteer Fire Department, also known as Company 4, proudly protects approximately 25,000 people living in an area of approximately 12 square miles. The combination department consists of 12 career firefighters employed by the county and 32 volunteers. Career firefighters man one engine, which provides Advanced Life Support, and an ambulance during weekdays. Volunteer personnel operate a Basic Life Support engine and a brush truck. The company responds to over 1,000 calls per year.

Bon Air's history hasn't been without tragedy. In 1999, the company lost one of its fellow firefighters in the line of duty. Bradley McNeer, 22, was killed when the fire engine he was riding in crashed on Old Buckingham Road while responding to a gas leak. A portrait of McNeer hangs in the Memorial Room at the Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center. A scholarship has also been established in his honor.

The company celebrates its anniversary on May 10 in tandem with Bon Air Victorian Day. The parade that day will feature vintage fire equipment. For more information, see the box on page 12.