The Hovland Volunteer Fire Department (HVFD) will celebrate its Golden Anniversary with the community Saturday, August 15, from 1 pm to 8 pm at the Hovland Fire hall on Highway 61. The event features local food, games, live music, guest speakers, and an opportunity for residents and former responders to share memories.
At a time when rural communication networks were pretty rudimentary, there was no dedicated structural fire protection between Grand Marais and Grand Portage. Like many North Shore fire departments, the founding volunteers relied heavily on equipment donations from the Minnesota DNR and US Forest Service. Over time, grassroots fundraising helped the department acquire more sophisticated equipment.
Today the department is funded by a levy assessed by the county against properties in the coverage area. The amount of the levy is determined by the HVFD and approved by the county commission. Additional funding comes from local donations and grants.
In October of 2023, the current, modern fire hall came online. It includes full kitchen amenities and serves as an emergency command base when needed.
Under the leadership of Fire Chief Terry Spieker, HVFD covers the territory from Judge C.R. Magney State Park up to the Reservation River. It maintains mutual aid agreements with the Colvill and Grand Portage Departments.
The volunteer fire brigade is a tradition that stretches back to ancient Rome, where Caesar Augustus formed a group called the Vigiles to patrol the city with buckets and axes. The modern American model began in 1736, when Benjamin Franklin co-founded the Union Fire Company, pioneering a system where civic-minded neighbors banded together, providing their own buckets and hand-pumped wooden engines to protect their town from devastating fires.
Today, volunteer firehouses double as vital community centers. Volunteer departments remain the backbone of fire protection in rural, small-town communities across the nation. The majority of fire departments in the United States are still operated entirely or primarily by volunteers.
Support your volunteer department. And if you’re in Hovland on the 15th, stop into the Fire hall and congratulate the members of the department that has given selflessly to its community for half a century.
