OUR HISTORY

A volunteer fire department was formed in the 1970s due to the need for more fire protection and faster response times in the Ellerbe Road area located in the southeastern part of Caddo Parish just south of Shreveport’s city limits. This area literally came out of the woodwork of this once shady, peaceful countryside. This area is considered by some as one of the fastest growing in Caddo Parish.

The first station was originally built by the Keithville Volunteer Fire Department and served as its satellite station. At that time Keithville VFD was protecting just about the whole southern part of Caddo Parish. However, as the area between Keithville and Ellerbe grew, it became apparent that Keithville could no longer operate the substation, so they were instrumental in forming the Ellerbe Road Volunteer Fire Department. They even donated their station and a 1000 GPM pumper to the newly formed organization. The old station, located on Overton Brooks Road, was basically a log cabin that the volunteers built. It housed a couple of rigs but did not have room for an office. The office was later added by the volunteers.
  
When Louisiana passed the Fire Protection District legislation, it gave a tax base for operating fire service organizations such as the Ellerbe Road VFD. It then became know as Caddo Parish Fire District #5 and allowed the new fire district the necessary finances to build a new station in 1985 to replaced the log cabin station on Overton Brooks Road. Over the years two additional substations were built - a station at Caspiana Levee Road and Highway 1 and another at Norris Ferry Road & Southern Trace Parkway. The fire station on Overton Brooks was replaced by a new station at 1675 Leonard Road on September 29, 2003. This station is designated as "Central" and houses CFD5's offices.
  
In the summer of 2005, the former Caddo Parish Fire District 9's area of responsibility was absorbed into Fire District 5. The Fire District 9 station, located at 5151 Dixie Garden, is now Fire District 5's Station 2. The other two sub-stations are now designated as Station 3 (Caspiana Levee Road and Highway 1) and Station 4 (Norris Ferry & Southern Trace Parkway). Station 3 is manned part-time by a firefighter living on site, and Station 4 is un-manned, housing apparatus and equipment which are retrieved as needed for emergency calls.

In 2005 Fire District 5 improved its PIAL (Property Insurance Association of Louisiana) rating by 2 points. Improvements in equipment, number of trained firefighters, and other improvement elevated CFD 5's rating from a 6 to a 4.

In 2008, Fire District 5 officials began to see the need to expand its services to include emergency medical transportation.  A $2.5 million bond issue was passed in 2008 to purchase 3 ambulances and all required medical equipment, 3 new fire engines, miscellaneous fire equipment, and renovate Station 2.  After acquiring all of the required state licenses to operate an ambulance service, Fire District 5 officially began its emergency medical transportation service on March 25, 2009.  Prior to this, Balentine Ambulance Service had been the medical transportation provider for Fire District 5.

At 8:00 AM on August 5, 2009, an automatic mutual aid agreement between the Shreveport Fire Department and Caddo Parish Fire District 5 went into effect for certain areas for fire-related incidents.

In 2010, the renovation and expansion project of Station 2 began.  Living quarters and a third vehicle bay were added on to the existing building.  The newly renovated station opened on October 21, 2010.

At 3:00 PM on June 8, 2012, the automatic mutual aid agreement with the Shreveport Fire Department was expanded to include emergency medical calls.

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS & PHOTOS

DOCUMENTING OUR HISTORY