Villa Grove Fire & Rescue

05/31/2026

Quite a blaze in Homer last night. We're always happy to help.

05/22/2026

We want to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable weekend. Please take pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to maintain our freedoms.

05/21/2026

We had perfect weather tonight to run some drills at our training site.

05/18/2026

Wishing a happy EMS week to all emergency medical professionals. The majority of our calls for service are medical in nature and we appreciate the relationships we have with our area EMS services. Thanks for all that you do!

05/14/2026

05/07/2026

We've had a lot going on in the last few months and here are some updates:

Last night was our first meeting in the new budget year. Our command officers will remain the same for the next term, as elected by their peers: Chuck Black, Fire Chief; Chris Elston, Assistant Chief; Pat Lake, Captain. Jim Cox will continue as Chief Engineer.

Ben Brown will now be the senior Lieutenant on the department. We appointed Bill Fulk and Kegan Scott into new Lieutenant roles.

We want to extend our thanks and gratitude to Bill Mitsdarfer and Derek Rasmussen for serving as Lieutenants for close to ten years each. Both of them have been with VGFD for at least 20 years and will remain with us as firefighters.

As a result of our recruiting drive over the last few months, we added two new firefighters to the roster and had two former members rejoin us. Please welcome Probationary Firefighters Hailey Becker and Sabrina Akers to the department, as well as returning members Connor Black and JD Hahney.

As always, thanks for your continued support!

05/05/2026

10:00 AM today will be the monthly test of our outdoor warning siren.

05/04/2026

VGFD has responded to FIVE unattended field fires today. These have either been in our response area or an adjacent district. Please do not leave fires unattended, especially in this wind. This may not seem like a big deal but it does tie up a lot of resources to address.

There is a Wind and Dust Advisory in effect until 6:00 tonight.

Thanks to our mutual aid partners:
Camargo Countryside Fire Protection District
Pesotum Fire Protection District
Philo Fire Protection District
Tolono Fire Protection District

05/04/2026

Behind every siren is a person who has chosen to put the community’s safety above their own. Today we honor the dedication and courage of firefighters everywhere.