The Newkirk Fire Department was founded November 18th, 1901 three days after a devastating fire broke out on November 15th and destroyed the entire Eastside of Main Street. Woodin to be the first Fire Chief of the City of Newkirk. He was instructed to form a 24 man volunteer fire department. There is no record of where the first fire station was located, however, it is said the fire station has al
ways been in the same general area as the present one. The first official fire station was a lean-to structure added to the rear of the city office building in July of 1917. In 1954 construction was started on the former fire station and was completed in 1955. In 2020 construction was started on the current fire station with completion in 2023. It is not known what the fire department used to extinguish fires with between November 1901 and November of 1902 but that same month in 1902 the city purchased a horse drawn hose cart from the City of Winfield, Kansas. In 1918 the City of Newkirk purchased an American LaFrance pumper on a Buick chassis. After that the equipment records of the fire department are very incomplete until the early Forties when the City purchased a Chevrolet truck chassis and built their own fire truck. In 1955 the fire department took delivery of fire truck from Howe Fire Apparatus Co. In 1963 the City purchased a Ford F-600 chassis and added a tank and hose bed for a rural grassfire truck. The North bay was add to the fire station in November of 1963 to house the rural fire truck and is still used today to house one of the two brush trucks and two fire engines. Since July 1, 1980 officially by the vote of the citizens of Newkirk the fire department entered the EMS service and the Newkirk Fire Department became Newkirk Fire Department/EMS and has provided a high level of EMS care to the citizens of our area and the people who travel and visit through it. The fire department's first ambulance was giving to the City of Newkirk from the City of Ponca City. Officials from Ponca City drove the ambulance to Newkirk, parked it in front of the station, walked in and put the keys to the ambulance on the desk of the chief and said you are now in the ambulance business and walked out. Ponca City was the ambulance provider for the Newkirk Area until then. Since then the medics of the fire department are State of Oklahoma certified and Nationally Registered EMRs, EMTs, AEMTs, and Paramedics providing a high level of BLS care with ALS protocols. The Newkirk Fire Department has grown from a single horse drawn hose cart to adding and replacing fire trucks, adding on to the station that was built in 1955 through out it's history to the current 8 appratus bay holding 11 different fire and EMS vehicles that opened in 2023. The fire department now currently houses 2 Pierce fire engines both with foam capabilities, 1-4000 gallon tanker, 2 brush trucks with one having foam capability, 2 Type 1 ambulances, 1 Type 3 ambulance, 1 medical UTV, 1 rescue/mobile command vehicle and 1 command vehicle. Also 3 of the trucks are carrying the hydraulic and battery powered extrication tools to help with the rescue of victims of vehicle accidents. We also use drones wo help with a number of different emergencies and situations. The Newkirk Fire Department/EMS has a rich and colorful history that continues to grow. In 2026 the fire department has been active for 125 years and continues to be "Serving Faithfully and Proudly Since 1901".
