Our History
Established in 1974
Tarkington Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1974 to provide fire protection to the citizens of Tarkington. In the early years, the fire trucks were old converted gasoline tankers and were stored in various members’ garages and shops. From those humble beginnings, the Tarkington VFD has evolved into one of the top fire departments in Liberty County.
Tarkington VFD is currently one of the top fire departments in Liberty County, consistently placing in the top three in terms of training hours as recorded by the Texas Engineering Extension Service Fire Protection Training Division. TVFD annually sends both instructors and/or students to the Texas Firemen’s Training School, the Livingston Fire Training School, and the Beaumont Fire Training School, as well as many other training courses. Several firefighters are certified not only as professional firefighters, but also as emergency medical technicians.
Proudly serving our community.
The Tarkington main fire station was built in late 1979 on one acre of land located approximately 6 miles south of Cleveland, Texas on SH 321 near the intersection with FM 163. Originally built with three bays and an attached meeting room, the station was converted in 1997 to four bays. The meeting room was moved to a building on the same property that had housed Liberty County Justice of the Peace offices for several years. The bay was added to accomodate all four pieces of apparatus, which for years had been crowded into three bays. Situated on on of the highest pieces of land in Tarkington, the station has served as a disaster shelter on many occasions. It was the command center for operations during the search for a Army Reserve helicopter that crashed near the station during Operation Desert Shield in late 1990. In 1998 the TVFD was approved for a loan from the Texas Commission on Fire Protection to expand the station. Construction was begun in early 1999 and the exterior was completed in early August. The expansion added another bay, bringing the total to five, as well as a larger meeting room, bathroom, kitchen, communications room, storage, and offices. In 2012, the building received some storm damage, and the building was reskinned to repair the damage. Located behind the station are TVFD’s training facilities, including a container to simulate a structure fire and a vehicle fire simulation. There is a second container that will be converted to be used as a flashover simulator.
