Listen Live
BRIDGEWATER, VA (Rocktown Now) — Fire crews from across Rockingham County responded Saturday morning to a major structure fire on Spring Creek Road that would become one of the largest firefighting efforts in the Bridgewater area in recent memory.
At 11:35 a.m. on February 7 units from Bridgewater, Cloverhill, Mt. Solon, and Rockingham County were dispatched to the scene. The first crew arrived within eight minutes. Within 15 minutes of the initial call, four engines and dozens of firefighters were on site working to bring the blaze under control.
Water supply quickly became a central focus of the operation. Three tankers initially supported suppression efforts, a number that later grew to seven tankers and one pumper/tanker as the scale of the fire became clear. Frigid temperatures and steady winds added significant challenges, at times requiring tankers to be taken out of rotation to thaw frozen components before returning to service.
In the first 24 hours alone, crews used more than 200,000 gallons of water. Tankers made more than 70 round trips transporting water from filling sites in town to the dump site at the fire scene. Participating tanker units included Tanker 15 (Bridgewater), Tanker 214 (Mt. Solon), Tanker 17 (Cloverhill), Tanker 41 (Hose Company No. 4), Tanker 209 (Grottoes), Tanker 50 (Weyers Cave), and Tanker 912 (Rockingham County Fire and Rescue Fulks Run Station), along with Engine 216 (Mt. Solon).
Additional support came from Hose Company No. 4, Rockingham County Fire and Rescue’s Fulks Run Station and Station 10 on North Valley Pike, Harrisonburg Fire Department Engine 2 from Pleasant Valley, and other assisting units.
Firefighters officially closed out the initial incident approximately 30 hours after dispatch. However, crews continued routine visits to extinguish hot spots through Wednesday morning. Approximately 9,000 gallons of water were applied on both Monday and Tuesday, with a final 3,000 gallons used Wednesday morning.
Authorities expressed deep appreciation for the coordinated response from fire departments, Rockingham County Sheriff’s deputies, Bridgewater Public Works and the Virginia Department of Transportation. Community support also played a significant role, with food donations pouring in from residents and local businesses. Multiple donors provided Domino’s pizza, catering companies supplied breakfast items, and community members and firefighters’ relatives delivered home-cooked meals to personnel on scene.
While officials declined to draw direct comparisons, many longtime firefighters and residents likened the scale of the response to the October 1998 fire that destroyed Mill Cabinet Shop.