The Double Oak Volunteer Fire Department has seen many changes since been founded in 1980. The DOVFD has transformed from a group of neighbors whose goal was to serve as a primary response to fires to today's highly trained personnel capable of not only responding to fires, but to all varieties of emergencies. The DOVFD now serves as the primary responding department for all emergencies in the Town of Double Oak and surrounding areas of Denton County. Still, the tradition of volunteering to serve the community lives on. The DOVFD is now the only remaining 100% volunteer fire department in Denton County. None of our members receive any compensation for their dedicated work. For the DOVFD, the satisfaction of helping others during a difficult event in their lives is our motivation.

Support Keeps DOVFD Out In Front

Firefighting is a hazardous job and as firefighters are tasked with doing more with less it is becoming even more dangerous. Fortunately, the DOVFD is blessed with wonderful support from our town council and residents. As a volunteer fire department we are set up as a non profit 501 (c) organization. We rely heavily on donations to fulfill our budget each year. The Town of Double Oak provides some funds each year however over 50 percent of our yearly budget is derived from donations and fundraising events. Because of the great support we have received, the DOVFD has been able to stay in the forefront of firefighting technology. We have a capable fleet of apparatus including two Class A Engines (Pumpers) for structure firefighting, and two Brush Trucks for wildland firefighting. We are able to equip our firefighters with state of the art turnout gear improving their safety. The DOVFD has also been able to purchase two Thermal Imaging Cameras (TICs) for our use. These are infrared cameras which allow our firefighters to see through blinding smoke in order to quickly find victims inside a house fire and to locate the fire more quickly. Before the TICs, firefighters were only able to find victims by crawling low to the floor and feeling for them because in a house fire the visibility quickly drops to zero. The cameras also help us to locate hot-spots after a fire or before a fire starts. The support we receive from Double Oak is second to none and your donations help to keep the DOVFD ready to respond to any emergency. We appreciate all of your support!

Fire Department Information

The Town of Double Oak is located approximately 20 miles north of Dallas, TX and is primarily a residential community with about 2,800 residents. With future commercial development, the growth of neighboring communities, and continued development in town, our department will continue to respond to more calls for help in the future. The DOVFD responds to many different types of emergencies including: structure fires, grass fires, fire alarms, vehicle fires, medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, hazardous materials incidents, and other types of emergencies. Our department currently consists of twenty nine all volunteer members. We are the only remaining all-volunteer fire department in Denton County. Even with an all-volunteer membership, we are proud to still be able to offer 24 hour emergency services 365 days a year to our residents. The average response time for the DOVFD in the town limits of Double Oak is 6 minutes. In addition to responses within the town of Double Oak, the DOVFD also covers certain areas of the county that surround Double Oak. We also have mutual aid agreements with the surrounding cities of Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Flower Mound, and Highland Village to both provide and receive assistance as needed. The Denton County mutual aid plan also provides for mutual aid across the county as needed for large scale incidents. This plan was activated in September of 2000 when the DOVFD and other departments responded to a hardware store fire in downtown Sanger, and again in Roanoke, TX during November of 2001 for an aircraft hanger fire. The DOVFD has also responded out of the county during the busy wildland fire seasons responding into both Wise County and Montague County. We were also on stand-by during the 2006 wildfire season to respond to the Texas Panhandle to assist with wildfires there.

Training is an important part of our ability to respond to different types of incidents and we participate in many different training activities. The DOVFD meets for training every Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. Additionally, some Saturdays are reserved for special training drills such as live fire drills, special classes and extra voluntary drills. On the 4th Tuesday of the month, an EMS Continuing Education (CE) class is also held. This class is designed for our personnel who are trained to perform patient care during emergency medical calls. All of our firefighters are trained in basic first aid skills however EMT's and Paramedics must attend a certain number of CE classes each year in order to keep their certifications. Other training drills are scheduled as needed for specific topics and certification courses. We also send members to outside training classes at other departments, state fire schools, and fire academy's. Our members participate in countless hours of training enabling them to provide the best possible services to the town.

Emergency Medical Services

In addition to being trained in firefighting and rescue operations, all members receive training in basic first aid. This basic training includes CPR training for all members by certified CPR instructors who are also DOVFD volunteers. Many of our members have also attended outside schools for advanced medical training. These members are certified by the State of Texas as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) and/or Paramedic's (EMT-P's). This training enables our members to provide Basic Life Support (BLS) services to patients. In 2003 the DOVFD added Automatic External Defibrillators (AED's) on our two engines bringing us to a total of four of these life saving devices. AED's enable our firefighters to send an electrical shock to a persons heart which has stopped beating. It is known that DOVFD members have saved at least two victims from cardiac arrest with the use of an AED since their purchase.

On any emergency medical call or vehicle accident in Double Oak, an Argyle Fire Department ambulance is automatically dispatched to the scene by the 911 operator. This ambulance is staffed by at least one Paramedic and has the ability to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services and transportation to the hospital. This combination of both BLS and ALS capabilities provides our residents with a higher level of emergency medical care.