Indian River Volunteer Fire Company Station #2 undergoing multi-million dollar expansion

Written by Drew Bellinger, WRDE News

LONG NECK, Del. - The Indian River Volunteer Fire Company is undergoing a $3.5 million expansion to Station #2.

The upgrades consist of new apparatus bays bringing additional room for firetrucks, additional space for radio rooms, office space, lounge areas, an upgrade kitchen, and more.

Patrick Miller, President of the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company, says funding for this project came from company reserves and construction mortgages. The debt will be paid through money raised from fundraisers etc. 

The original building, which Miller told CoastTV was built in 1972, will remain in place. Miller says the change was overdue as the original building can get crammed. 

"Not having the resources or the equipment in order to serve the community is a great stress," said Miller. "If you're going to a multi-story building in Long Neck, instead of traversing four, five miles to get here, you're traversing less than a mile to get there to better serve. That is a substantial difference."

Indian River Volunteer Fire Company received a record high number of incident responses in 2025 with 607, according to a recent post on their Facebook page, making this a very necessary upgrade.

An expansion with additional equipment is crucial for maximizing the potential of the volunteer fire company's current manpower, as Delaware experiences a shortage of volunteer firefighters. 

Greg Foster who lives in Long Neck says additional infrastructure is mandatory with the county wide growth. 

"I see them building a thousand houses over here, a thousand houses over there. Somehow we have to handle all of that with grocery stores, with roads, with first responders," said Foster. 

Miller says the construction is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2026.

Additional information may be obtained by viewing the following links:

• https://irvfc.com/gallery/detail/55245?ss=1

• https://irvfc.com/gallery/detail/55185?ss=1

Donations can be coordinated by clicking this link:  https://irvfc.com/page/donate-online