The Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department held their 50th anniversary on Saturday in Moneta, holding a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new building while christening their newest fire boat.

MONETA, Va – After serving the community for more than 40 years, the Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department is finally getting a home of its own. Thursday the Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department broke ground on the future site of the department’s very first station. “This will help tremendously with central location because right now we’re storing our equipment at different locations all across the lake,” Ohlerich said. “We do help a lot of people you know Smith Mountain Lake is very unique, we are the only one in the country that has an all-volunteer Marine base ISO certified Fire Department,” Volunteer Ray Talley said. The department hopes to have the building complete by the end of the year continuing to keep the Smith Mountain Lake community safe.