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The Harrison County Bureau of Emergency Services began dispatching operations on December 9, 1976.  At that time it was known as the Harrison County Bureau of Fire and Rescue. The Bureau’s radio designation was “Fire Com”, and during the first full year of operation dispatched just over 2,500 emergency alarms. The original Bureau Commissioners were Kelly Blackwell, James S. Jarrett, Robert D. Burnett, Richard R. Gordon and James M. Carvelli. The original employees, George Agrippe Jr., Gus Calafatis, Frank Bordo, Randy Ashcraft and Fred Smart were all hired through the CETA Program (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act), which was administered by the City of Bridgeport.

The first official “Home” of the Bureau was a front room approximately six feet wide and fifteen feet long in the old Bridgeport Fire Department building. The radio was owned by the fire department, and all running assignments were typed on 4x6 index cards filed alphabetically by Company Number.

The first-year operating budget for the Bureau was between $2,500 and $3,000, which paid for the costs incurred through the use of the telephones.   Exactly one year later, on December 9, 1977,  the Bureau moved its base of operations from the Bridgeport Fire Department to the C & A Office Building in front of Compton Bowling Lanes in the Old Bridgeport Hill section of Harrison County. This move provided the Bureau with more room to operate, both in the communications area and administrative offices.

Two years later the Bureau had once again outgrown its facilities and moved, on December 9, 1979, to a building purchased and renovated by the Harrison County Commission on Route 19 North at Perry Mines. This move would last for the next fifteen years, during which time the Bureau would make several changes and additions. In 1984 the Bureau changed its radio designation from “Fire Com” to “Headquarters”. This change was made to reflect the addition of Law Enforcement communications to the Bureau’s operations. On September 1, 1984 the Bureau began dispatching operations for the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and eight municipal Police Departments. The Bureau’s next major undertaking was implementing the Enhanced 9-1-1 System for the whole of Harrison County. The City of Clarksburg had instituted a Basic 9-1-1 System several years previous for its residents only, but thanks to recently-passed legislation, the Harrison County Commission was able to fund an Enhanced 9-1-1 System.  The planning began in 1988 to establish the service.

The Harrison County Enhanced 9-1-1 System went online on November 29, 1989, at which time the Bureau began dispatching operations for the Bridgeport Police Department, Clarksburg Police and Fire Departments and joint-dispatching with the West Virginia State Police Company A, which was based in Harrison County. It was at this point that the Bureau’s name was changed from the Harrison County Bureau of Fire and Rescue to the Harrison County Bureau of Emergency Services to better reflect its scope of responsibility. 

After the tremendous changes made during the course of the past fifteen years, it again became necessary to move the Bureau to a larger facility. On January 15, 1996 the Bureau moved from the Perry Mines location to the city of Nutter Fort.  It is now housed in the former Larosa Fuels facility, which was purchased by the Harrison County Commission and completely renovated to suit the Bureau’s needs.

In 1996 the Bureau dispatched a total of 37,288 emergency alarms, which averages out to 3,107 per month, which is certainly an increase over the original 2,500 total alarms dispatched in 1977.  The Bureau began its use of Computer-Aided Dispatching on January 1, 2000, and by the end of 2000 it had processed 64,211 calls for service.  On October 1, 2003 the Bureau's 9-1-1 operations were merged with Taylor County.  In 2005 the Bureau had processed 87,655 incidents.

The next several years promise to bring major changes for the Public Safety agencies in Harrison County. Some of the upcoming changes are County-wide street naming and addressing, a complete replacement of the current radio system and an Automatic Vehicle Location system. Each and every one of these projects will benefit Emergency Responders by making their jobs easier to accomplish, which will substantially improve the quality of service they provide to the citizens of Harrison County. When all is said and done, that is the main objective of all emergency services providers - serving the citizens of Harrison County in a quick, efficient and professional manner.