As the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company prepares to celebrate 100 years since its founding, its president, Robert Carlow, is working to make it a special century commemoration.

Though company volunteers no longer fight fires, the station still houses apparatus and serves as a museum. Warwick’s volunteer fire history, which includes milestones such as the first female fire chief in the country- Nancy Allen Holst in Cowesett- and memorabilia such as old equipment from Warwick’s villages, is chronicled by the nonprofit at their location at 45 Kernick Street.

Carlow has a strong family history with the station. His father was a former chief when volunteer fire companies were still in operation, serving as Apponaug Volunteer Fire Co.’s final chief.

 “I remember coming here as a kid- most of the people here, it’s all family,” Carlow said, clarifying that to him, family also includes people he grew up around at the station, be they blood relatives or not.

Carlow worked as a firefighter as well, serving in Coventry’s fire department before retiring last September after 37.

The history of the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company got off to an unusual start, as it was at odds with another station located where Greenwood Credit Union currently is. A legal battle ensued between the two in 1925, though the other group would not be in service for much longer.

Greenwood Volunteer Fire Co. ceased its fire service operations in 1956. The company itself was bought out by the city in 1973, according to Carlow.

According to Don D’Amato, author of “Warwick Firefighters,” seven volunteer fire companies served the city- Apponaug, Lakewood, Norwood, Conimicut, Oakland Beach, Bayside and Greenwood. Volunteer stations in Cedar Hill, Pawtuxet and East Greenwich all served part of the city as well, while also serving neighboring communities. Greenwood is the youngest of the volunteer fire companies, and the only one remaining.

Amongst its equipment is the oldest remaining piece of fire equipment in the city, a hand pump dating back to 1825. The two fire engines in its garage were built in 1954 and 1949, and were recently restored by inmates at the ACI.

The restoration program, Carlow said, is in danger of ending, which he sees as a mistake.

“You learn a trade that many people out there don’t know about, and then they go back to the public and they work,” Carlow said. “It gives these guys something to do.”

Carlow prides himself on the station’s equipment being operational, no matter how old it may be. Both fire engines, he noted, are working well enough to be able to teach trainees their functions, and he expects them to be “95% complete” by April.

Carlow said that right now, he’s looking at August 24 as a date for a centennial event at the firehouse, though that date is subject to change. He’s also hoping to hold a fundraising event at the Crowne Plaza to help improve the building’s aging infrastructure.

“Hopefully we can make some good money and we can get our siding done,” Carlow said. “We’ve been playing catch-up [with our infrastructure] for a long time.”

With both fire trucks back in action, Carlow hopes that the fire company will be able to get involved in more events around the city, as he believes their unique trucks would work well for Touch-a-Truck-style events. Carlow also said that the company typically has a small event for National Firefighter’s Memorial Day in October.

With 100 years under their belt, Carlow believes the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Co. has plenty of interesting heirlooms of the past to offer to future visitors.

“You wouldn’t believe the stuff we’re still digging up,” Carlow said. “There is a lot around here for sure.”