George Washington is reported to have been a part of it, but no records remain to prove that, however he did purchase a fire engine for the company in 1775.

[10] Along with other departments, units from AFD responded to the September 11 attacks at The Pentagon and the Congressional baseball shooting in 2017, which took place in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria.

[14][15] The union representing Alexandria firefighters, IAFF Local 2141, became the first that voted to collectively bargain.

[16] The Marine Operations Division was started in 1997 to provide protection in the various waterways in and adjacent to the city.

[17] Additionally the division has a 50-foot (15 m) MetaCraft Firestorm 50 fireboat, the Vigilant, equipped with two 3,400-US-gallon-per-minute (13,000 L/min) pumps attached to four fire monitors.

[19] On June 12, 2021, the City of Alexandria Fire Department implemented an organizational restructure.