The hampden-sydney volunteer fire department covers over 70 square miles with 5000-6000 residents in its district. the hsvfd is in the center of prince edward county and in addition to being second-due to most of the town of farmville, it supports the volunteer companies in darlington heights, rice, prospect, and meherrin. although the hsvfd was originally created to provide fire suppression services, the department now operates an emergency first responder program that coordinates with the prince edward volunteer rescue squad in the provision of emergency pr-hospital care. the majority of its members are students, faculty, and staff of hampden sydney college.