the bvfd was formed in 1948 as an all volunteer fire department. the fire station was nothing more than a shed near the corner of sonoma mountain road and bennett valley road. in the 1960s a new station was constructed at the current location on bennett valley road by volunteers. in 2002, residents voted to approve a parcel tax that would pay for career firefighters. this transitioned the department from all volunteer to a mix of volunteer and paid staff. the department had a paid lieutenant and engineer on duty 24 hours per day. additionally a firefighter was on duty from 8am-5pm daily. from 5pm to 8am two trained volunteers staffed the station, sleeping there over night. in late 2018 the bennett valley fire district entered in to talks with rincon valley fire district, windsor fire district, and sonoma county board of supervisors (representing mountain volunteer fire company/ csa 40) in consolidating into a single regional fire district named sonoma county fire district. talks were focused around improved staffing, training, improved emergency response, and sustained financial capabilities. in april 2019 the bennett valley fire district through a unanimous vote by its board was dissolved and officially annexed into the sonoma county fire district.