Established in 1964 to provide much needed fire protection to a mostly rural area in
northern Spartanburg County. This area included areas Northwest of Boiling Springs on
Highway 9 to the SC/NC stateline and from Interstate 26 to the Fingerville community on
Highway 11. This area includes Lake William C. Bowen, which provides drinking water for
Spartanburg County. Originally the department only provided fire protection services on
an all-volunteer basis with an average number of 25 volunteers. Many of the first fire
trucks were built by the members in a small 3 bay station located at Highway 9 and Foster
Rd.

Over the years, the department had to adapt to the changes faced by our ever growing and
expanding community. The fire department began adding to the list of services provided to
include vehicle rescue/extrication, and eventually basic emergency medical care. In 2001 a
second station was opened to provide better fire protection to the residents of the most
northern parts of the fire district. This station, located on Loop Rd near Melvin Hill Rd
provided the district and its citizens better and more evenly spaced coverage that could
reduce response times in the event of an emergency.

Early into the 2000’s, the department and its members recognized the need for part-time
paid staff at the station to supplement the volunteers. This staff was on duty 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday supplemented by volunteers responding when available. Currently
the department has 3 full-time firefighters on staff 24 hours a day who respond out of our
main station on Highway 9. We also have a full-time Fire Chief and part-time Fire Marshal
who work daytime schedules. The department has a district with a population of
approximately 11,000 citizens, which includes a 7 mile stretch of Interstate 26. The
department responds to an average of 350 calls for service per year, consisting of a wide
variety of call types.