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.