Mills River Volunteer Fire and Rescue was organized in 1968.  The land where the Department sits at 121 School House Road was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown and Mrs. Ginger Brown Weisberg.

The first truck was a 1965 International sewer truck, which the firemen converted to a fire truck. 

There was no money for a building to be built at the time, so the truck was stationed at a fireman's residence on North Mills River Road.

A building was built in 1969 consisting of a small meeting room and four bays.

The firemen were notified by phone if there was a fire as pagers could not be afforded.

As the community and department grew, two additional truck bays were added in 1977.  Again, as the department grew, the building was enlarged once again in 1986.  This addition consists of four truck bays, two offices, two restrooms, a kitchen, and a large meeting room.  Much of this work was done by members of the department.

The department has made tremendous progress since its beginning with a sewer truck and a tiny building.  Presently, the department has ten trucks costing approximately $1,000,000.  In addition, these trucks contain approximately $500,000 of equipment such as hose, nozzles, ladders, rescue equipment, etc.  Each fireman is now issued a pager and protective gear.

In 1981, Mills River Fire and Rescue Department became the FIRST fire department to achieve better than a Class 9 Insurance Rating as a result of much hard work and dedication.  In 1981 our department became a Class 7.  In 1997 Mills River went through a reinspection by the Insurance Services Office.  We are happy to inform you that we were notified in June 1999 informing us that our rating has improved to a Class 5 for the entire 5 mile district.  This again shows the dedication of the men and women of Mills River Volunteer Fire and Rescue.  Also, in 1991 Mills River was one of the first two fire departments in Henderson County to upgrade to advanced life support by providing defibrillation for victims of cardiac arrest.  We were also one of the first Henderson County Fire Departments to have North Carolina Level II Firefighters.

The department now has 45 firefighters, and 10 junior firefighters.  The members of the department are continually training to maintain and learn new firefighting and rescue skills.  Many of these are now certified as Level II Firefighters.

Over half of the calls that the department now responds to are emergency medical calls.  The firefighters responding to these calls include five Paramedics, two Intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians, eight Emergency Medical Technicians certified in defibrillation, three Emergency Medical Technicians, two Medical Responders, and one Physician.

The other alarms the departments responds to vary widely from one to another.  These calls include fires of all types, searches for lost persons, down power lines and trees, flooding, vehicle accidents, plane crashes, removing snakes from homes, and assisting other departments as needed.  We have even been known to retrieve cats and model planes from trees.

The number of calls during the early years were very few.  However, as the years have gone by, our number of calls have increased dramatically.  These calls may last from five minutes to several hours, but we are glad to serve when called, and we are very proud of our department and our community.

Revenue to operate our department is derived from tax assessments, portrait fund drives, auctions, golf tournaments, and donations.  Expenses for operation of the department are tremendous for such things as apparatus, insurance, and equipment.

From our early years, the ladies auxiliary has been an important part of our organization.  We appreciate their assistance as due recognition should be given to the dedicated ladies of this group!

The Pryor Substation:  History coming SOON!