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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!
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MILLS RIVER FIRE - RESCUE
