History

Lake City Rural F.D. performs tests on its new 1955 GMC/Southern pumper.
L to R: Gabe Ellis, Charles Baker of Southern, Chief Walter Moody, and Roy Rogers. Photo by Keels Brockington

The South Lynches Fire Department was organized in 1954, and on January 24, 1955 was chartered as the Lake City Rural Fire Department. The department began operating shortly thereafter with a 1955 GMC/Southern pumper with a 500 GPM front mount pump. Soon after, another GMC front mount joined the fleet, this one with tanker capabilities.

Within ten years, the LCRFD had added yet another tanker and was in the process of completing its first permanent home. In 1965, the LCRFD responded on a total of 60 incidents, 25% of which were conventional type tobacco barn structural fires.

Paralleling the development of the LCRFD was its sister organization, the Lake City Rescue Squad, who shared the same facility and personnel. Both of these organizations helped lay the foundation for what is known today as South Lynches Fire Department.

In the middle 1970s, the department changed its name to Lower Florence County Fire Department to more accurately reflect the department’s coverage area, which included much more than just the rural Lake City area.

In 1982, residents voted in the South Lynches Fire District. This special purpose tax district consists of approximately 250 square miles in lower Florence County and upper Williamsburg County. The LFCFD changed its name to correspond with that of the new fire district. The SLFD currently operates out of ten locations within the district. These are Station 1 “Lake City” 1955, Station 2 “Coward” 1971, Station 3 “Camp Branch” 1979, Station 4 “Cades” 1979, Station 5 “Leo-Camerontown” 1979 and Station 6 “Scranton” 1990, Station 7 “New Hope” 2014, Station 8 “Bakers/Hebron” 2014, Station 9 “White Oak” 2015, and Station 10 “Moore’s Crossroads” 2018.

Today, the SLFD operates 12 engines, 5 tankers, 3 rescues, 1 aerial, 4 brush trucks, 2 water rescue units from 10 stations. The department is staffed by 4 paid, full-time personnel and 2 part-time personnel, as well as approximately 100 volunteer personnel. In 2021, the department responded to 788 incidents. Some of the original founders of the department are S. Keels Brockington, Sr., H. Raymond Askins, Sr., Roy Rogers, J. P. Grimsley, Walter Moody, Joe Tucker, and L.W. McDaniel.

L to R: Rural 1, 1955 GMC Southern 500 GPM Pumper. Rural 2, Mid-1950’s GMC Department Built Tanker; Rural 3, Early 1960’s Ford C-Series Tanker. Circa 1964.