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.




Keels Brockington


Roy Rodgers


Press Grimsley


Joe Tucker


Walter Moody


L.W. McDaniel


Raymond Askins

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

1955

Lake City Rural FD

Walter Moody

1955

Lake City Rural FD

1955

Lake City Rural FD

1956

Lake City Rural FD

1956

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.

1964

Lake City & Rural Rescue

1965

Sam Brockington, Michael Rhodes, and Ed Roper

1970

Lake City Rescue Squad

1970

Lake City Rural Engine 1

1971

Lake City Rural Engine 1 and firefighters

1971

Self Contained Breathing Apparatus

1974

Lake City Rural Engine

1974

Rural Water Supply Training

1975

First Jet Dump System

Engine 24 1976 International/Bean 750 GPM Pumper, 1,000 gallon tank. The first fire truck with factory installed Jet Dump System delivered in South Carolina.

1976

Jet Dump System

Engine 24 1976 International/Bean 750 GPM Pumper, 1,000 gallon tank. The first fire truck with factory installed Jet Dump System delivered in South Carolina.

1976

Rural Water Supply Training

1977

Lake City Rescue Squad 650

1978

Engine 121

1979

Fire Apparatus Pump Testing

1979

Lake City Rural Fire Apparatus & Fire Station

1979

Camp Branch Fire Station

1980

Fire Truck Demonstration at the store in Cades, SC

1980

Firefighting

1981

26 Jet Dump and Dump Tank Use at a Fire

1982

25 Tanker 422, Cades Station

1982

27 Engine 122

1982

28 Pump Test 1982 Coward Engine 221

1982

Station 5 Camerontown-Leo

1982

Firefighter

1984

Cades Fire Station

1987

Station 1 Lake City

1989

Station 2 Coward

1989

Station 3 Camp Branch

1989

Station 5 Camerontown-Leo

1989

Parade in Lake City

1989

Engine 122 at Fire

1989

Rescue 2 – Coward

1991

Station 1

1992

Carl Pate, Sam Floyd, Legrande Richardson

1992

Letha Daniels Retirement

1994

6 New KME Engines

1996

Tower Ladder 314

2000

2001/2002 Siren Relocation @ Bean Market

2001/2002

New Tankers – Tanker 336 & 356

2003

Engine 331 and Rescue 313

2007

Engine 311 on Water Source

2007

Training Ground Open House

2008

Training Ground Open House

2008

Brush 335

2009

Engine 321, One of Six New KME Engines Delivered

2009

Rescue 323, one of two Rescue Trucks Delivered

2010

Carl Pate Funeral

2011

In Memory of Carl Pate

2011

Station 8 and Engine 381

2014

Station 7 and Engine 371

2014

Station 9 and Engine 391

2015

New KME Delivered – Engine 311

2015

Tower Ladder 314 Delivered

2016

New Training Facility

2017

New Training Facility

2017

New Training Facility

2017