History

Early BCVFD History

Battalion One has a long and proud history which ties itself into the history of the Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department.  The shape and structure of the Battalion has changed considerably throughout the decades of its existence, but it never lost the will or capability to protect the citizens and property of Bolivar County.

The Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department came from the Bolivar County Civil Defense which got its start from the Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department. M.C. Simpson was a former CVFD Fire Chief and saw the need for a Cleveland-Bolivar County Civil Defense, formed in 1960 in the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, now Bolivar County Emergency Management. The Civil Defense organized a Civil Defense Fire Brigade with an old military truck with a pump and a hose reel. The truck would go top speed at 45 MPH with about 1,000 gallons of water. The Fire Brigade all wore raincoats and rubber field boots back then. The Civil Defense Fire Brigade was still in service as a back up to the BCVFD when it incorporated in March 1974. It soon was disbanded as members moved over the BCVFD and the truck was old and too slow. So basically, the Bolivar County Civil Defense/Emergency Management, the Civil Defense Fire Brigade and the Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department all came from the Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department.

The very first “County” station was in the Town of Duncan.  The town built the station, and the county bought a 1973 Ford 700 conventional cab fire truck for The Duncan Volunteer Fire Department with a 750 GPM Darley three stage pump. It was the only three stage pump ever purchased by Bolivar County. It was bright yellow, and the Town of Shelby purchased one just like it for the Shelby Volunteer Fire Department. These trucks carried 750 gallons of water and had boost assist brakes and steering but not air brakes.

The Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department was organized and incorporated as a Mississippi non-profit in March 1974 to serve the rural areas of the county along with municipalities that needed help. It included three stations: Duncan, Cleveland and Scott. Back then, states received State & Local Assistance money from the Federal Government on a yearly basis, but the program would not last but a few years. Bolivar County wisely used it as a onetime investment in fire service and purchased two mini-pumpers with a Dodge chassis that carried 250 gallons of water and a 250 GPM pump.  Instead of just one truck they bought two smaller ones to provide immediate fire protect at two more stations. Those stations were located in Scott and Cleveland. A little later Cleveland got a GMC truck and a homemade tank with baffles was built and a gas-powered pump mounted on the rear with an 8-inch round valve to dump water into a portable pool for drafting and water shuttle in rural areas without fire hydrants. There were several old military trucks used to carry water, but they took a huge area to turn around and were very slow.

In 1979 Bolivar County purchased a Ford 900 cabover Pierce Engine. It carried 750 gallons of water and more equipment. It had a 750 GPM Pierce pump and was a workhorse. It had a Cat engine and stayed as a frontline Engine until 1991. With the purchase of the pierce engine, the mini pumper was sent to Gunnison as they had built a new station for the town financed by Bolivar County. Gunnison paid back the county from the town’s State Rebate money over ten years. Their old station was in a dilapidated downtown building and the new station had to truck bays, an office, restroom and meeting room. This station was completed, and the truck moved in the early 1980s.

In the mid-1980s, The Shaw Volunteer Fire Department wanted to become part of the BCVFD. They served the City of Shaw but got calls to go out of town many times. Shaw had a yellow Ford cabover engine, but the city council did not want them taking it outside the city limits citing it might hurt their rating. So, the volunteers got a truck chassis and built a low water tank on the bed and install a PTO driven pump to respond to calls outside the city. They also used it inside the city. It held about 1500 gallons of water and carried some hose on top and limited equipment. The Shaw Volunteer Fire Department was voted in during a County Chiefs meeting and Bolivar County now had 5 districts drawn on the map for fire response.

In the 1990s Benoit Volunteer Fire Department Chief asked to join the BCVFD as they covered just their city limits and the Scott station, District Three, had to pass through Benoit to their Northern most area at Beulah. The dividing line between the Gunnison response district and the Scott response district. Benoit was voted in and became District Six for fire response carving out some of the Scott, Shaw and some of the lower part of Gunnison’s District Four. It cut down on area and response time.

During those days, each of the stations, Shaw and Benoit, provided their own trucks and BCVFD supplemented with some equipment. In 1990 Duncan’s truck was 17 years old and the MS Rating Bureau was pushing hard for them to get a new truck. The BCVFD had not had a new truck of any kind since 1979. Bolivar County purchased two Class A engines from Gatco in Greenwood. The first two that company ever made and they were like Army tanks. Built on Pierce specifications with additional structure and things added.  One of these two trucks is in service today in 2022. They carried 1,250 gallon of water with a 1,250 GPM American Godiva/Hale pumps. They were on International chassis and had the first mounted deck guns for massive fires controlled from the top of the truck.

The first custom cab fire truck was bought in early 2005. It seated 5 to 6 firefighters and had air packs in the seats. This truck was also built by Gatco in Greenwood and would be housed in the District Two station in Duncan. It had a 1250-gallon tank and 1500 GPM pump. This truck responded with an engine company to the MS Gulf Coast right after Hurricane Katrina to support Gulfport Fire Department for two weeks. The County added new engines, tankers and rescue trucks through the years to move the BCVFD away from old homemade tankers, brush trucks and rescue trucks to more modern and well-built trucks to serve the citizens of Bolivar County. The BCVFD now even has its first Ladder Truck for multistory apartments and other structures to help us serve the public well into the 21st Century. And the BCVFD has changed from Fire Response Districts and District Chiefs to Battalions and Battalion Chiefs all with the same previous numbers 1 through 6.

As times have changed, the department has strived to meet and adapt to those changes.  Our Facebook page was born into existence in October 2015.  We began hosting a Fire Station Trick-or-Treat to provide a safe environment for children to acquire candy on Halloween night since 2015, except for 2020 because of the strains of Covid-19.  The latest addition was the creation of our Website in May 2020.  These might seem to be small updates and changes to the department, but this growth to better serve our community is something we take great pride in.

The membership has constantly changed along with the apparatus we currently have, but we are proud of the current apparatus we utilize to protect our fellow citizens.

The Birth of Our Current Apparatus:

  • Rescue 1 – Came into service the second time in 2007.
  • Engine 151 – Our main pumper joined us in August 2008.
  • Squad 1 – The squad also joined us in 2008.
  • Ladder 1 – We acquired the first ladder truck in the history of the department in July 2013.
  • Engine 154 – Our Merigold engine joined the team in July 2015.
  • Tanker 161 – A needed upgrade to our water supply capacity began service in July 2018.