Prior to
the charter of the Tryon Fire Department townspeople would
volunteer their manpower in the whenever fire broke out in town.
In 1910 donations by businesses and individuals were given to
purchase 3 hose reels . One was placed on Melrose Avenue, one on
Godshaw Hill and the third in mill town. A ladder wagon was
purchased in 1911, which was pulled by manpower or horses,
whichever was available. The first fire truck was purchased in
1913. The second fire truck was a Ford purchased in 1923. The
third truck purchased was by "Graham Brothers" in 1925. There
were efforts to start a fire department as early as 1917. The
last page of papers compiled by Clarence Scoggins, to our
knowledge, is the original meeting with Town of Tryon Officials
electing Tryon Fire Department Officers April 22, 1920.
The Department was officially
chartered in 1922 and consisted of the following members:
Mr. Hill -
Fire Chief W.A. Wilson - Assistant Chief
Jim Early Charles Ford
Terril Green Jim Berry
Tom Huntsinger Julian Hester
Claude Ballenger G.L. Foster
M.G. Blake Oliver Andrews
The first
department was located on Maple St., near the present Town
Public Works shed. The bell, which now resides in front of the
current station, was obtained in 1911. The telephone company was
located very near where Windstream is now. There was a cable
attached to the bell and it was strung in the air to the nearby
telephone office. When a call came in, the telephone operator
pulled the cable to ring the bell so as to alert the firemen.
In 1937 a Mack fire truck was
purchased. This was the first new fire truck in all of Polk
County. It arrived by rail and was unloaded at the depot on
Pacolet Street.
In 1948 the department
purchased a new open cab Ford chassis, as well as a front mount
pump, which they mounted and plumbed themselves. A 300 gallon
tank was added to the rear.
In 1954, the local telephone
company arranged for 10 fire phones to be installed in the
businesses where the firemen worked for notification of a fire.
In early evening these 10 phones were switched to 10 firemen
residences for notification at night. The wives
of the firemen that
had a phone would call the other firemen for notification of the
fire and location. When a fire call came over the telephone, it
would ring continuous or a single long ring until the phone was
picked up. This was how you knew it was a fire call. These
phones were used until 1979 when the department received
pagers. The department now uses pagers and portable radios.
The Tryon Fire Department
protects the area of the Town of Tryon,
Tryon Township and a
portion of Foothills Fire District located in Greenville County,
S.C. The resident freeholders or property owners voted in 1985
to form the Tryon Township Fire Tax District. Tryon and
Greenville County, S.C. entered into a fire protection contract
in 1992. Tryon also provides mutual aid in Spartanburg County
S.C. through a mutual aid agreement with Landrum Fire
Department. In addition to these agencies, Tryon also maintains
mutual aid agreements with the other fire departments in Polk
County – Columbus, Saluda, Green Creek, Mill Spring, and Sunny
View. The department averages 1,000 fire and EMS calls
annually. Dispatching is done jointly through the Polk County
911 center and the Tryon Police Department.
Today the department’s fleet has grown from the early years.
The station, now located behind Town Hall at 56 West Howard
Street houses 3 engines, 1 tanker, 1 service truck, 1 brush
truck, the recently acquired ATV, and the Chief's command
vehicle. In addition to fire protection the Tryon Fire
Department provides first responder service in conjunction with
Polk County Emergency Services.
While the Tryon Fire
Department has a paid fire chief, and paid part-time personnel, the department still elects
its line officers (Deputy Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief,
Captain, Lieutenant), and the Chief reports to the Town Manager
and Town Council, which oversees the budget. Volunteer members
are eligible for a quarterly stipend for attending training
sessions and responding to fire and EMS calls.
The budget for the Tryon Fire
Department is derived from a fire tax rate of $0.048 cents per
$100 of property valuation in the Tryon Town Limits and Tryon
Township. The Lake Lanier contract is taxed at a similar rate,
however in South Carolina the term is referred to as "millage
rate" rather than "fire tax." The average budget annually for
Tryon Fire is $220,000. The department has also received
numerous local, state, and federal grants in recent years to
purchase various pieces of equipment.
In 1979 Tryon Fire Department's Insurance Service Office (ISO)
rating improved from a 7/9 to a 6/9. In 1994, the department
improved its rating from a 6/9 to a 5/9s. The ISO rating
inspection in 2011 kept Tryon as a Class 5 department. Tryon is
the only Class 5 department in Polk County.
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the Tryon Fire Department
