The Rescue Fire Department was formed in the spring of 1960. It is not known exactly why this happened. Possibly a structure fire at the Harry Cridge residence which destroyed the entire beautiful old two story residence aroused the interest of some of the locals and brought to their attention the fact that we had no fire protection at all in the winter. In the summer the California Department of Forestry responds to all fires. Any and all fires were considered a threat to the wild land. The Cridge structure fire occurred in the fall of 1959. Despite the fact that it was fall, C.D.F. responded and worked the fire. Because of a slow report time and a long travel time, the structure was on the ground before they arrived. They did however spend considerable time on mop up. There was no one else to do the job. This bad situation was undoubtedly on people's mind when the need for a fire department was discussed locally. The country was beginning to grow and most of the locals were aware of the need for structure fire protection. The best way to achieve this goal was to form our own fire department, or so the majority of people felt. A meeting was held at Rescue Community Center. The decision was made to form a fire department as a non-profit corporation. Some funds were raised and the necessary paperwork was submitted to the state. In due time our non-profit status was approved. We now had a fire department without a fire truck. In a short period of time we had a flat bed truck donated. We now had a fire truck without a pump or a water tank. C.D.F. to the rescue, they loaned us a used pump and tank. After that we had numerous used fire trucks.
In 1975 it became apparent that the volunteer fire department was having trouble operating on the amount of money that the volunteers could raise. The decision was made to go to the public and ask them to vote on a ballot measure to form a tax district. The main problem encountered was that the workload was increasing dramatically. At about this time our fire district began to respond to medical calls. We were still operating as a full volunteer department. The taxpayers approved the tax district in 1975. The main station at Rescue was completed in 1977. Our first piece of new equipment was purchased in 1982. From then on new equipment was purchased on a regular basis. In 1989 a second station was built at Springvale. Our first paid fireman was hired in 1982. Since then several more firemen have been hired. For several years there has been talk of building a third new station. It will happen one of these days. When the need arises the station will be built. The engine for the third station has been purchased. The workload has gone from a few calls a month to over one a day.