The History of Our Department

The Etowah Rescue Squad was formed in 1957 by a group of men that was concerned about helping their friends and neighbors around the Etowah community. They began by helping out during emergencies and crisis situations in whatever way that was possible. As the years passed they began to look for ways to improve their services, which at the time included water search and rescue, ground search and rescue and operating the ambulance service for the city of Etowah.

In the late 1960’s the squad began to respond to serious automobile accidents where victims were pinned in the wreckage. But with the lack of adequate equipment, they had to rely on wreckers to do most of the work freeing the victims. This often took an extended period of time and usually resulted in additional injuries to the patient. However, they did the best job possible with the resources that where available. It wasn’t until 1974 that they were able to obtain the present state of the art Jaws of Life that was in use until 2004. And was replaced by newer and lighter equipment.

As the 1970’s approached they began receiving calls from people outside of the corporate city limits of Etowah. They were asking for help as their houses caught and burned to the ground. As this became an increasing problem, the squad responded to the calls and helped in any way possible. But with no firefighting equipment, there was little they could do other then assist in removing personal property and belongings from the house if possible. As this became more frequent they become frustrated at having to stand by with these families and watch their houses burn to the ground.

Deciding it was time to take action, they did something about the situation. In early 1973 fire struck the home of Dr. Whittle a well-known McMinn County physician. Members will remember as they carried out most of the furnishings of the home how easily it could have been put out with proper equipment. A meeting of the community was called to see what could be done and many concerned citizens of the Etowah area attended. It was decided that if enough funds could be raised, a Pumper truck and equipment would be bought and the rescue squad volunteers would operate it. The group was divided into committees and assigned certain areas in the community to solicit donations from. Within a few months $ 12,000.00 was collected for the equipment and Pumper.

In mid 1973 a 1954 Ford Oren Pumper and additional equipment was purchased for $6,200.00 from a South Boston, Virginia company. The remaining funds were kept for future equipment purchases and operational expenses. This newly formed service became know as the Etowah Rural Fire Department. It was the first volunteer fire department in McMinn County to serve outside of corporate city limits. They continued to operate in the years to come in the Etowah area and many times responding to Athens area and beyond the request of the Sheriff’s Department. This continued until the countywide fire department was formed in 1978  

Today with the support of the Etowah community, the Rescue Squad and Rural Fire Department have some of the finest state of the art equipment in the area. This includes a Thermal Imaging camera for locating trapped victims in house fires, extrication rescue truck, a Mobile Air and Light Unit to fill breathing air for firefighting that assist county wide departments, one boat for water rescue, a 16 foot enclosed trailer for confined space rescue and vertical rescue operations, a 1250 gallon a min Pumper equipped to meet N.F.P.A standards, a 250 gallon brush unit equipped for both brush fires and woods fire, 1,000 gallon tanker equipped for dump tank operations, and a E.M.S First Response Unit to asst. E.M.S on medical calls

Over the years the department has become a multifarious organization. Services now include vehicle rescue (extrication), mountain (vertical) rescue operations, confined space rescue operations, ground search and rescue, water search and rescue, traffic control assistance, fire suppression, and pubic fire education. Among the 35 members there are 7 emergency medical technicians, 2 paramedic's and 1 nurse. All members are required to become certified in vehicle extrication and firefighter I II III.

We have given the Etowah community 50+ years of service and will continue to strive to improve our services in the future.