Hopewell Fire Department is one of the 27 volunteer fire departments in Anderson County, South Carolina.
The Hopewell Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1967 and is a member of the Anderson County Fire Protection system. The Martin family donated the land for the station that was located next to the old Hopewell School. The Hopewell School was closed and donated to Hopewell Baptist Church and was later donated to the fire department in the early 1980’s. Hopewell community leaders David W. Peace, Broadus B. King, and Dr. Rudolph Hand spearheaded the first efforts to organize the station. They were later joined by Don McPhail, Red Wallace and Ed Duckworth. Many others in the community assisted in fundraising activities and mechanical repairs on the first tanker and grass truck.
The original station had two bays to house the fire trucks. In the mid 1980’s the building was expanded by adding two double bays that could house an additional four fire trucks and included a kitchen and day room for meetings and training. The original fire trucks were a 1967 American Lafrance owned by Anderson County and a tanker and grass truck owned by Hopewell community. In 1987 a new county fire truck was added to the fleet by Anderson County. Noticing the age of the fire trucks and the rapid growth of the Hopewell community in 1996 the Board of Directors’ approved the purchase of a 1996 Pierce pumper and in the year 2000 the purchase of a new rescue truck. Anderson County replaced the 1967 American Lafrance in 2003 with the purchase of a 2003 custom cab E-One pumper.
The Hopewell Fire Department currently responds to over three hundred calls a year compared to the 1980’s where the call volume was below one hundred. The station houses three pumpers, a rescue truck and a grass truck. The station is staffed with over twenty volunteers who give their time in protecting the Hopewell community with no compensation. The operating budget comes primarily from donations that are tax deductable from the residents and businesses located in the Hopewell Fire District. Additional services offered to the community is a twenty four hour Ambulance staffed with a Paramedic and EMT from the Medshore Ambulance Service who leases the space from the Hopewell Fire Department.
