In the late summer of 1950, a house being built in a new sub-division caught fire in the middle of the night and burned to the ground. Calvert City had no fire protection of any kind. At the next Lions Club meeting, it was voted to buy a fire truck. One of the Lions' members was a Chevrolet salesman and he offered a 1 1/2ton, 1951 Chevrolet Classic at cost. The truck was brought and sent to Centra
l Fire Equipment Company in St. Louis, Missouri. Fitted with a 500 GPM pump, a 300-gallon tank, and other basic equipment, the truck was transformed into a fire truck and was delivered on March 10, 1951. The Lions Club selected Ed Rendlemen to be the Fire Chief. He held this position for 44 years before turning it over to a younger man. The new Chief, Fred Ross took over January 1, 1996, and remains Fire Chief until his retirement in 2019 when Timmy Davis, a long-time fireman stepped in. From 1951 to 1967 there was only one other fire department in the county, and their service was confined to the City of Benton. Consequently, Calvert City Fire Department answered calls all over the county. Eventually, Calvert City became incorporated and the Department reverted to answering calls only within the city limits. Calvert City purchased their second truck in 1967 - a commercial Ford with a 750 GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Since that time, the Department has had a number of vehicles and is currently equipped with five pumpers, a specialty equipment pickup and, Ladder One, a KME 75 foot, multi-purpose truck, and the newest addition, a Polaris Ranger for wildland firefighting.
