The Glen Alpine Fire Department was organized in the late
1940s. At the time there were very few organized fire
departments in Burke County, North Carolina, so the GAFD
served much of the Western area of the county. Now much of
the former area, outside the bounds of the town, served by
GAFD is served by West End VFD, Lake James VFD, and Oak
Hill VFD.
The department started with a trailer which had a hose reel and
needed a vehicle to pull it. They progressed to their first truck,
which had a tank on it, and was a 1942 Ford purchased from
the town of Morganton. In  1959 they purchased a new Ford,
American LaFrance 500 GPM pumper.  Now the GAFD Operates
with 2 pumpers, 1 tanker, 1 Ford Super Duty Brush truck and a
5 ton brush truck.

The First Fire Chief was Clyde Orders


Then came Paul Powell in 1978.  



The Department now has 21 members under the leadership of
Fire Chief Jerry Causby and Assistant Fire Chief Tommy "Fluff"
Helms.  Pictured below is the firefighters from the 1990's.