History

The Bethlehem Community Volunteer Fire Department INC was organized in 1962. We are contracted by Alexander County to provide fire protection to the residents of a five-mile radius in the Bethlehem Fire District. We are also contracted by Caldwell County to provide fire protection to a small number of residents in their county as well. We have a population of 8,555 in our rural community. We also respond to mutual aid calls for our four neighboring departments in Alexander and Caldwell County. In addition to fire protection for the community, we also assist Alexander and Caldwell EMS with a First Responder program. We also provide light rescue operations such as, vehicle extraction and water rescues. We as a department are actively involved in the community. We provide a yearly fire protection and safety program to all the preschools, day cares, and elementary school in our district. The Department also assists the elementary school with parking details for their fundraisers and other school actives. We have a potential roster of 35 firemen. We run an average of 150 fire calls and 140 Medical calls each year. The members spend on the average of about 2,000 hours, as a department, in training each year. Most of this training is done locally while some is done out of the district at Fire Schools and special weekend schools. We proudly protect the residents of our community and any visitors that may visit our community.