{"id":10857,"date":"2026-08-01T08:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=10857"},"modified":"2026-08-01T08:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:34:06","slug":"topsail-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/topsail-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Presenting a history of fire and rescue services on Topsail Island as well as selected nearby fire and rescue departments in Pender and Onslow counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View visual history: JPG | PDF<\/p>\n<p>Read research notes (PDF)<\/p>\n<p>Short Version<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1961, Jun \u2013<strong> Topsail Island Rescue Squad <\/strong>operating by this time,<\/li>\n<li>1962, Jan 30 \u2013 <strong>Pender County Rescue Squad, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1966, Sep 15 \u2013 <strong>Topsail Island Volunteer Fire Department, Inc<\/strong>. incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1969, Dec 5 &#8211; <strong>Topsail Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc. <\/strong>incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1967, May 31 \u2013 <strong>Sneads Ferry Rescue Squad, Inc<\/strong>. incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1971, Aug 23 \u2013 Topsail Beach RS renamed <strong>Topsail Beach Fire and Rescue, Inc.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>1973, Apr, circa \u2013 <strong>Topsail Beach Fire Department<\/strong> created as a town department.<\/li>\n<li>1973, Apr 24 \u2013 Topsail Beach F&amp;R renamed <strong>Topsail Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>1974, May 6 \u00a0\u2013 Topsail Island VFD renamed <strong>Surf City Volunteer Fire Department, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1975, Dec 1 \u2013 <strong>West Onslow Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.<\/strong> chartered<\/li>\n<li>1976, Jun \u2013<strong> Surf City Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc. <\/strong>organized.<\/li>\n<li>1977, Oct 3 &#8211; <strong>Scotts Hill Fire Department, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1978, Aug 25 &#8211; Hampstead Fire Department and Sloop Point Rescue merged and created <strong>Hampstead Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1980 or 1981 \u2013 West Onslow Beach RS stopped operating.<\/li>\n<li>1981, Apr 17 &#8211; <strong>Union Rescue Squad, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1983, Mar 17 \u2013 <strong>Hampstead Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated. Group separated from Hampstead Fire and Rescue.<\/li>\n<li>1984, Jul 23 &#8211; Hampstead RS renamed <strong>Pender East Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1985, Jan 1 \u2013 Surf City VFD stopped answering calls to West Onslow Beach.<\/li>\n<li>1985, May 1 \u2013 <strong>West Onslow Beach Volunteer Fire &amp; Rescue Departments, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated.<\/li>\n<li>1989, Aug 18 &#8211; Surf City RS renamed <strong>Surf City Emergency Medical Services, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1990, Nov 21 \u2013 Topsail Beach RS renamed <strong>Topsail Beach Emergency Medical Services, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1991, Apr 8 \u2013 West Onslow Beach FD changed named to <strong>North Topsail Beach Volunteer Rescue and EMS, Inc.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>1992, Feb 1 \u2013 Scotts Hill FD ceased operating.<\/li>\n<li>1993, Oct 6 \u2013 Municipal <strong>Surf City Fire Department<\/strong> was operational by this date.<\/li>\n<li>1993, Oct 6 \u2013 Effective date that the town\u2019s contract with SCVFD ended.<\/li>\n<li>1994, Feb \u2013 Surf City town officials decided to end the municipal structure surrounding Surf City FD, and contract with the volunteer members instead.<\/li>\n<li>1994, Feb &#8211;<strong> Treasure Coast Fire Department, Inc.<\/strong> incorporated. Organized by members of the former municipal fire department, so the town could contract with them.<\/li>\n<li>1994, May 12 \u2013 News reported that Surf City town council last week terminated the services of Treasure Coast FD and resume contracted fire protection from Surf City VFD.<\/li>\n<li>1999 &#8211; Pender East RS renamed <strong>Pender East Rescue &amp; EMS, Inc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>1999, Jul 1 \u2013 Second iteration of municipal <strong>Surf City FD<\/strong> began operating.<\/li>\n<li>1999, Jul 6 \u2013 Topsail Beach EMS merged with <strong>Pender East Rescue and EMS<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>2002, Oct 1 &#8211; Pender East Rescue &amp; EMS and Pender County RS merged to create <strong>Pender Volunteer EMS &amp; Rescue<\/strong>, <strong>Inc.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>2013, Jun 30 \u2013 <strong>Pender EMS &amp; Fire, Inc. <\/strong>created. The Pender EMS corporation was renamed on July 11, 2013, and three corporations were merged into it: Sloop Point Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., Long Creek Grady Volunteer Fire &amp; Rescue, Inc., and Hampstead Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Inc. An invitation had been extended to Surf City VFD, but they didn\u2019t meet deadlines for the merger. County officials planned to dissolve SCVFD.<\/li>\n<li>2013, July or later \u2013 Surf City VFD ceased operation. Assets later to Pender EMS &amp; Fire.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2013, Jul 19 \u2013 Sneads Ferry RS merged with Sneads Ferry FD and both merged into Turkey Creek Fire and Rescue.<\/li>\n<li>2022, Jan 31 \u2013 North Topsail Beach RS renamed <strong>North Topsail Beach Firefighters Association<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>2025, Jun 16 \u2013 County officials approved the merger of Pender EMS &amp; Fire, Penderlea FD, and Maple Hill FD and the county.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F&text=Topsail+Island+%28and+More%29+Fire+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F&description=Topsail+Island+%28and+More%29+Fire+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Presenting a history of fire and rescue services on Topsail Island as well as selected nearby fire and rescue departments in Pender and Onslow counties.\u00a0 View visual history: JPG | PDF Read research notes (PDF) Short Version 1961, Jun \u2013 Topsail Island Rescue Squad operating by this time, 1962, Jan 30 \u2013 Pender County Rescue &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/topsail-history\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F&text=Topsail+Island+%28and+More%29+Fire+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Ftopsail-history%2F&description=Topsail+Island+%28and+More%29+Fire+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"10857\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Topsail Island (and More) Fire and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10857"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10859,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions\/10859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}