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Kinston Department of Fire & Rescue
A Little About Us
Our Present
We are a fully paid Fire Department. We serve the citizens of Kinston 24 hours a day seven days a week working a 24 hour on 48 hour off rotation with three shifts. Our total staff is currently 51 Personnel. We have three Fire Stations that service 16.9 square miles and a population of approximately 21,677 citizens.
We have three front line Fire Engine Companies, Engine 11, running out of Fire Station 1, Engine 22, running out of Fire Station 2, and Engine 33, running out of Fire Station 3. We have a front line Ladder Company Truck 1, running out of Fire Station 1. We have three reserve fire engines and a reserve Ladder Truck, Engine 12 at Fire Station 1, Engine 23, at Fire Station 2 and Engine 34 at Fire Station 3. We also have a Fire Cause and Origin Investigations Team, a Technical Rescue Team, and a Hazmat Rescue Team. We have a Rescue Boat that is at Fire Station 1 as well.
Our Past 
The Kinston Department of Fire & Rescue was formed by the City Council in 1895 after the Great Downtown Fire where most of the businesses burned down. Our First Fire Station was located on Queen Street just north of the Lenoir County Court House located at the Intersection of King Street and Queen Street. Named for the first Governor of North Carolina Richard Caswell, Caswell Fire Company 1 remained in service until 1938 when a new Fire Station/City Hall was built on W King Street. In 1914 a second fire station was built in the area of W King Street, but is no longer standing. A third Fire Station, Kinston Fire Company No. 2, was built in the early 1920's on Tiffany Street (now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) at the intersection of Caswell Street, which was in service until 1993. Kinston Fire Company No. 2 was closed down due to the new truck construction of fire apparatus could not fit into the old bays and was leased out to private individuals by the City. Caswell Fire Company 1 is now our fire museum, established and refurbished in 1987 at 118 S Queen Street. Visit their Facebook Page and Like.
In 1962 a new Kinston City Hall Complex was built at 203 E King Street, where Kinston Fire Station 1 was the main station until 2008 when the current Headquarters located at 401 E Vernon Avenue was erected. The 203 E King Street Fire Station was converted over to the Kinston Department of Public Safety Building and is now the current location of the Kinston Police Department. Also in the 1960's Kinston Fire Station 3, located on W Vernon Avenue across from the Vernon Park Mall, and Kinston Fire Station 4, located at the intersection of Plaza Boulevard and Market Street were built. Kinston Fire Station 4 was in service at Plaza Boulevard and Market Street until 2010 when the current Fire Station 2, located at 3428 Carey Road was constructed.
Kinston Fire Station 3 served as the City/County Fire Station and was in service until 1998, when Fire Station 3 was constructed entirely by the Kinston Firefighters. The new Kinston Station 3 was located on Hull Road. That Kinston Fire Station 3 stayed in service until 2010 when the current Fire Station 3, located at 1247 Hill Farm Road was constructed.