Vine Grove established the first volunteer fire department in 1870, and the first piece of firefighting equipment was a wooden hose cart in 1899. In 1936, the City purchased a Ford dump truck which was used to gravel the City roads. In 1938, the town board voted to send the dump truck to W.S. Darley to convert it to a fire apparatus costing $2,537.03. The same year, the town board appointed George A. Cooper to Fire Chief. In 1940, the city recognized the value of its volunteers and voted to pay each member $.50 per fire run. This practice continues today with it being increased to $20 per fire run. The Vine Grove Fire Department now operates two stations and has one paid chief and up to 35 paid volunteers per call.