In 1958, the late Peter J. Henderson led the development of the Ware County Fire Department.

E.M. ‘Bo’ Everett, a former Ware County Commissioner, became its first Chief, employing the late D.F. Cribb and H.L. Cribb as Ware County's first two fire fighters. The county purchased its first fire engine from the U.S. Army Surplus in Fort Stewart, GA, and it was a 1942 Chevrolet with a five hundred-gpm (gallon per minute) pump capacity. Costing Ware County one hundred, fifty dollars then, the 1942 fire engine exists in our Fire Department to this day, but used only during parade and other show events. From 1958 to 1961, the old Ware County Maintenance Shop, a tin building previously located next to Ware Correctional Institute on Harris Road, housed the first fire engine and four fire fighters. In 1961, the County Government used prison labor to construct the Ware County Fire Headquarters Station #1 building, presently located in the Industrial Park. In 1962, we purchased a new 1962 Chevrolet fire engine whose capacity was seven hundred, fifty gpm, and used it to equip the first volunteer fire substation constructed in Manor, GA in 1963. In 1972, Ware County purchased an additional brand new seven hundred, fifty-gpm fire engine for the Fire Headquarters Station #1 building, increasing its assets to forty-two fire fighting apparatuses.

The Ware County Board of Commissioners adopted a countywide Fire Protection Plan in 1974, which provided for a network of appropriately equipped and manned volunteer fire stations. Ware County constructed eight more fire stations between 1976 and 1993, where property owners in respective districts donated the land required for these sites. Various types of fundraisers and house-to-house solicitations for donations financed additional fire substations.

Today, Ware County Fire and Rescue is capable of providing a wide array of services including fire suppression, victim extraction and rescue, and life saving medical trauma treatment services. Our paid and volunteer fire and rescue personnel are highly trained with multi-facetted skills. Having a fire protection classification of 6/9 (‘9’ depends on available equipment, water supply, fire hydrants, etc.), Ware County homeowners benefit from reduced fire insurance premiums. Our goal is simple: strive to possess and maintain superior life and property protection throughout Ware County.