History of the Squad


Lovelady Rescue Squad was organized back in 1956 with volunteers from Granite Falls and surrounding communities.  There was a need not only for ambulance coverage but rescue coverage as well in Granite Falls area and surrounding areas. Station headquarters was located in downtown Granite Falls at Park Square. Volunteers worked at various businesses and industry in the town of Granite Falls. Anytime ambulance and rescue services were needed the volunteers of the organization were readily available at any given time. Lovelady Rescue Squad was officially chartered in 1956 which makes it the oldest Rescue organization in the county. Original headquarters at Park Square had no bays which responding units were housed outside. The move to 4 Falls Ave. was built and funded by volunteers spending long hours fundraising Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, along with various donations from the community, and country music shows. There were about 15 or so original members when Lovelady opened their doors. Started out with a Ford and Chevrolet station wagon ambulances to respond to calls. For water rescues we started out with 2 leaky homemade boats. Later acquired a Cadillac ambulance. First Rescue truck was an old Bread truck. Our rescue organization being the oldest in the county underwent some upgrades in equipment and supplies in the 1970's and 1980's which included ambulances built according to state specifications, also added a 1969 Ford as a rescue truck equipped with jaws of life and 2 fiberglass boats. In the mid 1990's we added a 4x4 Suburban to respond to calls offroad and to also make blood runs to Charlotte to Caldwell Memorial. In 2004 we relocated to our current location on York Rd. in Granite Falls. Since our needs have increased we have also increased, including members and number of Responding units. We now have 25 members on our roster along with a Heavy Rescue truck, 2 ambulances, 2 boats with side-scan and sonar, First Responder truck, Water Rescue truck, light rescue truck, rehab truck, and a special operations trailer. Our staff has specialized training which includes but not limited to Water Rescue, Wilderness Rescue, Structural Collapse, Trench, Vehicle Extrication, Heavy and High Angle Rescue, Certified Divers, EMT's and Paramedics. We also run Automatic Mutual Aid Medical Calls and Motor Vehicle Accidents with Granite Falls Fire Dept. We also respond to specialty rescues and emergencies not only in Caldwell County but surrounding areas as well. This is a breif history of our organization on how we started and where we are now.