An effort to organize a fire program in Carova began in the early 1980s. The department was chartered in 1982 as a non-profit corporation under contract with Currituck
County to provide fire and rescue service to the
area. Acquiring property and building the first section of the present building took most of the 1980s. The early members, numbering less than twenty, put in a lot of personal time
and resources to make that happen. During that same period, meetings were held at individual homes as members looked forward to the day they could conduct business at the station.
The department went through many growing pains during those early years as they acquired of fire and rescue equipment. Trucks and parts of trucks were purchased from other department and from government surplus. All of this effort resulted in one SUV-type vehicle that was set up as a quick response vehicle (QRV) for EMS, a pieced-together brush truck of questionable quality, and a fire engine that was affectionately known as “Big Red” that spent a lot of time being repaired.
Today Carova Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue has over 40 active members and boasts a fleet of 10 fire, emergency, and rescue vehicles, housed in a 6000 square foot station including an adjacent 100 square foot lighted helicopter pad.