Laurens County Council, in 1990, sought to increase the quality of fire protection in the rural setting of the county. Early on, the fire service equipment was not standardized. Departments that neighbored each other, in several cases, were using non-compatible equipment. The goals of the County Council were to standardize equipment and to reduce fire insurance rates in each fire district.

In 1991, County Council established a Fire-Rescue Commission composed of one person from each of the seventeen fire districts in the county. The Commission was charged by County Ordinance to hire a County Fire-Rescue Coordinator to be a resource to the fire departments and a liaison between the Commission and the fire districts. The initial forward thrust of providing better fire protection to protect lives and to lower insurance costs that continues today was conceived by the Fire Commission.

The Commission was replaced with a Fire Advisory Board to County Council. As of 2003 the Fire-Rescue Coordinator serves as the liaison between County Council and the rural fire districts.

In 1999, Laurens County Council placed the duties and responsibilities of the local Emergency Management Agency under the Fire-Rescue Coordinator. Thus forming the Laurens County Fire/Emergency Management Agency. The agency covers a county of over 750 square miles with a population in excess of 70,000 people, 2 municipalities, & 17 fire districts. The Fire/EMA currently offers the county a staff of 6; 3 in the Fire Coordinator/Emergency Management Office, 2 Fire Division Chiefs, and a County Fire Apparatus Mechanic.