The Darlington Heights community gathered to celebrate 50 years of the volunteer fire department protecting the community. The Darlington Heights Volunteer Fire Department started in 1972 with an Army tanker truck. Since then, the department has grown in the number of trucks to six and also greatly increased the square footage of the fire station as the department and the community partnered to grow over time. Chief Dallas Tinsley, who has served as chief for the department the past 23 years, said support from the community has been crucial to the department’s success. “They went out and fought fire before there was a fire department,” he said of the days on Darlington Heights before the fire department was established. He said there was a box in the community with rakes and shovels for anyone to use when a fire occurred.