The Glen Alpine Fire Department was organized in the late 1940s. At the time there were very few organized fire departments in Burke County, North Carolina, so the GAFD served much of the Western area of the county. Now much of the former area, outside the bounds of the town, served by GAFD is served by West End VFD, Lake James VFD, and Oak Hill VFD.
The department started with a trailer which had a hose reel and needed a vehicle to pull it. They progressed to their first truck, which had a tank on it, and was a 1942 Ford purchased from the town of Morganton. In  1959 they purchased a new Ford, American LaFrance 500 GPM pumper.

The First Fire Chief was Clyde Orders, then came Paul Powell in 1978, followed by the current Chief.

The Department has 22 members under the leadership of Fire Chief Jerry Causby and Assistant Fire Chief Tommy "Fluff" Helms.

The Department has an Auxiliary of 18 members under the leadership of President Kim Beck.

The Department also has a Junior Fire Brigade of 8 members under the leadership of Junior-Captain Tim Coleman.