The Maury County Civil Defense was formed in 1970. JC Inman and Johnnie Oliver built from nothing a department to serve the citizens of Maury County. For the first few years, the agency assisted citizens with various needs. In 1980, the Civil Defense began firefighting with the purchase of 9 brush trucks.

For many years, the headquarters was stationed in Riverside. In 1995, the county commission approved for the headquarters to be relocated into the building recently vacated by EMS.

With the creation of the Office of Emergency Management in 2003, the Civil Defense no longer carried the emergency management position of Maury County. The agency was reorganized and the end result was the formation Maury County Fire Department. MCFD is an all volunteer department with over 60 members across Maury County.

A Change of Leadership occurred when Director JC Inman, whom served as Director of the Organization from 1970-2005, passed away. In 2006, Maury County Mayor Jim Bailey appointed Terry Potts as the Director. Director Potts appointed Mark Gandee as Assist Director.

Director Terry Potts retired February 19th, 2008, to peruse other opportunities and to spend additional time with his family. Assistant Director Mark Gandee was promoted to Director by County Mayor Jim Bailey. Also, District Chief Eric Hileman was promoted to Assistant Director. To better reflect their roles in the fire service, the Director and Assistant Director titles have been changed to Chief and Assistant Chief.