What now is known as Thurston County Fire Protection District 8 (also known by its more common name of South Bay Volunteer Fire Department), was formed by a group of neighbors in April of 1953. It started with a loaned pick-up truck (with a pressurized water tank in the back) parked in the firestation (a garage belonging to the South Bay Grange), and the neighbors responded to a grand total of 15 fire calls that year. Later, a new station was built on South Bay Road and a brand new pumper purchased for $3,500 (the District still owns this truck, and is housed in its new station).

Fire response continued to be the mainstay for the department for many years until 1973 when the Thurston County Medic One system came into existence. Quickly, EMS calls began to outnumber fire calls in volume.

A substation was built in 1965 on the Johnson Point Road (Station 8- 2) and another built in 1979 on the Puget Beach Road (Station 8-3). The first resident firefighter (living in a mobile home behind a firestation) was added in 1984, and the first full-time employee was hired in 1985. In 1998, the District moved into its new headquarters station across the street of the old main station. In 1998, the District responded to over 500 calls for the first time, and in 2006 exceeded 600 calls.