The Prospect Road & District Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1991 through the merger of the Hatchet Lake Volunteer Fire Department and the Terence Bay Volunteer Fire Department. Prior to the merger, Hatchet Lake and Terence Bay were staffed by full-time firefighters starting in 1989. A third fire station was built in Shad Bay after the merger. The department covered an area of 700 square kilometres in the western portion of Halifax County. In 1996, Prospect Road and the other fire departments of Halifax County were amalgamated to form the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service.