Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department
 |
|
| Operational area | |
|---|---|
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 Florida
|
| City |
 Jacksonville
|
| Agency overview | |
| Established | April 20, 1886 |
| Annual calls | 123,368 (2013) |
| Employees | ~1,200 |
| Annual budget | $196 million (2014) |
| Fire chief | Kurtis Wilson |
| EMS level | ALS & BLS |
| IAFF | 122 |
| Facilities and equipment | |
| Battalions | 3 |
| Stations | 54 |
| Engines | 53 |
| Trucks | 12 |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Quints | 1 |
| Squads | 4 |
| Ambulances | 41 |
| Tenders | 10 |
| HAZMAT | 2 |
| Airport crash | 5 |
| Wildland | 8 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| IAFF website | |
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Jacksonville, Florida, as well as all unincorporated areas of Duval County.
According to a list of the thirty largest fire departments in the United States, based on staff size, JFRD is number eighteen.
On January 19, 2016, the Jacksonville Fire Rescue earned the highest rating given by the I.S.O. of 1. After 2 years of planning, moving stations, equipment, and adding a fire station to the Bartram community, the department has finally earned top honors. It is the biggest city in the United States to do so and is 1 of 19 in Florida and 1 of only 140 in the United States to hold such a prestigious rating.
The 2012 National Fire Department Census revealed that Florida has four hundred and seventy-seven registered fire departments. Duval County has the fifth largest fire department in the state based on the number of fire stations. JFRD is among the largest departments in the state and the nation. The department is made up of six division, fifty-eight fire and rescue locations, a professional career force of roughly thirteen-hundred diverse individuals, from all walks of life, and a number of teams, specially trained to handle any type of emergency call. All of which, provide around the clock emergency response services to an eight hundred and forty square mile territory within the City of Jacksonville and the unincorporated areas of Duval County.
In Jacksonville's early days, citizens responded to fires by forming formed bucket brigades. In 1852, Jacksonville upgraded its firefighting apparatus with the acquisition of a hand pumper. The wheeled pumper had large handles on each side, which were pumped up and down in a seesaw manner to create hydraulic pressure. On April 5, 1854, the hand pumper was put to the test when a spark from the paddle steamer Florida ignited a fire at the docks along Bay Street between Ocean and Newnan. The pumper proved no match for the conflagration, which destroyed the pumper along with 70 buildings, devastating Jacksonville’s business district.
The city's first organized firefighting force was formed on January 10, 1868, when a group of volunteers created the Friendship Hook and Ladder Company. Several other volunteer companies were formed by 1870, and together they came to be known as the Jacksonville Volunteer Fire Department.
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Wikipedia