Orange County Fire Rescue

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Orange County Fire Rescue is responsible for all fire suppression, emergency medical services, rescue, fire code enforcement and permitting, and public safety education. Orange County's Office of Emergency Management is a branch of Fire Rescue tasked with preparing for and coordinating the response to large scale disasters and emergencies.

In 2007, Orange County Fire Rescue responded to 91,498 calls for help. Responding to those calls is a team of 1003 emergency responders supported by 177 civilian specialists. OCFRD can get to the scene of an emergency in a matter of minutes from one of the 42 fire stations throughout the county and the use of the "FireStar" medical helicopter.

Recently Orange County Fire Rescue received accreditation from the Committee for Fire Service Accreditation International. This honor certifies that Orange County Fire Rescue is prepared for and can handle any type of emergency in its jurisdiction. It further shows that it does so in a financially sound manner.

Orange County Fire Rescue has also been awarded the 2007 Fire Service Award for Excellence for their innovative Firefighter Wellness Program. The Office of Emergency Management has been recognized for innovation by the International Association of Emergency Managers for the ocalert.net program.

1 History
2 Stations and Apparatus
3 Disclaimer
4 External links

[edit] History

Prior to 1981, there were 14 fire control districts serving Orange County and each district had elected Fire Commissioners overseeing Fire Operations. The decision was made to consolidate these individual districts creating one Fire Department to serve unincorporated Orange County under the authority of the Board of County Commissioners.

Consolidation would insure the level of fire service in Orange County would be equal with regard to equipment, training and staffing. Extensive and continuous training, and research for the best possible equipment performed this task. Now looking back, 24 years later, it has been proven that the consolidation was successful. The recent challenges of FireStorm 1998, Wildland Fires of 2000, numerous multi-alarm Fires and Hazardous Material Alarms, and the Hurricanes of 2004, have proved the advantage of having one Professional Fire Department serving the citizens of Orange County. Orange County Fire Rescue has grown to be one of best in the State of Florida and is among the best in the nation. Always striving to improve, we will continue to meet the challenges of Orange County.