Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department

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.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department

Operational area
Country	United States
State	Florida
city	Jacksonville
Agency overview[1]
Established	April 20, 1886
Annual calls	151,237 (2018)
Employees	1470 (2019)
Annual budget	$234 million (2019)
Fire chief	Keith Powers
EMS level	ALS
IAFF	122
Facilities and equipment[2][3]
Stations	63
Engines	54
Trucks	14
Squads	5
Rescues	58
HAZMAT	2
USAR	12
Airport crash	5
Website
Official website
IAFF website

According to a list of the thirty largest fire departments in the United States, based on staff size, JFRD is number eighteen.[4]

Duval County has the fifth largest fire department in the state based on the number of fire stations.[5] JFRD is among the largest departments in the state and the nation. The department is made up of six divisions, sixty-three fire and rescue station locations, a professional career force of roughly thirteen-hundred individuals.[6][7][8]

History

An antique hand pumper on display at the Jacksonville Fire Museum

The current Fire and Rescue headquarters is housed in the former Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Jacksonville Branch

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.[9]

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.[9]

In 1876, a group of 22 African Americans organized the Duval Hose Company. Their station was located near the intersection of Pine and Ashley Streets. The Duval Hose Company soon became one of the most active volunteer companies in Jacksonville.[9]

On December 16, 1885, an African American named Henry Bradley, was killed when a flaming wall collapsed onto him. Bradley thus became the first Jacksonville firefighter to die in the line of duty. The public outcry about Bradley's death, coupled with rising insurance rates due to Jacksonville’s lack of a professional fire department, led to calls for change. Several fire insurance companies serving Jacksonville threatened to withdraw their coverage. Fire insurance rates went up by 25%, which threatened to halt the city’s development.[9]

On April 20, 1886, the Jacksonville City Council passed an ordinance creating a professional fire department. Peter Jones, former mayor of Jacksonville, was elected as the city’s first fire chief. He was provided 17 men to staff 3 stations to protect the city area of approximately 39 square miles. Jones remained fire chief through the Great Fire of 1901.

Divisions

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department has five divisions, all of which play an integral role in providing around the clock emergency response to the City of Jacksonville. Each one oversees specific tasks, but come together to form JFRD.[10]

Discrimination controversy

In 1971, the JFRD became subject of a consent decree as part of a class action lawsuit, Coffey v. Braddy. The lawsuit was filed due to claims of discrimination against African-American applicants to the department. At the time of the suit, there were only two black firefighters in a department of almost 700.[11] In 1984, the decree was modified to change hiring process at the JFRD. According to the decree, the department was required to hire a one-to-one ratio of black and white firefighters until the percentage of black firefighters equaled the percentage of blacks in the local population.[12] This hiring restriction was fulfilled in 1992.[13]

On August 8, 2006, the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission released a report after an investigation into a complaint of a racially hostile work environment. The complaint was filed in February 2006 after two black firefighters in the department arrived for duty and found nooses placed in their lockers. These charges were found to be inconclusive. [14] The report found that, while operational performance was at a high standard, the off-duty behaviors of members of the department were a concern.

References

1. "Fast Facts". City of Jacksonville. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
2. "Operations Division". City of Jacksonville. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
3. "On Scene Newsletter". City of Jacksonville. August 2014. p. 16. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
4. "Largest Fire Departments in the US". Fire Department. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
5. "Florida Fire Departments". Fire Departments. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
6. "JFRD: Our Divisions". COJ.net. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
7. "JFRD Fast Facts". City of Jacksonville.
8. Hinson, Don. "Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department". Fire Departments. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
9. "History of JFRD". Jacksonville Fire Museum. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
10. "Our Divisions". COJ.net. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
11. "Coffey et al v. Braddy et al - Document 62". Retrieved June 19, 2014.
12. Doolittle, Kirsten (February 14, 2013). "Complaint - NAACP v. City of Jacksonville" (PDF). Law Office of Kirsten Doolittle, P.A. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
13. "City of Jacksonville, Florida Fire Department Accused of Racially Discriminatory Employment Practices in New Civil Rights Lawsuit". Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. February 14, 2013. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
14. Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (August 8, 2006). "Report to the Mayor on the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department" (pdf). Retrieved June 19, 2014.

External links