Southern Manatee Fire Rescue is an ISO Class 3.0 fire department and is committed to providing our community with prompt, effective and fiscally responsible service by efficiently utilizing available resources from both within the department and from outside agencies. Southern Manatee Fire Rescue also actively seeks and has obtained grant funding for equipment, supplies and training to aide in our endeavor.
Southern Manatee’s Operation Division’s foremost responsibility is responding to and mitigating emergencies calls by providing essential services in the areas of emergency medical services, fire suppression and hazardous materials response.
The Operations Division is led by the Deputy Chief of Operations. It is composed of a Battalion and Training Division. Each Battalion is comprised of (1) Battalion Chief, (7) Lieutenants and (20) firefighters. The Operation Division’s Battalions are divided into three separate shifts A-B-C, each comprising of 28 personnel who work a 24/48-hour shift schedule. Our personnel work from 5 fire stations housing a total of 84 full time employees, and are supported by a Fire Training Officer, a Hazardous Materials Training Officer, a Logistics Officer, an EMS Officer and a Facilities Maintenance Manager. The Operations Division staffs 8 class A fire engine pumpers, a 107’ aerial ladder/pumper and a Hazardous Materials response truck. This year SMFR responded to over 8479 emergencies with an average response time being 5:27 minutes. In 2023 Southern Manatee Fire Rescue experienced a call volume of 8379 calls and 8666 calls in the year 2022. This averages to 8508 calls per year, which is a volume increase of 15.05% compared to 2020 call volumes.
Each year we strive to improve the level of service provided to the community. It has been determined that patient survival is directly related to the amount of time it takes to receive treatment, therefore we work extremely hard to ensure rapid responses and we continuously train to keep up with modern technology regarding basic and advanced life support. Most of the time fire departments are the first emergency responders to arrive at the scene of a dispatched medical emergency, this offers the fire crews primary access to patients for initial treatment. By expanding our capabilities and placing medications and other equipment on the fire engines medical treatment can be started sooner rather thus increasing patient survival rates. With direction and support from our Administration, the Operations Division has aligned its focus on expanding our current Advance Life Support program within the department. The goal to have a fifth ALS fire engine ready for service by mid-year 2025 is on the horizon.
Southern Manatee also enhances its service to the public through a series of agreements which allow our organization to cooperate with local and state agencies to provide and receive additional crews and resources during disasters and in times of need. Southern Manatee cooperates with our neighboring fire departments and have agreements in place which provide for “Move-Ups” from nearby fire departments to help cover the district during times of exceptionally high call volume so you as a resident are never left unprotected. We are honored to be your fire department.