History
The History of Volusia County Fire Rescue
Early Years
Before the 1960s, fire protection in Volusia County was provided to residents in a similar fashion as other areas of the country. The larger cities and some municipalities organized their fire departments and staffed them with either all career personnel or a combination of volunteer and career staff. The smaller communities provided fire protection through the enlistment of volunteer members from their towns. In the rural areas, often there were no local services leaving homeowners vulnerable.
In 1952, the community of DeBary formed the first volunteer fire department serving an unincorporated area in Volusia County. As additional fire departments formed in Volusia County, community and town fire stations provided capital and operating expense funds via local fundraisers, such as bake sales, picnics and barbecues. “Fire Lassies” were integral to the firefighting community. These wives of the firefighters often worked all hours during a fire to supply their spouses with drinks and snacks. They also were important in coordinating local fundraisers. Many of the small fire departments were ill-equipped, often poorly trained, and struggling to find the money needed to purchase the tools, equipment, and training they so desperately needed making community support essential. In some stations firefighters shared one pair of boots and most firefighters had no bunker gear. “Most of the stations had nothing but enthusiasm,” according to Joe Cahill, formerly Station 17 (now Station 34) Chief.
In the early 1960s, Fire District One was established, forming the Halifax Fire Department on the east side of Volusia County. Halifax later became the first fire department in Volusia County to acquire a Hurst Tool. As the population increased, so did the traffic and expanding highway system. The firefighters saw significant increases in severe motor vehicle accidents and the Hurst Tool assisted them in the extrication of patients entrapped in their vehicles. The east side of Volusia County continued to experience population growth resulting in the Halifax Station becoming both a career (paid) and volunteer member station. Fire District Two was established in the southeast section of Volusia County providing services through the Turnbull Volunteer Fire Department.
In the early 1970s, Florida established minimum standards of training for career firefighters. All career firefighters were required to meet this level of proficiency and these professional standards became a turning point for the fire service in Florida. In addition, in the 1970s some of the first volunteers became state certified firefighters. As many had come from humble beginnings, some passed the state test by completing it orally.
Volusia County Charter
The approval of the Volusia County Charter in 1971-1972 allowed for an improvement of all government services to Volusia County’s residents and helped create structure within each taxing district. Before this, each taxing district had operated independently of each other.
In the early years, emergency calls came directly to the fire stations. Residents would reach an answering service that initiated a chain of calls to individual firefighters. Years later, the system changed as one member of a station would carry a pager. After receiving a call about an incident, the firefighter’s spouse would call the volunteer firefighters. No one would know if the incident was catastrophic or minor in nature so everyone would respond to the call willingly.
“Technology later brought voice communication, which in a way was a negative as it allowed firefighters the insight to respond to those calls they preferred,” said Cahill. “The volunteers worked hard and were willing to do almost anything asked of them due to the family atmosphere and fun the volunteers shared. The fire station was a family environment with spouses helping out in various ways, including coordinating the fundraisers,” said Cahill.
“The phone calls bound people together and kept them in constant contact with each other,” former Station 16 Chief (now Station 22), Chip Loomis recalls. In 1976, Volusia County Government consolidated communications and opened the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office began dispatching for some of the fire stations further streamlining the system.
Clyde Mann, former Council Member for District Two, foresaw changes in the shape of the fire service in Volusia County. He began going town to town to convince residents that taxing districts were a necessity and that the days of stations supporting their equipment needs with fundraisers would soon end. His determination and personal concern for Volusia County and its fire services resulted in many changes.
By the late 1970s, 14 separate taxing districts existed, but some portions of the unincorporated areas remained without fire service protection. There was a continued need for improvement in standardization among the stations. As Volusia County continued to grow and develop, the need for improved fire protection increased and the costs for fire protection also grew. Additionally, there were increasingly more regulatory requirements being placed on agencies that provided emergency response services. Taxes were imposed in the various communities or districts to support these efforts.
Voicing the concerns of those working from the county fire stations, Art Wilson, Fire Marshal at the time, became a liaison to the Volusia County Council. During this time, LeRoy Smith, Chief of Halifax and the station at the airport, began using the airport in Daytona Beach as a meeting place to discuss issues between the city and county fire stations.
Crane Swamp Fire
A series of events in the early 1980s brought more changes to fire protection in Volusia County. Residents witnessed a series of fires in 1981, including the Crane Swamp fire (west of Edgewater), which lasted more than 60 days. During this time, it became evident the current system lacked consistency and that lack of standardization from fire station to fire station throughout the 14 taxing districts diminished the county’s safety. In 1982-1983 work began through the Volusia County Council and the County Manager’s Office to abolish the 14 separate taxing districts and to consolidate and develop the standardization of the fire service. Problems associated with fighting the Crane Swamp fire became the catalyst for a revolution in the services delivered by the fire departments in Volusia County.
911 System
A chief development in the improvement of emergency communications and response time came in 1983 as the 911 system went into effect. At the same time, all calls were dispatched from the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center. The 911 system was credited with putting emergency responders in a better position to save lives.
EVAC
During the 1960s and early 1970s, a combination of funeral homes and the private ambulance service, Beacon Ambulance, provided emergency medical services (EMS)/ambulance transportation in Volusia County. In the early 1970’s, Volusia County issued a contract to Beacon Ambulance to provide ambulance service within Volusia County. At the time, firefighters were not responding to medical calls. In 1974, Beacon Ambulance, Halifax Fire Department One (VCFS Station 11) and Daytona Beach Fire Services started offering sporadic advanced life support (ALS) level of services with paramedics authorized through the Volusia County EMS Advisory Council. By 1977, Beacon Ambulance provided ALS service throughout Volusia County. In 1980, the owner of Beacon Ambulance notified Volusia County that he wanted to leave the ambulance service business and EVAC began servicing the area. Meanwhile, fire services began running emergency medical services calls. At the same time, Halifax Fire Department became the first of the county stations to offer full time ALS services.
Quad System
On October 1, 1984, the County Council approved the consolidation of fire services into six districts. The “Quad System” divided Volusia County into four taxing districts and two municipal services districts. All unincorporated areas, with the exception of the Deltona Fire District, were included. Three cities (Lake Helen, Pierson, and Oak Hill) opted into the existing county fire districts. In addition, a Fire Service Advisory Board was formed with each quadrant having a chief—Bart Beedle, Frank L. Pocica, Charlie Rivers and LeRoy Smith. This paved the way for consistency in the services that each fire station delivered. However, there remained a need for additional oversight and coordination to thoroughly modernize and provide the most efficient fire services to the community.
To promote effectiveness and efficiency in operations, the fire chief in each quadrant elected his own quadrant coordinator to serve as the administrative liaison to the county. Each district had its own budget and millage rate. Funding priorities were based on needs identified within the districts with the goal to provide equitable levels of service. Volunteers in each quadrant coordinated all operations, training, communications, prevention and administration.
Black Friday
May 17, 1985, known locally as Black Friday, found parts of Volusia County engulfed in its first major brush fires since 1981. These fires destroyed a dozen homes in Volusia County and at least 50 in adjoining Flagler County. Once again, a destructive event garnered the community’s attention and concerns were raised regarding Volusia County’s level of preparedness and fire protection capabilities.
An after-action meeting following the brush fires focused on challenges associated with each of the quadrants operating independently of each other. A proposal to centralize the personnel, budget and training of fire services in Volusia County was made.
1986-1989: Fire Services is Formed
Feb. 20, 1986, was a historic day for Volusia County as the Department of Fire Services was approved by the County Council. This action paved the way for the centralization of the county fire departments under one fire director. Jim Willits, a veteran Volusia County employee, was named the first Director of Fire Services April 6, 1986. In his new budget he was given two positions - a secretary and a training coordinator, as well as funds to build a training tower. There were 25 career personnel and 323 volunteers with Volusia County Fire Services in 1986.
The Volusia County Fire Services administrative office was originally located in the basement of the historic courthouse in DeLand. The director became the sole contact for Volusia County Fire Services to the County Manager and County Council and began coordinating and standardizing all of the stations, personnel and training. Through a unified leadership, fire services administration developed a strategy to meet the demands placed on it by future growth and the corresponding increase in rescue calls.
In 1986, an effort began to modernize all aspects of the department. A fleet standardization and replacement program began as Volusia County Fire Services still had vehicles from 1958. As some fire stations were located in the woods with dirt floors and without central heating, air conditioning or bathrooms, the department began to build new stations and replace obsolete ones.
With the creation of the Department of Fire Services, there came an increased awareness that the retention of the volunteer force had to be maintained, as they were the ones putting out most of the fires and were greatly admired and respected by the community. Vital to the organization, volunteers began to receive specialized and advanced training and receive a formal show of appreciation at annual banquets in their honor. By 1988, Fire Services had 473 volunteer and 54 career personnel in its ranks, as well as 103 pieces of fire apparatus.
Training Center
One of the early acquisitions of property was a 12-acre tract on Tiger Bay Road in Daytona Beach. This land was utilized to build a training facility and in 1988 Volusia County Fire Services training facility opened its four-story drill tower. From 1988-1996, the Volusia County Fire Services Training Center expanded to include a drafting pond, roadway, hydrant system, liquid petroleum gas training project, automobile extrication project, a state of the art classroom and apparatus room complex and a two-story burn building.
1990-1999: Growth of the Department
Volunteer Retirement Program
A momentous event took place in 1990 as Volusia County Fire Services became the first fire department in Florida to offer a volunteer retirement program. The program was retroactive to 1984 allowing members to obtain creditable years in the program back to that date. In the years following, other departments in Florida have followed Volusia County Fire Services’ example offering this incentive to their volunteers.
Technology
The 800 MHz system went into effect in Volusia County in 1993-94 greatly improving communications. Not long after this, Volusia County Fire Services began to contract with EVAC for dispatch services leading to EMS/fire dispatch calls. At the same time, computers were installed in all of the fire stations.
New Director
Jim Tauber was welcomed as the Deputy Director of Fire Services in 1994 replacing Paul Adkins. Hailing from Maryland, Tauber arrived with an extensive background in the fire service. In 1995, Volusia County formed the Department of Public Protection with Fire Services becoming a division within the department. After the restructuring, Terry Moore became the Director of Public Protection, Jim Willits was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of Public Protection, and Tauber was promoted to the position of Director and Fire Chief of Volusia County Fire Services.
Training
Seeing a need to train newly recruited volunteer personnel in fire-rescue services, the training division developed a volunteer academy placing emphasis on the education and training of personnel. In conjunction with this, Daytona Beach Community College and the Fire Services Training Center formed a partnership in 1996.
Hiring Increase
The largest hiring of firefighters in one year took place during the 1997-1998 fiscal year as Volusia County Fire Services was awarded 30 new firefighter positions and 17 additional firefighter positions the following fiscal year. In 1997, a career firefighter academy was created to indoctrinate newly hired personnel to Volusia County Fire Services. The nine-week academy was a requirement for all persons joining the career ranks. With this boost to the numbers in the career ranks, the department began to shift towards a more career-based organization with the volunteers supplementing the career staff on emergency response calls.
1998 Wildfires
The growing department and its personnel and apparatus were all put to the test in 1998, as it was the year of the wildfires in Volusia County. That summer, wildfires spread throughout Volusia County and the mobilization of firefighters from other local, state and national agencies swung into action. The event was overwhelming logistically as personnel and apparatus were deployed across Volusia County and residents evacuated. Travel in Florida was difficult as portions of Interstate 95 were shut down as the fires jumped highways. Despite more than 29,000 homes in Volusia County being threatened by the fires, at its conclusion only six residential homes, one mobile home and two businesses were destroyed. Structure loss in Volusia County was $2.1 million and timber loss was estimated at $60 million. During the wildfires, no fatalities were reported, but ten firefighters received minor injuries.
“Without the volunteer force in 1998, Volusia County would have burned,” Deputy Director of Public Protection Jim Willits stated. Although the countless weeks spent fighting the fires were exhausting, it proved to be a great learning experience for everyone in Volusia County Fire Services and one that united everyone involved.
After the fires, issues and problems that occurred during the fires and recommended corrective actions were identified in an after action report. Several operational improvements were made. All personnel began to receive extensive training in the incident management system, communication system improvements were made and several initiatives were developed to assist in evaluating and managing the natural fuels throughout Volusia County.
Preparing for the Twenty-First Century
In 1998, the fully funded Vehicle Lease Replacement Program allowed Volusia County Fire Services to keep up with the latest in technology and improve rescue capabilities while keeping maintenance costs down. It was a cost-efficient program that planned for the replacement of vehicles at regularly scheduled intervals based on mileage and age.
In 1999, career staffing was increased with the addition of advanced life support (paramedics) services to several stations. The Volusia County Council approved the consolidation of the six taxing districts previously used by Volusia County Fire Services into one fund. This leveled the tax rate and allowed Volusia County Fire Services to provide more equitable services to all unincorporated areas of Volusia County.
Hurricane Floyd launched the largest evacuation effort in Volusia County’s history. However, Volusia County was blessed with a near miss. Floyd’s real time “practice exercise” served as a catalyst to make Volusia County Fire Services and other Volusia County agencies reevaluate plans and procedures and modify them to be better prepared in the future.
As the world moved into the twenty-first century, Volusia County Fire Services was faced with new challenges and began the development of a Technical Rescue Team to compliment the other existing special teams.
2000-2006
The special teams
Since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the future has held concerns for everyone and created special training needs for those in the fire service. Because of this, the Volusia County Fire Services Hazardous Materials Team began to concentrate on preparing to respond to domestic terrorism incidents in addition to chemical emergencies.
The Volusia County Technical Rescue Team was organized and trained for specialized rescue events in Volusia County, such as rope rescue, water rescue, structural collapse, confined space emergencies, and heavy vehicle/machinery or trench rescue. In 2001, the department implemented a squad program improving the rescue capability in Volusia County.
The Volusia County Fire Services Wildland Fire Response Team (FireWalkers) was trained to conduct controlled burns to reduce the threat of wildfires and combat brush fires in the area.
Airport
In 2001, the Daytona Beach International Airport (DBIA) Fire Department was transferred to Volusia County Fire Services. Aircraft rescue firefighting was a new facet for Volusia County Fire Services as these firefighters needed to be able to respond to both medical and aircraft emergencies.
Tri-Data Study
Tri-Data Corporation was competitively selected by the Volusia Council of Governments to produce a report describing the results of a comprehensive assessment of Volusia County fire-rescue and the two-tier emergency medical system. The study included an overview of services provided by each municipal fire department, county service and EVAC. The report indicated areas where cost savings and efficiencies could be gained, including communications, training and specialty services.
Staffing Increases
In fiscal year 2003-2004, 23 new positions were added to the budget with staffing increased by 47 the following fiscal year. The increase in staffing paved the way for 24-hour supervision of firefighters with the creation of lieutenant, battalion commander and division chief positions. These additional positions also facilitated closest unit response agreements with the adjacent cities. By October 2006, automatic aid and closest first response agreements were in place with nearly all the cities and neighboring counties.
The Hurricanes
Hurricanes Charlie, Jeanne and Frances swept through Volusia County in 2004 and will not soon be forgotten by its residents. In a matter of a few weeks, the Volusia County Fire Services Incident Command System and Field Operations Center were activated several times and the firefighters were tested and performed well, meeting the challenges brought on by Mother Nature.
One Station Serving Two Counties
A groundbreaking idea was put into action when Halifax Plantation Station 16 opened in 2005, serving the residents of both Volusia and Flagler Counties. The partnering saved taxpayer dollars while offering residents near the new station faster emergency response times. The station was built within the boundaries of Volusia County, but near the Flagler and Volusia County lines.
The Community
Besides responding to medical emergencies and fire-rescue calls, Volusia County Fire Services provides the community with a number of special services and programs including:
- Free home fire-safety evaluations
- Blood pressure checks
- Fire protection water supply inspection and testing
- Pre-fire incident planning surveys
- Company inspections
- Child Safe Place
- Safe Haven for Newborns
- Child car safety seat fitting and inspection
- Household smoke detector program
- Public fire prevention and fire-safety education programs
- Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
Volusia County Fire Services strives to be more than a “fire service”; it is an “all-hazards” emergency response and community risk management organization with the safety of the community’s residents of primary importance.
The Future
Volusia County Fire Services is stronger and better prepared because of the events it has encountered to date. With continued dedication and clear vision, Volusia County Fire Services continues to grow and advance its services to protect the life, property and environment within the community. The future is just another place in time. It is filled with opportunities to explore what lies ahead and master the challenges the future presents.