Tampa Fire Rescue Department

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Tampa Fire Rescue Department" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Tampa Fire Rescue Department

Operational area
Country	United States
State	Florida
City	Tampa
Agency overview[1]
Established	1884
Annual calls	88,917 (2017)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Barbara Tripp
EMS level	ALS
IAFF	754
Facilities and equipment[2]
Battalions	5
Stations	23
Engines	22
Trucks	6
Ambulances	18
HAZMAT	1
Airport crash	6
Wildland	4
Fireboats	4
Website
Official website
IAFF website

The Tampa Fire Rescue Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services within the city of Tampa, Florida, United States. The department is also responsible for the handling of hazardous materials, aircraft rescue at the city's Tampa International Airport, and marine firefighting.^[2] A division of the department headed by the Fire Marshal is responsible for fire investigations, as well as review and enforcement of fire and building safety codes.

Tampa's first organized volunteer fire department began in 1884 with seven "bucket brigades" organized to serve the city. Eleven years later in 1895, the city council passed an ordinance authorizing Tampa's first professional and paid fire department.^[1] In July 1914 the horse-drawn carriages were replaced with the first engines.

The city, and the fire department's responsibilities, have changed much since then. Port Tampa Bay ships 52 million tons of cargo per year and handles more hazardous materials than anywhere else in Florida. Tampa International Airport serves over 10 million travelers each year, while the 75,000 seat Raymond James Stadium sees many travelers as well.^[1]

The TFRD is responsible for fire suppression, search and rescue, and medical emergencies in and around Port Tampa Bay, the 7th largest port in the United States.^[3] They are also responsible for all waters of Tampa Bay as far out as Egmont Key. The Port Authority and marine division maintains two 69 foot (21 m) MetalCraft Marine vessels, a 30 foot (9.1 m) Sea Ark and 27 foot (8.2 m) Boston Whaler.^[3] In addition, Tampa Fire Rescue operates several RHIBs for use in shallow waters.

The TFD firefighting operations are based out of the city's 23 local fire stations.

27°57′6″N 82°27′15.27″W / 27.95167°N 82.4542417°W / 27.95167; -82.4542417