13 May 2000
Hernando County Florida Fire Departments
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Department Names -
East Hernando Fire Rescue
Northwest Hernando Fire Rescue
South Central Fire Rescue (this dept. is under command of East Hernando Fire Rescue and is located at Hernando County Airport)
Brooksville City Fire Department
Spring Hill Fire Rescue District
High Point Volunteer Fire Department
Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Department
Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department (this dept. serves sections of Hernando, Citrus and Sumnter Counties and is dispatched by Sumnter County)
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All of the departments listed above (with the exceptions of Brooksville City Fire Department and Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department) are dispatched (through a contract with Hernando County) by the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District. The Primary PSAP in Hernando County is the Hernando County Sheriffs Office 911 Answering Point. The Secondary PSAP is the Spring Hill F/R District.
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At the present time Ambulance Service in all areas of the County, with the exception of Spring Hill Fire Rescue District, is provided under contract by Florida Regional EMS, a Private Company which supplies only the Praramedics and EMT's and their uniforms. The ambulances and every piece of equipment they use is owned by Hernando County. This contract will expire in Sept. of 2000 at which time it will not be renewed. Ambulance Service will become the responsibility of East Hernando, Northwest Hernando and South Central Fire Departments (which at that time will have all become one Fire Dept. to be known as "Hernando County Fire Rescue Department".)
Paramedics and EMT's now employed by Florida Regional EMS will be offered full employment with the County Fire Department if they agree to cross training as State Certified Fire Fighters, the cost of which will be paid for by the County.
Florida Regional runs all Advanced Life Support Ambulances that handle BLS as well as ALS and intra hospital, etc, non emergency transports. There are currently 4 ALS Ambulances on 24 hour a day duty. A supervisor is assigned to a Rapid Response Vehicle to assist and or cover districts as required. There is a heavily used Mutual Aid agreement with Spring Hill Fire Rescue District (which operates 4 ALS Rescues).
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Fire Departments by Name and Apparatus Callsigns:
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Spring Hill Fire Rescue District:
Spring Hill F/R Website (May00)
Station One � Parker Avenue � Engine 1 and Rescue 1
Station Two � Bob Hartung Ct. � Engine 2 and Rescue 2
Station Three � Whitewood Ave. � Engine 3 and Rescue 3 also Squad 3
Station Four � Mariner Blvd. � Engine 4 and Rescue 4 also District Captain 1
Headquarters � Bob Hartung Ct. � Chief 1, Chief 2 and Fire Rescue Dispatch Center
Reserve Units and Repair Facility � Bob Hartung Ct. � Engine 5 (Reserve Unit) and Rescues 5 and 6 (both Reserve Units) and Rehab Unit (a converted Ambulance operated by the Districts Fire Police Unit - an all Volunteer Unit)
Dispatch, operating on the County's Public Safety Trunked Radio System, also tones out all fire departments they dispatch for on 154.235 mhz - with a secondary tone out channel for East Hernando and South Central Department Units on 154.415mhz (these two depts. get toned out on both toneout channels sequentially which is performed automatically by the Computer dispatch unit.) There are 8 Fire Channels allocated on the Trunked Radio System which are ID'd as Fire 1 thru Fire 8 with an additional talk group for the Fire Police ID'd as Fire Police Channel.
Spring Hill Fire Rescue is a "Special Fire District" under Florida State Law and is funded and operated only through taxation charged only to the residents of the Fire Rescue District, no other county residents contribute funds to the Fire District. The Department is run by the Fire Chief (Chief 1) and the Assistant Fire Chief (Chief 2) who are overseen by an elected board of Fire Commissioners of 5 members.
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Northwest Fire Rescue:
Station 11 � Barclay Avenue � Engine 11, Tanker 11, Brush 11, Squad 11, Engine 14 (Reserve Engine)
Station 12 � off Ovenbird Rd. � Engine 12, Tanker 12, Squad 12, Air Unit, District Captain 10
Station 13 � Centralia Rd. � Engine 13, Tanker 13, Brush 13, Engine ? (un-numbered Reserve Engine) Chief 10
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East Hernando Fire Rescue:
Station 21 � Mundon Hill Rd. � Engine 21, Tanker 21, Squad 21, Air Truck 21, Staff 21 and un-numbered Reserve Engine.
Station 22 � Cortez Blvd. (State Road 50) � Engine 22, Tanker 22, Squad 22, Air Truck 22 and Engine 23 ( a Reserve Engine)
Chief 20 and District Captain 20 are stationed at the quarters of Engine 41 (See South Central Fire Rescue District) however they also have administrative personell at Station 21 which was their former Headquarters until Station 41 at South Central was established and completed.
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High Point Volunteer Fire Department � Station 31 - Baltic Ave. � Engine 31, Engine 32, Engine Tanker 33, Squad 34, Squad 35, Chief 30, Chief (Asst.) 31 and District Captain 31 and their First Responders Medical Unit and Fire Police Unit (independent Fire Police from that of Spring Hill Fire Rescue Districts Fire Police Unit)
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South Central Fire Rescue � Station 41 � off Broad Street ( US 41) on Hernando County Airport Property. This departement was formed when the County Commissioners disbanded the old Masaryktown Volunteer Fire Dept. for reasons that are still under Judicial Review in the Courts. Station 41 Equipment consists of Engine 41, Squad 41, Brush 41 and ARF-41 (This is an FCC Funded and fully equipped Airport Crash Truck that can be used on and off the Airport property as needed within the county) this is also the quarters of Chief 20 and District Chief 20 as previously noted.
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Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Dept. � Station 51 � Shoaline Blvd. � Engine 51, Engine 54, Squad 51, Squad 52, Chief 50 and District Captain 50
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Brooksville City Fire Dept. � Off West Jefferson St. at Fire/Police HQ Complex � Engine 1, Engine 2, Tower Ladder 1, Squad 1, Squad 2, Tanker 1, Tanker 2, 2 Reserve Engines and a Reserve Squad, Chief 1
This dept has two (2) separate talkgroups on the County Public Safety Radio System, operate their own E-911 Public Safety Answering Point {E911 calls from within the City of Brooksville City Limits are received at the Police Dept. Dispatch point which dispatches the Fire Dept as well} When Brooksville City Fire Dept. units are operating on Mutual Aid Assignments in Hernando County outside the City Limits their Fire Apparatus switches over to whatever Fire Channel the County Fire Dept Units are operating on, ie: Fire 1 thru Fire 8 and ID as Brooksville Engine 1, Squad 1, Tower Ladder 1, Tanker 1 etc. (always prefaced by the word "Brooksville" to avoid confusion with Spring Hill Fire Rescue Units that also use the Fire 1 thru Fire 8 Channels) When Fire Depts from outside the City of Brooksville respond to and operate within the City Limits they are switched over to radio channels ID'd as Brooksville Fire 1 and/or Brooksville Fire 2
Official City Website - has EMA rigs and photos under "Emergency" (May2000)
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Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department � Forbes St. in the Nobleton Section of Hernando County. � This dept. serves three separate counties, is dispatched by Sumnter County Sheriffs Office Dispatch on 154.370 mhz. They have portable radios on the Hernando County Public Safety Trunked Radio System for use when operating in conjunction with incidents within Hernando County. The Numbering System for their Apparatus is unknown however when responding to Medical Calls as First Response or Backup for Florida Regional EMS Ambulances their Rescue unit ID's as Tri-County Rescue 90. Their Fire Apparatus stationed in their Hernando County Station when responding to First Due or as Mutual Aid Fire Units ID as Tri-County Engine 1, Tri-County Tanker 1, Tri-County Brush 1, etc. No further information on Apparatus ID's is known.
This dept. also maintains a second station in Sumnter County off County Road 476 (Same county road number in Sumnter County also known in both counties as Lake Lindsey Road.)
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That completes the list of operational Fire Departments in Hernando County Florida. The Hernando County Fire Departments also provide Mutual Aid to Pasco County to the South and Citrus County to the North. On the Hernando County Public Safety Trunked Radio System mobile and portable radios there are specific channels for use during Mutual Aid Assignments. There are two channels for use between Citrus and Hernando County that are ID'd as H/C MA and C/H MA, since Citrus County operates a sister type Motorola Type II Trunked System these channels normally work out well.
For Mutual Aid with Pasco County, the Hernando County Units must switch to Conventional 800 Channels as Pasco County uses a GE/EDACS 800 Trunked Radio System, these channels are ID'd on mobiles and portables as FD/RPT 1 and FD/RPT 2 (they can also be used in simplex mode ID'd as FD/TA 1 and FD/TA 2 for any desired useage at any time by any Hernando County Units).
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The Future of Fire Departments In Hernando County.
Presently the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District, Northwest Hernando Fire Rescue, East Hernando Fire Rescue, South Central Fire Rescue Depts., and Brooksville City Fire Dept. are Full Time Paid Fire Depts. that utilize Reserve Firefighters for additional manpower as needed. These Depts are also members of the International Association of Fire Fighters with different local numbers.
In October of 2000 the County Commissioners have voted and passed ordinances that will merge the Northwest, South Central and East Hernando Fire Rescue Depts. into a single County Fire Department to be known as the Hernando County Fire Rescue Department.
Through the levying of a standardized Fire Protection Millage Tax Rate to be paid by all residential property within the County, even those areas currently served by Volunteer and Brooksville City Fire Departments, the feel that they will be able to also incorporate all other Volunteer and City of Brooksville Fire Departments into the new County Fire Department and thereby standardize Fire Protection throughout the entire county.
The Volunteer Fire Departments of High Point and Hernando Beach are fighting vigourously to maintain their own autonomy status through their normal fund raising ventures and the City of Brooksville Fire Department, controlled by the City Council has been non committal at this point in time. The Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department is being put out of service in Hernando County when the new County wide Fire Department constructs a proposed new Fire Station in the area of US 41 and Lake Lindsey Road in the Nobleton area. Tri-County VFD has been attempting to fight this elimination of their service area however they seem to be the easiest Volunteer Dept. to put out of service because of the remoteness of that area of the county and the split amongst the voters in that are as to whether the want County Fire and Ambulance coverage or to remain protected by Tri-County VFD.
The continued existence of Tri-County VFD in Citrus and Sumnter Counties is not in jeapordy at this time. The future of High Point VFD and Hernando Beach VFD is in considerable doubt at this time however despite the fact that they are totally independent of County Funding and their residents have continually voted and strongly voiced their opinions that they desire to keep their own VFD's as currently operated.
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Hernando County Government Website
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2002 Update on Hernando County Public Safety
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Created 15 May 2000 - Updated - 20 May 2000 - websites NW F/R + County + Brooksville City - 15Jan2002 - added link to 2002 update
Served Since 15 May 2000
