Editing Hillsborough County, Florida (section)

==Hillsborough County Fire Rescue==
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue serves the unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County. Fire service began in the 1950s as an all-volunteer force consisting of about a dozen loosely associated community-based organizations. The first full-time career firefighters were hired in 1973.  The department now has 1,019 career uniformed and support personnel who continue to set the pace in fire and emergency medical response, making it the fourth-largest department in the state. Since the 1997 consolidation of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the department has placed paramedics on each career, front-line apparatus. The department operates 35 ALS transport ambulances, 46 Engine Companies, 5 Truck Companies, 2 Heavy Rescue's, 1 Hazardous Incident Unit, 1 Fire Boat and 1 Rescue Boat. These units operate out of 44 Fire Rescue stations located strategically throughout Hillsborough County. As of summer 2021, 2 additional stations are being constructed to bring that number up to 46. As nearly 85% of the department's more than 137,000 (2021)  <ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2022 |title=National Run Survey 2021 Part 2 |url=https://base.imgix.net/files/base/cygnus/fhc/document/2022/07/NRS_part_2_2021.62cd954455134.pdf |access-date=2024-08-12 |publisher=Firehouse Magazine}}</ref> emergency responses require some level of medical care, having paramedics assigned to each unit assures that the citizens of Hillsborough County are receiving rapid advanced life-support care.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and the Board of County Commissioners have implemented a plan to continue placing new fire rescue stations in areas where growth is occurring or gaps in coverage may exist.  Fire Chief Dennis Jones leads a senior staff of two deputy chiefs (operations and administrative branches), the fire marshal, and the emergency manager.  All fiscal functions, facilities maintenance and supply, apparatus/equipment procurement, emergency dispatch manager, personnel chief, and training chief are under the direction of the deputy chief of administration.  The three Shift Commanders, as well as the Rescue Chief and the Special Operations Chief, report directly to the Deputy Chief of Operations. The Operations Chief is responsible for the overall response readiness of all front line personnel. The Emergency Manager oversees all Office of Emergency Management (OEM) planning and operations of the EOC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/firerescue/divisions/summary.cfm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624013509/http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/firerescue/divisions/summary.cfm|url-status=dead|title=Hillsborough Fire Rescue Summary|archivedate=June 24, 2008}}</ref>

===Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Office of Emergency Management===
The Office of Emergency Management is a division of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue that is directly responsible for planning and coordinating the evacuation and sheltering of all county residents in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. This agency is also responsible for planning, orchestrating and coordinating response actions and [[continuity of government]] in the aftermath of a major disaster. Preston Cook has been the Emergency Manager since 2011.

The Hurricane Evacuation Assessment Tool  has been created to assist residents of Hillsborough County by providing evacuation and sheltering information in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster. This interactive program was designed to assist the public in easily determining if they are in one of the five evacuation zones. It also provides information on shelters, hospitals, fire stations, and sandbag locations.

The Office of Emergency Management also provides information to the public on: Hurricane information, procedures for hazardous-materials spills, and flooding, tornado, wildfire, and terrorism preparedness.