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Polk County Fire Services Division


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 Mission Statement

Our mission is to protect the lives and property of citizens and visitors to Polk County by providing the highest levels of service in Fire Suppression, Fire Prevention and Education, Basic Life Support and Hazardous Incident Mitigation

Inception

Polk County Fire Department began as an idea and a dream in the late 1950's. Many fire calls in the unincorporated areas of the County were not being responded to by any fire department, and many structures were literally burned to the ground. The idea and a dream became a reality in January 1975, but only after many years of diligent work by many great folks dedicated to the betterment of the fire service and to the citizens of Polk County.

Through the efforts of the Board of County Commissioners, and a committee from the Polk County Mutual Aid Fire Association, a Fire ordinance was developed for the unincorporated areas of the County that would assure structure fire calls be answered throughout the county. The ordinance would provide for a fire fee being charged, and these funds would be used to provide operating monies for existing volunteer fire departments. It would also help create new departments to provide fire protection in areas not presently protected by any fire department.

The ordinance also provided for the County to enter into contracts with municipalities throughout the county to cover areas immediately surrounding their boundaries, therefore providing assurance that all structure fires in the unincorporated area would be responded to by a fire department

The Board of County Commissioners placed a referendum on the general election ballot in 1974. The referendum to charge a fire protection fee on all structures in unincorporated Polk County passed by a two to one margin.

After the referendum was passed, the Commission approved the construction and staffing Of an emergency vehicle repair facility and began repairing, refurbishing and fabricating fire apparatus for use by volunteer fire departments. Eleven new mini-pumpers, and two new full size pumpers were purchased and placed in service. One hundred fifty sets of firefighter protective clothing, forty thousand feet of fire hose, ladders, breathing apparatus, nozzles, and fire extinguishers were purchased. A two-way FM communications system was established and put into service, countywide. New fire stations were built, some existing fire stations were repaired, and volunteer fire departments were formed.

Progress

The growth of Polk County Fire Department was steady over the first ten years. The growth pattern has been more accelerated over the last seven years. In 1985, the County implemented a lease/purchase program for apparatus and equipment.   This program allowed the immediate delivery of the equipment, with the payments spread over the next five years. The lease included twenty full size pumpers, brush vehicles, one aerial platform, one haz-mat command vehicle, and one large capacity mobile breathing air compressor. The total cost of this lease/purchase was approximately 4.2 million dollars.

Polk County Fire Department currently has thirty stations. Thirteen of these are manned on a twenty-four hour basis, seven are manned on an eight-hour basis, and ten are all volunteer. The current authorized manning level is one hundred forty career, twenty part time and three hundred five volunteer personnel.  The FY 97-98 annual budget was $10,869,239. In FY 1997-98, Polk County Fire Department responded to 11,935 alarms.

The Board of County Commissioners authorized the Insurances Services Office (ISO) study in 1995. The County had multiple ISO ratings throughout the unincorporated area. It was the goal of this study to bring all County Volunteer Departments under one authority by consolidation and one ISO class rating for the entire County. This was not fully accomplished until September 1998, when ISO issued a new improved class rating of 5/9.
 

Future

The future of Polk County Fire Department is bright and promising. The fire station at Indian Lake Estates has been completed, and other locations are being considered for possible new station locations. These sites include Jan Phyl Village, north Lakeland between Providence and Polk City, Boy Scout Road and Highway 60, East of Lake Wales, U.S. Highway 27 and C.R. 547, and Interstate 4 and C.R. 559. The addition of these stations will enhance the county- wide regionalization concept. Other steps in this direction would include upgrading the following 8 hour stations, Rifle Range and Willow Oak, to 24 hour status. This will be accomplished as funds become available.