The Operations Division is led by Deputy Chief Tim Hayes and includes Fire Suppression, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF). GFR operates eight fire stations which house the personnel and equipment responsible for emergency response in a 62-square-mile area with a population of 124,000. All firefighters are hired as career employees, and there are no volunteer firefighters for Gainesville Fire Rescue. GFR operates under an automatic aid agreement with Alachua County to provide closest unit responses in the urban area. TERRITORY MAP
Each emergency unit has at least one paramedic on board operating under the authority of the Department's contracted Medical Director. All personnel are either Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) or Paramedics. Approximately 75% of GFR's calls for service are emergency medical calls.
Gainesville Fire Rescue is responsible for one of the busiest airports in North Central Florida, the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport. Fire Station 6 serves the Airport property and has personnel on-duty 24 hours a day. GFR Units are dispatched through the Alachua County Combined Communications Center operated by the Alachua County Sheriff's Department.
In 2011 Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to 12,388 EMS Calls - 1,589 Alarms - 1,189 Fire Calls - 526 Hazardous Materials Incidents and 181 Other Types of Calls, including Service Calls for a total of 15,873 calls for service. Many of the non-EMS calls for service include multiple companies: for example, a response to a house fire starts with Two Engines, One Truck, One Squad, and one District Chief. This configuration of 2-1-1-1 is known as a "full complement."