The Miami Fire Department, officially the City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department, is now 128 years old and remains a distinct agency from the larger county-wide Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, a distinction that gets confused often enough to be worth clearing up. Here is the city department’s real history, how it differs from the county agency, and who leads each one today.
Founding in 1898
The City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department was officially established on July 17, 1898, as a volunteer unit, according to the department’s own historical account, formed by a small group of local residents concerned about the cost and danger of unmanaged fire emergencies in the young city. Miami had already suffered a major fire two years earlier, in 1896, when a Christmas-week blaze destroyed three blocks of downtown starting from the Brady building, an incident local historians point to as part of the backdrop that pushed the city toward organized fire protection.
Two Separate Departments, Often Confused
Despite sharing “Miami” in the name and occasionally being described interchangeably, the City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) are two entirely separate agencies with different service areas, budgets, and leadership:
- City of Miami Fire-Rescue — founded 1898, serves only the City of Miami itself, led by Fire Chief Robert Hevia, with 907 employees and an annual budget of roughly $183 million as of 2023.
- Miami-Dade Fire Rescue — founded in 1935 as a single-unit county patrol under the Agriculture Department, now serves unincorporated Miami-Dade County plus 30 contracting municipalities, led by Fire Chief Raied “Ray” Jadallah, with 3,001 employees and roughly 303,000 annual emergency calls as of 2024.
Chief Jadallah joined MDFR in 2000 and rose through every promotional rank, including fire lieutenant, fire captain, chief fire officer, assistant fire chief, and deputy fire chief, before becoming chief of the county-wide department, not the original 1898 city department.
A Recent Example of the City Department in Action
The City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department’s own scope was on display in mid-2026, when 79 of its members, deployed as part of Florida Task Force 2, responded to catastrophic earthquakes in Venezuela at the U.S. State Department’s request. The team, led by Chief Hevia and Assistant Fire Chief Chris Diaz, mobilized within 24 hours and searched collapsed buildings in La Guaira, the hardest-hit coastal state, following earthquakes that killed thousands and displaced roughly 18,000 residents. Mayor Eileen Higgins later honored the team at City Hall for the mission.
Services Provided Today
Both departments handle standard fire suppression and emergency medical response, but MDFR’s countywide scope also includes advanced technical rescue capabilities, such as water and confined-space rescue, given its larger footprint and the specialized municipalities it contracts with. For a broader look at fire services and safety statistics across the region, see this overview of Miami fire services and safety statistics.
Which Department Serves You
Residents trying to figure out which agency covers their address should not assume by city name alone. Anyone living within Miami’s official city limits, roughly the downtown core and surrounding neighborhoods, falls under the City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department. Most of the rest of Miami-Dade County, including many areas colloquially called “Miami” that are technically unincorporated or part of a contracting municipality, falls under MDFR instead. Both departments respond to 911 calls seamlessly through the county’s shared dispatch system, so the distinction mostly matters for administrative questions like inspections, permits, or which chief’s office to contact directly rather than for how quickly help arrives in an emergency.
This Miami Fire Department history will be updated as either department’s leadership or operations change.
