Biloxi Fire Department

Biloxi Fire Department traces its roots to 1889, when the city's first firefighters organized as the Biloxi Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, followed by the chartering of the Mississippi Hook & Ladder Fire Company No. 1 in 1890 under the department's first chief, Phil McCabe. Additional volunteer companies formed in the following decades, including the East End Hose Company and the Back Bay Hose Company, and dedicated fire stations went up on the west end and back bay in 1937. The department transitioned from an all-volunteer force to paid firefighters in 1952, a milestone that marked its shift into a modern municipal fire service.

Today the department operates out of ten stations across Biloxi and is organized into five divisions -- Administration, Emergency Management, Fire Prevention, Fire Training, and Operations -- reflecting a full-service career department that handles emergency response, fire prevention and code work, training, and emergency management coordination for the city. The department honors three members who died in the line of duty: Anthony B. Rousseau (1951), Kurt E. Jacquet (1986), and Carl Ohr (1986).

Biloxi Fire Department is led by Fire Chief Nicholaus Geiser, supported by an assistant chief and deputy chiefs overseeing training and fire prevention. City employees, including fire personnel, are covered under Mississippi's Civil Service system, and the department maintains an active community presence through programs like its Fire Academy for Kids and a department history/museum program preserving its 19th-century volunteer origins.

Firefighter and other city positions are posted through the City of Biloxi's central job portal and administered by the Human Resources Division. The city notes that its roughly 600 employees, including police and fire personnel, receive Civil Service protection along with benefits and compensation.