Shelby County Fire Department

Founded in 1972 with an annual budget of $18,000, a paid staff of 21, and eight pumpers — and answering just 249 calls in its first year — the Shelby County Fire Department has grown into a full-service, fire-based EMS agency serving the unincorporated and municipal areas of Shelby County outside the city of Memphis. Today the department operates from ten engine houses organized into three battalions running thirteen engine companies, staffed by more than 230 firefighters, inspectors, and trainers, on an annual operating budget of roughly $26 million.

SCFD also runs a comprehensive fire-based EMS division that puts close to a dozen ambulances on the street each day; medical responses made up nearly 80% of run volume as of the department's most recent published annual report, with more than 13,000 EMS dispatches in a single year. Beyond fire suppression and EMS, firefighters are trained and certified in hazardous materials response, structure collapse, high- and low-angle rope rescue, trench rescue, confined-space rescue, and swift-water rescue, and the department was among the first in Tennessee to earn national Journeyman Fireman certification for its personnel.

SCFD's coverage extends beyond its own jurisdiction: the department provides contract 9-1-1 dispatch for the Millington and Arlington fire departments in addition to its own apparatus, and it also serves the city of Lakeland, Tennessee. In all, its dispatch area spans roughly 402 of Shelby County's 785 square miles, covering more than 57,000 occupied homes.

The Shelby County Fire Department is actively recruiting for Firefighter Recruit, Firefighter III, and Paramedic Lateral positions. Candidates apply through the Shelby County Government jobs portal, with additional recruitment information posted on the department's SignUpGenius recruitment page.