Pierce County Fire Protection District No 5 (Gig Harbor)

The district was officially formed on January 6, 1945, after a devastating fire swept north Gig Harbor and residents petitioned to create a dedicated fire district. What began as an all-volunteer roster of ten firefighters under founding chief Harold Rucker grew steadily through the mid-20th century, moving from roughly 300 annual responses in the early 1970s to the department's first paid personnel in 1973 and its first career firefighters working 24-hour shifts the following year.

Today the district operates nine stations across 54 square miles of the peninsula, including 59.2 miles of shoreline, staffed by 118 career firefighters. Several stations run Firefighter-EMT and Firefighter-Paramedic crews providing ambulance transport, a service the department has offered since the late 1980s. Call volume has climbed in step with the peninsula's growth, from about 2,700 combined calls in 1999 to over 5,500 incidents in 2016 and 7,860 emergency responses in 2025.

The department is governed by an elected board of fire commissioners and led by Fire Chief Dennis Doan, supported by deputy chiefs overseeing administration and finance, operations, capital/bond projects, and health, safety and emergency preparedness, along with division chiefs for training, medical services, logistics, and fire prevention.

Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One posts openings on its Employment page as they arise, with applications submitted through an online Tyler Technologies portal. Recent postings have included command-staff and civilian support roles rather than a standing open entry-level firefighter recruitment.