Chief Gene Sanders was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. Growing up on the southside of Tallahassee in the Orange Blossom Heights neighborhood, Sanders attended Pineview Elementary School and Nims Middle School before graduating from Rickards High School. He has been married to his wife, Valencia, for almost 24 years, and together they are the proud parents of three children.

Chief Sanders began his formal employment with the Tallahassee Fire Department in 1997. During his tenure, he has held the positions of Firefighter, Driver/Operator, Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief, Division Chief and Deputy Chief.

From 2015 to 2017, Sanders served in Fire Prevention as the department's Fire Marshal. While serving in that position, Sanders wrote and developed a grant program regarding smoke alarms and led neighborhood engagement efforts in partnership with Red Cross to help more households gain access to these life saving devices.

Sanders most recently served as Deputy Chief of Operations, overseeing the daily operations of TFD, including the Emergency Medical Services and Training divisions. He also managed TFD's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Task Force 7 and Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Task Force 2. In addition, he served as program coordinator for the State Homeland Security Grant Program and served as the Region 2 Coordinator for the Statewide Emergency Response Plan. In this role, he coordinated emergency assistance operations at the regional level, providing for the deployment of resources into affected areas. He has led multiple special operation deployments in both USAR and HAZMAT, including TFD's assistance at both the Surfside building collapse and Hurricane Ian response and recovery.

Sanders holds an Associate of Science degree in Fire Science and a bachelor's degree in Fire Department Administration. He is a State Certified Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Officer II, Fire Safety Inspector, Fire Investigator, HAZMAT Technician, Fire Service Instructor III and Live Fire Instructor.

Born and raised on the southside of Tallahassee, Chief Sanders has more than 25 years of service and experience with the Tallahassee Fire Department.

Fire Stations

(Pictured left to right - John McCollum, Thomas Pinkney Coe and L. C. Tully Sr. - Horses are Dick and Jack)

The mission of the Tallahassee Fire Department is to provide for the safety and welfare of our community and our members through prevention, preparation and protection.

The City of Tallahassee's Fire Department has been fighting fires and responding to emergencies for more than 100 years. While Tallahassee developed as a city, firefighting was a community effort ranging from "bucket brigades" to hand and horse-drawn wagons. In 1868, the first volunteer fire company was established in the city. Volunteer fire companies came and went until in September of 1902, the Tallahassee Volunteer Fire Company was formed. In May of 1930 its named changed to Tallahassee Fire Department. With this came six paid firefighters and six volunteer firefighters who were paid only for drilling and responding to a fire. In March of 1915 the first motorized fire truck, an American LaFrance engine, was purchased for the sum of $8,000 and placed in service. In December of that year, all five fire horses (Tom, Jerry, Dick, Jack, Jake) were sold for one dollar each.

Fire prevention has been a large part of the fabric of the City of Tallahassee. In 1843, the city council enacted an ordinance that required all buildings in downtown Tallahassee to be constructed of fire resistive material. This was in response to the "Great Fire of 1843" that destroyed more than 90 structures in the downtown business district. The fire started in the Hotel Washington located on the SE corner on S. Monroe Street and St. Augustine Street. In less than 3 hours it spread north, all the way to Park Avenue where its Northward progress stopped. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed most of the buildings on the East side of Monroe Street to Calhoun Street and on the West side of Monroe Street to Adams Street. As a result, many items in the local newspapers at the time warned citizens of the dangers of defective flues and chimneys which created sparks on roofs. Because of this, it was recommended that ladders were to be readily available at all residences so neighbors could possibly put out a fire with a bucket of water.

Firefighting, fire prevention and responses to all types of emergencies have grown extensively in the last 100+ years. Today TFD has 16 stations serving and protecting about 702 square miles of incorporated and unincorporated land in Tallahassee and Leon County and a population nearing 300,000. The department is comprised of 313 positions, the majority located in our Suppression Division, whose personnel respond to over 36,000 incidents annually. Additional certified personnel serve as command staff. The department has 17 general employees who provide a variety of administrative professional services or support.

The face of firefighting is changing constantly. In Tallahassee's recent past, most calls were for fires, predominantly resulting from kitchen accidents, chimney sparks and arson. Now the department faces a multifaceted response requirement that is daunting, to say the least. Thirty-two percent of current emergency calls are for emergency medical services (EMS). To field over 18,000 EMS calls annually, TFD provides the largest non-hospital-based medical response force from Jacksonville to Pensacola. In the face of a major medical emergency in the community, TFD will be the first responder.

But, above and beyond the medical response mission of the department, TFD has trained its staff to respond to such specialized needs as arson investigation, structure collapse, high-angle rescue, extrication, search and rescue, and hazardous materials. TFD personnel review all new and existing commercial construction plans, and they also conduct fire safety inspections of these occupancies to ensure that the construction is in accordance with the approved plans. Additionally, TFD works with the county and state agencies and assumes the lead role for the city in planning ahead for and responding to man-made and natural disasters.

TFD has a long and distinguished history of responding to the public safety needs of the city and Leon County and other surrounding counties. The Department enthusiastically accepts this challenge. TFD continues to plan how to best serve and protect citizens for the next 100 years.

• Learn more about TFD through our photo presentation (PDF)

Fire Suppression and Rescue
The Tallahassee Fire Department responds to nearly 400 structures fires, both commercial and residential, as well as approximately 200 vehicles fires, over 900 brush and rubbish fires, and more than 1100 vehicle rescues annually. As a result of the diversity of emergency calls, personnel must be properly equipped, trained, and at the ready to respond and mitigate any of these emergency situations. Beyond Leon County, the department also provides emergency response via mutual aid to communities in the surrounding area.

Training
Training is instrumental in the development and advancement of Fire Suppression & Rescue personnel, and our curriculum places an emphasis on customer service and professional fire service advancement. TFD achieves this by coordinating and delivering in-service training through practical skills activities, classroom course delivery and online curriculum. The training grounds consists of:

• 6 story multi-use training tower
• 2.5 story Class “A” burn facility
• Natural gas and propane burn station
• Regional Hazardous Material and Urban Search & Rescue training station.

Prevention
Each year, the personnel within Prevention interact with more than 2500 local businesses and places of assembly, including schools and churches, to implement and administer fire safety measures for the public as well as the employees who work in these establishments within our communities. Our inspectors assess and monitor each building for compliance with all life safety and current NFPA fire codes.

During an inspection, TFD will evaluate whether conditions at a business site are safe or if there are issues that are liable to cause a fire, which would result in unnecessary endangerment of lives and property. If these conditions do exist, TFD will advise the business immediately and consult with the owner/manager or designee about correcting these problems in a reasonable timeframe so the business will be safer and in compliance with fire codes.

Prevention also oversees the fulfillment of the department's home fire safety program with the free install of smoke detectors to elderly and low-income citizens. Public education and outreach regarding home fire safety is another responsibility of Prevention. This programming mainly includes fire safety presentations at public events and local civic groups as well as an annual Fire Prevention Week community event in October.

Update Your Emergency Information

Property managers and business owners can now update their emergency contact information and gate codes by using our online form. This will ensure our emergency personnel and first responders have the most accurate information and can be able to respond quickly and efficiently should the need arise.

• Fill out the Emergency Contact and Occupancy Information Update Form (PDF)
  

Prevention Tips

• Fire Extinguishers
• Smoke Alarms and the Smoke Alarm Program

Logistics
The Logistics Division supports the mission of the Tallahassee Fire Department by providing support services for fire suppression, hazardous material, and rescue operations. This support includes:

• Maintaining and supplying personnel with uniforms and protective equipment such as helmets, coats, pants, boots, and gloves
• Management, maintenance, and stocking of 21 department facilities
• Management of all department fire apparatus as well as support vehicles
• Management and maintenance of all department technology needs
• Management of the department’s Special Operations which include Hazardous Materials Task Force 2 Team, Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7 Team and the Airport Operations for the Tallahassee International Airport.

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team - (Task Force 7)
If there is a rescue involving heavy vehicle extrication, vertical rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue or limited structural collapse rescue, the Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team, located at Fire Station #4 on West Pensacola Street jumps into action. These firefighters are highly trained in rescue operations. The Department has been appointed by the State of Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force to field an Urban Search and Rescue Team for the thirteen-county area mentioned above.

Hazardous Materials (Haz-Mat) Team - (Task Force 2)
When a hazardous material (haz-mat) accident occurs, the Fire Department's Haz-Mat Team in place at Fire Station #2 on Sharer Road responds to the call. They respond to all Haz-Mat emergencies in the City of Tallahassee and Leon County. In addition, they are charged with response in the thirteen-county area that encompasses the geographical region from the Apalachicola River east to Lake City and south to the Dixie County gulf coast. This out-of-territory response is mandated by the Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF.) Additional team members are located at Fire Station #3 on South Monroe Street.

Airport Operations
Your Airport safety is our concern and for this reason we have a station located at the Tallahassee International Airport which houses specialized equipment as well as firefighters. These firefighters have been trained in areas such as:

• Airport Ramp Movement training and Airport Security training
• Vehicle-specific in-service training on the airport grounds
• Aircraft rescue and firefighting
• Continual computer and field training in aircraft familiarization
• Rescue procedures for aircraft specific to Tallahassee International Airport