Deerfield Beach Fire-Rescue

Operations

The largest group of human resources within our organization is our dual-certified firefighting and emergency medical services personnel. Our organization is known for its outstanding patient care and its efficiency at suppressing fires. The men and women that work within Deerfield Beach Department of Fire and Rescue are sincerely dedicated to providing outstanding public service. They are called to duty for a myriad of reasons ranging from assisting an elderly person back into bed to extinguishing a major fire.

Our personnel’s dedication to ensuring the safety or Deerfield Beach’s citizens has been evidenced in many ways. They work on a 24-hour shift schedule where they are away from their families from the start of the morning until the next day. There are a total of 3 shifts that rotate through the workweek to ensure minimum staffing at the 4 fire stations. Each member leaves behind a spouse, children, ailing parents or family pets to serve our City. These same personnel leave their loved ones behind for several days or weeks at a time when a hurricane or other large scale event impacts our community.

Each shift is managed by a battalion chief who oversees the day-to-day operation of his respective shift. Each shift has 6 captains that work under the direction of each battalion chief to supervise personnel on and off emergency scenes. Each captain is placed in charge of a fire engine or aerial platform (“ladder truck”). In addition, the captain is placed in charge at each of the fire stations.

There are also 18 Rescue Lieutenants within our organization. They directly supervise a rescue crew during emergency medical calls for service. In addition, there are 15 driver-engineers that operate firefighting vehicles during a fire incident. With a total of 84, our firefighters comprise the largest group of shift personnel. Every one of our personnel is cross-trained as a Certified Firefighter and either an Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic. Nearly 90% of our emergency services providers are certified paramedics, which is the highest level of out-of-hospital care. All of these levels report to their respective shift lieutenants.

Operations division Assistant Chief is currently VACANT.

Combat Administration Personnel

A Shift

Battalion Chief Tom Ray has been employed with the Department of Fire and Rescue for more than 20 years. B/C Ray was born and raised in Deerfield Beach and is a proud graduate of Deerfield Beach High School. He pioneered our Drunk Driving Prevention program for high school students with amazing success and developed our paramedic bike team. B/C Ray has been instrumental in training departmental personnel in all aspects of vehicle extrication. Battalion Chief Ray is a Nationally Certified Fire Department Safety Officer and a State certified Fire Instructor I.

B Shift

Battalion Chief Scott Holloway has served the citizens of Deerfield Beach for 25 years with the last 14 years as a chief officer. He is largely recognized as an excellent incident commander and has taught multiple courses related to the subject. Battalion Chief Holloway’s father was one of the first paid firefighters for the Department of Fire-Rescue. Scott was born and raised in Deerfield Beach and is a proud graduate of Deerfield Beach High School.

C Shift

Battalion Chief Chris Kellogg was recently promoted to battalion chief. He has been with our organization for more than 13 years. Battalion Chief Kellogg serves as co-chair of our Wellness Committee and has a background in physical fitness. Battalion Chief Kellogg is a Nationally certified Department Safety Officer and a State certified Fire Instructor I. B/C Kellogg was born and raised in Deerfield Beach. He is also a proud graduate of the University of Florida.

Training Division

EMS Training Captain Sue Sweetman has been a member of the Deerfield Beach Fire Department since the summer of 2000, when she ended her six year-long career as a full-time orthotic/prosthetic technician to become a Firefighter/Paramedic. Recalling the lessons learned as a member of various sports teams and community efforts, she enjoyed being an integral part of the Fire Department family on the shift level as well as participated in such events as the Firefighter Combat Challenge and Florida Firefighter Olympics. After three years as a firefighter, she was promoted to the Rescue Supervisor position, where she appreciated the opportunity to learn new leadership skills and acquire more responsibility as well as mentor others aspiring to that position. Captain Sue Sweetman is Firefighter Instructor I Certified and holds an Associates Degree from Broward College. In January of 2009, Sue was promoted to the position of EMS Captain, where she looks forward to the challenge of serving in a different and unique capacity. Sue is the first female captain in the department's history.

Fire Training Captain Mike Harper is an 18 year veteran of Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue, Mike Harper has been recently promoted to Fire Training Captain after serving as a Driver Engineer for over four years. A native of South Florida and an second generation firefighter, Mike has received numerous awards including the 2008 Award of Commendation and the 2004 Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year. Additionally, as a member of a newly formed Wellness Committee in 2007, he was the author of a grant which provided funding for gym and exercise equipment for the four fire stations. He is a Pier Team member and is a state certified Live Fire Instructor I. Mike looks forward to the future development of his career and the fire department.