The Palatka Fire Department is a two station, 25-man career department within the city limits of Palatka. Each station houses one first-out engine and a backup engine, and our second station houses a tower. The three 24-hour shifts are made up of eight employees per shift who hold a minimum of Florida State Firefighter Level Two, and Florida State Emergency Medical Technician certifications. Also, within the first two years of employment, all employees are required to become Haz-Mat certified and Urban Search and Rescue certified. Our department has the only USAR and Haz-Mat team in the county, and our USAR team is recognized as a state asset by the State of Florida.
The City of Palatka Fire Department has a mutual aid agreement with Putnam County Emergency Services to respond to fire calls outside of our jurisdiction. In addition to this mutual aid agreement with the county, we have contracts with several large industrial facilities in our community to provide first due response to them. These facilities include, but are not limited to, Georgia Pacific Paper Mill (both the Palatka and Hawthorne plants), Seminole Electric Power Plant, Certainteed Wallboard Plant, and two Florida Power and Light plants. Other large facilities that we service inside the cities’ limits include the Putnam Community Medical Center, the City of Palatka Municipal Airport, and 13 schools.
