In April, 1963, a meeting was held by area residents to discuss forming a volunteer fire department. The Avalon Civic League, already had purchased a fire truck. It was a home made 1951 Chevrolet fire truck, that was purchased from Ensley Fire Department.

In March, 1964, The Avalon Civic League, gave the Fire Department some property on Montecito Blvd., and a fire house was constructed by community volunteers. The construction cost was around $ 5,000.00.

J.P. Burnett, a charter member, loaned the money to the Fire Dept. The loan was repaid as funds were raised, and the money was available.

The Avalon Beach-Mulat Volunteer Fire Department, was Officially chartered with the Secretary of State, in July 1964.

As the community grew, so did the need for a new fire station. In 1978, land was obtained from American Cyanamid Company (with a 99 year lease), and construction on the new station began in October, 1979. Later, Edwin Henry purchased all of the land surrounding the Fire Department including the (99 year lease) which he later donated back to the Fire Department along with 3 additional acres. This gave us the land to expand the facility as you see it today.

Up until 1980, the department operated on a donations basis. In 1980, a tax supported fire district, was voted into existence by the area residents and is now funded with ad-valorem taxes from the property owners of the District. In 1981, the Department purchased its first ever new factory built fire truck. It was a 1,000 gpm pumper and cost $67,000, then a 1988 FMC 1,250 GPM pumper for $89,000.00 which we still use today.

After becoming a tax supported Fire District, we were able to up grade our equipment, and dropped our insurance rating from a class 10 to a class 8. Today we have a rating of a class 04/4X which means a substantial drop in fire insurance premiums for homeowners in the District.

In 1988, we constructed a new fire house at Garcon Point, so that all citizens in the district, would be within 5 miles of a fire station, as required by Insurance Service Organization (I.S.O).

In 2009, Mr. Dave Mawhinney hearing of our need for a Rescue Boat donated his 17 Foot 90 HP boat that our volunteers have modified to help provide what is needed for water emergencies and rescues.

In 2010, Midway Fire donated a 1965 Deuce and a half (which we call "The Beast") that was also modified using a Forestry Grant and the skills of the volunteer firefighters which now provides a valuable piece of equipment for fighting Brush and Wildland Fires.

Training

Our firefighters started in the early years with what little training that was available. In the 1980’s, a 30 hour volunteer course was available, but not required. Now, our volunteers are required to attend a 262 plus hour firefighting course as well as a 40 hour First Responder medical course. Additional training in extrication, wildland firefighting, haz-mat, and Incident command, are also required. Avalon Fire Rescue provides and conducts a minimum of three to four hour training session on each Wednesday or Thursday night and on some Saturdays. We encourage our personnel to take as many courses as possible, including the Firefighter II course that is required in Florida to work as a paid firefighter, and the EMT course.

Goals Achieved

In August 2012, we requested from the voters a millage rate increase to continue providing the level of protection to the district through the services provided today and for hiring day time personnel to provide adequate coverage during the times when volunteers are at work.

The increase passed.  Thanks!