Miami-Dade County Fire Station 30 is located in the Village of Miami Shores, Florida, one of 28 municipalities served by the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department (MDFR), the sixth largest fire department in the United States. In addition to Miami Shores, Station 30's territory includes all or parts of the Villages of El Portal and Biscayne Park, the City of North Miami and unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The Tazmanian Devil is our mascot. Our firefighters' commitment to the community is proclaimed by the proud maxim: First In, Last Out.

Station 30 originated as the Miami Shores Village Fire Department, which operated under the authority of the police department. It had a single pumper, which responded as Engine 1, often staffed by a single firefighter. In 1971, spearheaded by Supervisor Carlos E. Perez, the department began lobbying for Emergency Medical Service in Miami Shores. The firefighters would set up tables outside the Shores Center Publix Supermarket on weekends to educate the public at large what EMS was, as well as demonstrate CPR. In 1972 Chief Perez, along with Dr. Don Rosenberg, developed the first Advanced Life Support (ALS) engine in the country, providing the ability of Miami Shores Engine 1 to respond to and treat medical emergencies on scene.

The fruits of the firefighters' labor at those weekend sessions paid off further in 1973, when Miami Shores Rescue 1 entered service. In an official ceremony in July, Miami Shores Mayor James Condit handed over the keys of the new Mobile Intensive Care Unit to Chief Perez. The new rig, which had been driven down from Wooster, Ohio by Village Council Member Sonny Jones and his son Woody, was the first modular EMS unit in the county (which was then known as Dade County).

As Miami-Dade County grew, the need for a consolidated fire service became paramount. The smaller municipalities began to turn over their fire departments to the county as they realized that one large department could better meet fire protection and medical rescue requirements. On October 1, 1975 Miami Shores joined in the consolidation effort and contracted with MDFR to provide fire protection. The firefighters became county employees, Carlos Perez, the visionary Supervisor, became a county Fire Chief and Dr. Don Rosenberg became MDFR's Medical Director. And the Miami Shores Village Fire Department became Miami-Dade Station 30.

For years, Station 30 was quartered in an old, cramped automobile inspection station. Engine and Rescue 30 moved into their current modern facility at 9500 Northeast 2nd Avenue in 1995. MDFR and the Village of Miami Shores threw a rousing dedication party on September 23, 1995. Northeast 2nd Avenue was closed to vehicular traffic and the public was invited to the ceremony, which culminated in an Air Rescue helicopter flyover.

Ours is the only station in the department designed with a bell tower. In the tower is an authentic working fire engine bell, which once served a ladder company in the city of Boston. The bell was donated by Jack Grieco, a prominent fire buff and co-founder of the Code 1 Association, which responds to major incidents with its canteen van.

Station 30 comprises a part of MDFR's Battalion 3, which also includes Stations 19 and 20 and 22. Battalion 3's service area encompasses a large portion of the densely populated northeast Miami-Dade County.

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