Petersburg Fire, Rescue And Emergency Services

Petersburg Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services traces its lineage back to 1773, when the city's first volunteer fire company organized not long after Petersburg itself was chartered. Over the following two centuries the department evolved from a patchwork of independent volunteer companies into a fully paid municipal force, a transition that began in 1875 when the city dissolved its all-volunteer companies in favor of paid and call staff, and continued through a long build-out of numbered companies between 1901 and 1977.

Today the department is organized into divisions covering Fire Administration, Emergency Management, the Fire Marshal's office, and Training, and it provides fire suppression, basic and advanced pre-hospital EMS, fire and building code enforcement, and public fire-safety education to the city of Petersburg. The department also contributes to regional response capacity as a participating member of the Crater Regional Hazardous Materials Team and through heavy tactical rescue capabilities, and it holds lead responsibility for emergency management during local and regional disasters.

Fire Administration is headquartered at the department's Training Center on Fort Bross Drive, while Operations is based at the historic downtown station on South Market Street. The department is led by Fire Chief Wayne Hoover, supported by a Deputy Chief and division chiefs overseeing operations and administrative services.

Petersburg fire-rescue positions are posted and applied for through the City of Petersburg's central NEOGOV-powered careers portal alongside all other city job openings, rather than a dedicated fire department hiring page.