The Apopka Fire Department is a full-service fire & EMS organization serving the city of Apopka, Florida. 
• They operate from 6 fire stations around Apopka. 
• They have a high level of accreditation/rating: ISO Class 1, which is a top rating putting them among the top ~0.09 % of departments in the U.S. in terms of fire protection performance.
Leadership / Administration: Fire Chief is Wil Rivera-Sanchez. Under him are several Division Chiefs covering EMS, Operations, Special Operations & Training, Logistics, Life Safety & Prevention, etc. 
• Fire / Line Staff:
- ~153 full-time firefighters. Includes roles like District Chiefs, EMS Captains, Lieutenants, Engineers, Firefighters. 
- In the administration side there are also civilian roles (inspectors, admin associates, etc.) and support/training staf
We’re a young department with a lot of potential, but man, it feels like we’re stuck in neutral. There are plenty of guys and girls here who genuinely care about the job and about serving our community. You can feel that pride when things are going right. But like any place, we’ve also got people who seem more interested in the image and the paycheck than the actual responsibility that comes with being a firefighter. Fitness? Not really enforced. Accountability? Depends who you are. We’ve had people wreck ambulances and get a pat on the back, while others get chewed out for far less. It’s hard to respect a system that doesn’t hold everyone to the same standard. Leadership’s kind of a mixed bag. The Fire Chief himself, I’ll give him credit. He’s approachable, he listens, and he clearly cares. But the rest of the administration feels stuck in the past. They talk about being “professional,” but it’s all surface level stuff. We can’t wear training shorts or sneakers around the station, but we can walk around all day in boots covered in blood and vomit from earlier calls. Make that make sense. It’s more about how things look than how things actually are. Training is another sore spot. We love to run mayday drills, which are important, sure, but we skip right over the basics. Engine operations, hose work, pump skills, fundamentals… the stuff that actually makes you sharp in the field. Hell we even lack medical training. Half the time it feels like you’re just expected to “already know.” And if you dont know and try to ask? You risk getting judged or talked down to. That kind of attitude kills motivation. It teaches people to do the bare minimum, not to get better. There’s also zero appreciation for the people who truly give their all. The ones who show up early, go above and beyond, bust their ass, and take pride in representing the department the right way. The only thing you ever hear is criticism. The default answer to burnout or frustration is “that’s the job.” Yeah, we all signed up for the job, we didn’t sign up to be taken for granted. The stations are falling apart. Mold, roaches, broken equipment patched up with quick fixes. Half our rigs are limping along, and the reserves are ancient. Our garage just slaps bandaids on problems to keep things rolling instead of actually fixing them. To be fair, things have improved since the last chief, morale’s better, the atmosphere isn’t as toxic, but it feels like we’ve hit a ceiling. We’ve gotten comfortable, not better. There’s no push to be progressive, no real accountability, no culture that says “we can do better.”
I’m saying all this because I care. I want this department to live up to what it could be. We’ve got the people and the heart for it, we just need leadership willing to stop managing appearances and start building a department we can actually be proud of.
Rating Breakdown
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1 Reviews on “Apopka Fire Department”
We’re a young department with a lot of potential, but man, it feels like we’re stuck in neutral. There are plenty of guys and girls here who genuinely care about the job and about serving our community. You can feel that pride when things are going right. But like any place, we’ve also got people who seem more interested in the image and the paycheck than the actual responsibility that comes with being a firefighter. Fitness? Not really enforced. Accountability? Depends who you are. We’ve had people wreck ambulances and get a pat on the back, while others get chewed out for far less. It’s hard to respect a system that doesn’t hold everyone to the same standard. Leadership’s kind of a mixed bag. The Fire Chief himself, I’ll give him credit. He’s approachable, he listens, and he clearly cares. But the rest of the administration feels stuck in the past. They talk about being “professional,” but it’s all surface level stuff. We can’t wear training shorts or sneakers around the station, but we can walk around all day in boots covered in blood and vomit from earlier calls. Make that make sense. It’s more about how things look than how things actually are. Training is another sore spot. We love to run mayday drills, which are important, sure, but we skip right over the basics. Engine operations, hose work, pump skills, fundamentals… the stuff that actually makes you sharp in the field. Hell we even lack medical training. Half the time it feels like you’re just expected to “already know.” And if you dont know and try to ask? You risk getting judged or talked down to. That kind of attitude kills motivation. It teaches people to do the bare minimum, not to get better. There’s also zero appreciation for the people who truly give their all. The ones who show up early, go above and beyond, bust their ass, and take pride in representing the department the right way. The only thing you ever hear is criticism. The default answer to burnout or frustration is “that’s the job.” Yeah, we all signed up for the job, we didn’t sign up to be taken for granted. The stations are falling apart. Mold, roaches, broken equipment patched up with quick fixes. Half our rigs are limping along, and the reserves are ancient. Our garage just slaps bandaids on problems to keep things rolling instead of actually fixing them. To be fair, things have improved since the last chief, morale’s better, the atmosphere isn’t as toxic, but it feels like we’ve hit a ceiling. We’ve gotten comfortable, not better. There’s no push to be progressive, no real accountability, no culture that says “we can do better.”
I’m saying all this because I care. I want this department to live up to what it could be. We’ve got the people and the heart for it, we just need leadership willing to stop managing appearances and start building a department we can actually be proud of.