So far in 2025, the High Springs Fire Department (HSFD) has responded to 755 calls.  

HSFD rolls out with sirens for a variety of calls—fires, rescues, crashes and medical emergencies—as part of the community’s first responder system. And from May 18-24, National EMS Week recognizes the specific work of medical responders.  

Medical calls comprise the bulk of HSFD calls, and every call has the potential to be a medical situation.  

Sitting at The Station Bakery & Cafe, HSFD Lt. Harvey Ellis explained that traumatic events can impact anyone. An elderly husband comes to pick up his wife, who was involved in a car accident, and he’s obviously shaken. That’s the potential for another medical situation.  

“Everything we do revolves around a medical aspect,” Ellis said. “It can be a fire, but someone can have a heart attack because their lawn mower caught on fire. Everything’s medical.” 

Exiting Station Bakery with their paper bag lunches, Ellis and firefighter Kyle Livingston scan up and down US 441, trying to spot the nearest fire hydrant. If the auto shop next door had a fire, how would they respond?  

Livingston points way out across the baseball fields to a hydrant by the High Springs Civic Center. They estimate the distance and chuckle. Imagine trying to pull enough hoses to stretch all the way across those fields.  

Every week, even during National EMS Week, the crews are on the clock.  

Operating out of Station 29, High Springs crews work a 24-hour shift followed by 48 hours off. The shift includes checking over the trucks, training different skills, maintaining the station and learning more about the city.  

There’s even some time to give Deputy Chief Meow, the station’s feline mascot, a couple scratches.  

Each HSFD truck has the medical equipment of an ambulance, minus the stretcher. Crews check their bags and equipment and restock any supplies that have been used.     

Livingston said the habit becomes ingrained. As soon as crews return to the station, they restock before another call comes.  

Once a week, the station does a deeper dive into its fire engine and vehicles. The city purchased the new engine in 2023, and Livingston said the crews work to protect the taxpayers’ investment, washing the truck and doing maintenance. 

Engine 29 carries 1,000 gallons of water and more than a thousand feet of hoses. It’s also got a couple of Jaws of Life for vehicle extractions, 42 Junior straps to stabilize flipped vehicles and cutters designed to get through windshields without the glass falling on someone inside.  

Various nozzles allow HSFD to attack fires with options, saws let the crews cut through garage doors or roofs to access the fire and hooks on the back of the truck are used to pull down ceilings and see the spread of the flames.  

Besides the main engine, High Springs has a light rescue vehicle that serves as the first response to medical emergencies. Another Jaws of Life is in the vehicle along with tanks of oxygen for firefighters and medical equipment. 

Each firefighter has a baseline knowledge of the equipment when they leave the training academy. Once in the field, they can pass courses to further their expertise and earn ops and tech level certifications.  

With so many medical calls, crews keep these skills up to date through practice. Other parts of firefighting get less use, and crews train to pull hose, work under pressure with oxygen masks and operate ropes for rescues.  

“We try to jump, a little bit of fire, a little bit of our technical skills, a little bit of vehicle extrication,” Livingston said. “It varies throughout the day, so you’re not constantly doing the same thing. It allows you to cover your bases and stay fresh.” 

During shifts, the crews keep track of the stations around them. Alachua County Fire Rescue Station 21 is down US 441 and the Newberry Fire Department is a straight shot on US 41.  

Ellis, a 35-year veteran with Alachua County and now High Springs, said if these stations get busy, then HSFD might need to cover a call further from their core territory. It could also mean a delayed response if High Springs needs backup.  

“We’re not in a vacuum,” Ellis said. “Nothing happens around us that doesn’t have some kind of impact on us.” 

Gainesville’s population results in a lot of calls occurring in the center of the county. If a string of calls happens in or around Gainesville, Ellis said there can be a medic move up, with standby ambulances heading closer to the core.  

Ellis said departments along the perimeter of the county will then need to be ready. A medic move-up can mean a longer time on scene or a longer response time for ambulances to transport patients.  

During Gator football home games, Ellis said it’s almost a default medic move-up as first responders cover for the crews that provide service at the stadium.  

HSFD covers a primary response zone of 62 square miles. Ellis and Livingston drive the fire engine around the back streets of High Springs and through the city’s industrial park. They look at businesses and potential hazards that could crop up. 

Ellis said HSFD has a list of businesses called target hazards. If a fire happened there, it could be tougher to stop.  

He said the standby nature of the job is a bit like heading toward an intersection that’s always on yellow and you never know when it’s going to flash red. Even when a call comes in, crews must be ready for something to change.  

Earlier in May, HSFD responded to a call for a car crash with light to no injuries. When they arrived at the scene along US 441, the crews found a person trapped inside a vehicle with occupants of another vehicle seriously injured.  

“But when we got there, we had to shift gears between a serious trauma, which is medical, and the technical call, which is extrication and medical. So it’s always multifaceted,” Ellis said. 

Ellis and Livingston said they’ve both worked on ways to get used to the constant low level of stress that often peaks into higher levels. Even on days off, Ellis said, you think of what could happen when cutting the lawn because you’ve seen people injured in those exact situations.  

No matter how the community needs the support, HSFD is prepared to provide it. And medical calls might be more than just physical. The department created a pamphlet to give people impacted by calls. It runs through different resources for dealing with the aftershock of a fire or crash or even witnessing a traumatic event.  

Livingston said the community has also shown its support for the department. He’s been with HSFD for only six months, but has lived in High Springs for five years while working as a firefighter in Citrus County. 

Since then, he’s learned the station covers a lot more calls than he thought as just a resident. He said he’s also never gotten so many “thank you” comments when working in a community.  

He said the community has decided to invest in first response with both a municipal fire and police department. The only other city in Alachua County with both is Gainesville. 

“Coming to High Springs saved my career, truthfully, because of the love of the community,” Livingston said. “The support here is just…we get people knocking on our door to drop food off, to drop donations off, just to say thank you. You don’t get that in a lot of places. It’s amazing.”