Anthony Rios '12 '15MPA '22PhD has served the community in nearly every role with the Orange County Fire Rescue Department (OCFRD) over the years. Now, he's the new face at the helm of the department.

The three-time alum of the UCF School of Public Administration recently took the reins as fire chief of OCFRD - the largest fire and rescue department in Central Florida and the 26th largest in the nation out of nearly 30,000 departments. OCFRD serves nearly 1.5 million citizens and welcomes over 75 million annual visitors.

Throughout his years with OCFRD, Rios has held just about every field and executive administrative position within the organization. He has nearly three decades of experience in public service and has a background in what he refers to as the trifecta of public safety: corrections, law enforcement and fire services.

The triple Knight earned his doctorate in public affairs, along with both his bachelor's and master's degrees, from the College of Community Innovation and Education. Rios says his education and experiences at UCF were crucial in preparing him to lead one of the largest metropolitan fire departments.

"It was an invaluable experience at UCF," he says. "A lot of my focus through my education was relevant to what we experience here in local government. Everything that I've done academically has been building on my knowledge and ability as a practitioner in the field of public safety policy, and it absolutely added a needed perspective as I became a producer of information within the domain of public safety."

Enhancing Service to the Community

The OCFRD plays a vital role in the community as an all-hazards department, responding to a wide range of emergencies, including providing fire suppression, technical rescues, hazardous materials incidents, pre-hospital care response and community engagement.

"One of the strengths within the public safety community is our ability to adapt to the challenges faced by our community," he says. "As fire chief, my top priority is the safety and well-being of our citizens, visitors and firefighters. … Close to three decades ago, Florida adopted me - specifically Orlando and Orange County - so this is my way to give back to the community."

To facilitate this, Rios embraces opportunities for professional learning and interagency collaboration that build upon the traditions of the fire service, aiming to improve the fire department's services well into the future. This includes investing in employee education and training to ensure OCFRD can provide the highest level of pre-hospital care, developing new partnerships between first responder departments and law enforcement, as well as a nonstop focus on natural disaster preparedness and response strategy.

"As a leading fire department, we create opportunities to address these challenges by refining how we perform our core responsibilities," he says. "At the same time, we explore how to propel the future of the fire service by embracing innovation and technology."

With the department's range of programs, its employees interact with citizens and law enforcement on a daily basis, fostering a sense of community safety and pride among public safety interests. This is especially true during hurricane season in Central Florida.

"We live in a state where natural disasters are prevalent," he says. "There's a lot of training and effort that goes into preparing for every hurricane season. Not only do we prepare for the response and recovery, but we also focus on mitigation: How do we prevent catastrophic events from happening year after year? It's a yearlong focus on how we improve the condition and the quality of life for our citizens."

Protecting First Responders' Well-Being

Continuing to provide quality fire and rescue services also requires ensuring that the department's workforce is adequately supported, Rios says. Firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population, according to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.

"I am committed to finding solutions within the fire industry, starting here with Orange County Fire Rescue, to reduce the level of carcinogen exposures that firefighters experience because of the inherent job that they have," he says. "Many people may not know … firefighters are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer-related illnesses."

Another top priority is to ensure that fire service workers have the mental health support they need to continue serving the community. About 20% of firefighters and paramedics meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder at some point during their careers - a similar rate to military members returning from war, according to a Journal of Occupational Health Psychology study. It's especially important to provide resources to help fire and rescue service members process the traumatic events they witness regularly on the job. The department's collaboration with UCF RESTORES has been instrumental in providing these services to the workforce through research and development of innovative trauma treatment, as well as delivering peer mental health support training to first responders.

"Our firefighters are constantly involved in individuals' worst nightmares: They live them on a daily basis," Rios says. "So, we owe it to them - in order to have an operational workforce that is ready to respond to the community's needs - to focus on the well-being and the mental health of our employees."

Rios says his education and experiences at UCF were crucial in preparing him to lead one of the largest metropolitan fire departments and manage its responsibilities. Today, he gives back to the community, which he considers one of the most rewarding aspects of his job.

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