Gainesville Texas Fire-Rescue

06/19/2026

🚓🚒 Battle of the Badges Results Are In! 🚒🚓

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to donate blood at yesterday's Battle of the Badges Blood Drive! Your generosity will help save lives throughout our community.

After all the votes were counted:
🥇 Gainesville Fire-Rescue: 15 votes
🥈 Gainesville Police Department: 10 votes

Whether you voted for Fire or Police, the real winners are the patients who will benefit from your life-saving donations. Together we collected 29 units of blood and could impact up to 71 lives locally, check out the full breakdown in the photo.

Thank you to every donor, volunteer, and supporter — and a special shoutout to Carter BloodCare for making this event possible. We couldn't do it without you!

Mark your calendars: our next blood drive is September 11.
Sign up here: https://www.greatpartners.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/170068

06/15/2026

Gainesville Fire-Rescue is excited to host Gainesville Independent School District rising seniors, Abel Aguilera and Airel Aguilera over the next two weeks as they explore careers as Firefighter/EMT's through NCTC's Explore to Employ program, a short-term summer job-shadowing experience to help students explore local career and workplace environments. 🚒 They were individually matched through a selection process and happen to be twin brothers!

We appreciate the partnership with North Central Texas College/Red River Promise for connecting students with hands-on opportunities to learn about future careers right here in our community. We look forward to giving these students an inside look to the fire service and helping inspire the next generation of first responders.

06/15/2026

A successful third year of Splash, Stories, and Safety! Thank you to everyone who came out to support and participate. Our Parks and Rec team and Fire-Rescue team put together an awesome event. And thank you to Cook Children's for donating life jackets for us to give out to our community— pictures to follow!

06/11/2026

🚨There will be increased first responder activity at Edison Elementary School for an active shooter training in the afternoon tomorrow, Thursday, June 11, 2026.

This provides first responders with an opportunity to train together in case of a live incident. This is only a training, and there is no cause for concern.

The image in this Public Notice is from a joint training between Gainesville Police, Gainesville Fire-Rescue, Gainesville ISD Police, and Cooke County EMS at Edison Elementary in March 2026.

🚓 🚒 🚑

06/10/2026

💦 Summer fun and water safety go hand in hand! A few simple precautions can make all the difference in preventing drowning and keeping children safe around pools, lakes, and other bodies of water.

Join us today from 2:00–3:30 PM at Leonard Park Aquatics Center for Splash, Stories & Safety with First Responders! Enjoy water safety education, story time, crafts, free life jackets and books (while supplies last), meet local first responders, and more.

Let’s work together to make this a safe summer for everyone! ☀️🚒💦

GainesvilleFireRescue LeonardParkAquaticsCenter

06/05/2026

At long last, the wait is over - we are happy to announce the return of the Cooke County Residential Safe Room Rebate Program. This program is now open to all property owners in Cooke County and all cities/townships within who are interested in building a storm shelter or safe room and may provide a 50% rebate of their building costs *up to a maximum of $3,000.* Now before you apply or contact us, there are some very important details of this program that you need to pay attention to:

-This program is for *property owners* within Cooke County. The name of the applicant must match the name on the deed or mortgage as well as the method of payment. This program is not eligible for renters and cannot be gifted.
-This program is *first-come, first-serve.* We will process applications in the order they are received. There are no "special waiting lists" or reservations.
-Submitting an application DOES NOT guarantee you will receive a rebate. There is a strict selection process that must be followed.
-The funding we have been given for this program *is limited* and will end once all funds have been awarded.
-This program is a rebate/reimbursement program. Citizens pay the cost themselves initially up front. This program *will not* build a shelter for you or advance funds to you.
-This program has *very strict* eligibility and application requirements that MUST be met from start to finish in order to receive a rebate. PLEASE go to the Cooke County Rebate Program Webpage (see link below or scan the QR Code in the graphics), download the Program Guidelines, and carefully read through the instructions and FAQs *BEFORE you contact County personnel.* The majority of your questions can be answered there and we have spent considerable time and effort creating materials to aid you in this process. Please use them.
-Lastly, we understand there are a lot of citizens who want to use this program who may not be eligible. Please understand we do not make the rules of this program and can only operate under the conditions that came with the funding. We will do our absolute best to ensure as many as possible are able to utilize it.

Thank you all for your patience and a massive thank you to the City of Gainesville Office of Emergency Management along with Grayson County OEM and City of Bowie TX for their generous partnership in putting this program together. Please visit the Cooke County Rebate Program webpage to download the required documents and begin the application process.
https://www.co.cooke.tx.us/page/cooke.SafeRoomProgram

06/04/2026

Looking for something fun, FREE, and educational to do with your kids next week?

Join us for Splash, Stories & Safety with First Responders on Wednesday, June 10, from 2:00–3:30 PM at Leonard Park Aquatics Center!

This reimagined community event combines summer fun with important water safety and drowning prevention education to help keep children safe around water this summer.

Kids will enjoy:
🚒 Story time with local first responders
🚓 Meet Gainesville Fire-Rescue, Gainesville Police Department, and Cooke County Sheriff's Office personnel
🚁 Special appearance by CareFlite
🎨 Crafts and interactive safety activities
🍧 FREE snow cones
🌭 FREE hot dogs generously donated by Tom Thumb
🦺 FREE life jackets (infant through adult sizes, while supplies last)
📖 FREE water safety storybooks in English and Spanish

Drowning is silent, fast, and preventable. Many tragedies occur during brief lapses in supervision, which is why education and prevention are so important.

The event is hosted by Gainesville Parks & Recreation and Gainesville Fire-Rescue in partnership with Gainesville Police Department, Cooke County Sheriff's Office, CareFlite, and Cook Children's.

☀️ Bring the kids, cool off at the pool, meet your local first responders, and make safety part of your summer fun!

➡️ Read the full press release in the comments.
➡️ Please LIKE, SHARE, and TAG a parent, grandparent, or caregiver to help us spread water safety awareness throughout our community.

https://gainesville.tx.us/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/684

06/04/2026

💦 Swim lessons are more than a summer activity, They are a critical layer of protection to prevent drowning.

Drowning is the second leading cause of death for Texas children under age 5. Teaching children to swim is one of many layers of protection that can help reduce risk.

🏊 Registration is still open for the City of Gainesville Session 2 swim lessons:
📅 June 16 – July 9
👧 Ages 4–16
💲 $60
Registration link in the comments!

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05/27/2026

For 13 years, Gainesville Fire-Rescue’s FARM Program (Firefighters As Role Models) has been making a lasting impact in our local schools - mentoring students, building confidence, and creating relationships that change lives. ❤️🚒

This powerful story highlights how one student mentored through the FARM program is now graduating and pursuing a future in the military and possibly the fire service.

Thank you to our partners at GISD for helping make this program possible and for investing in the next generation alongside us.

Read the full story here! 👇

BY ANNA [email protected] 13 years, the Gainesville Fire-Rescue “Firefighters As Role Models” Program has been making an impact, helping students and being encouraging