The 49 fire departments serving Hamilton County include municipal, township, special district, and independent departments. Some municipal departments are full time with salaried personnel. These fire departments have mutual assistance contracts to improve service in emergencies.
Some departments are community-owned and some are privately operated, working on a contract basis.
The Hamilton County Emergency and Rescue Association has 90 rescue units serving the county. The Hamilton County Communications Center , with its computer-aided dispatching system, provides public safety communications to communities that do not have their own radio systems. In addition, the Red Cross, Civil Defense, and Cincinnati's Fire Tower are connected to the center's Disaster Radio Network. The 11 communities operating their own radio systems have mutual aid agreements with the center. Radio contact is also provided with the Sheriff's Patrol, Park Rangers, and many police departments.