Orange Rural Fire Department runs about 2000 calls per year. We provide fire, rescue, haz-mat and first responder (emergency medical care) services to the Central Orange Fire District and Town of Hillsborough.

Our district, covering 62 square miles in central Orange County, requires four stations to provide coverage to all areas.

Station One is located in downtown Hillsborough at 206 South Churton Street.

Station Two is located north of town in the rural district at 835 Phelps Road. 

Station Three is located in the northeastern part of the rural district at 2510 Walker Rd.

Station Four is located in the southern part of Hillsborough at 352 College Park Road in Waterstone.

ORFD is certified by the NC Association of Rescue & EMS in the following rescue disciplines:

• Heavy Rescue
• Confined Space Rescue
• Agriculture and Machinery Rescue
• Swift Water Rescue
• Surface Water Rescue
• Structural Collapse Rescue
• Trench Rescue

We currently have four engines, three tankers, one brush truck, one squad truck, one ladder truck, seven support vehicles, rehab unit, thermal imaging drone and a Polaris six wheel vehicle with pumping capability.

Our chain of command consists of a Chief, Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and two Battalion Chiefs. The Deputy Chief has responsibility for the emergency operations of the department. The Assistant Chief serves as the Training and Safety Officer for the department as well as the Coordinator for our delivery agency. The Battalion Chiefs supervise, guide and direct the paid staff  and volunteer members. The paid staff is comprised of three shifts each consisting of a paid Captain, one Lieutenant, two Drivers and three firefighters. The volunteers consist of two captain's each of whom supervise half the volunteer firefighters. 

The department employees part time personnel to supplement our paid staffing levels and to fill in for vacancies created by vacation, sick and medical leave situations.

We are dispatched by Orange County Communications and utilize Pagetrack for mapping and response management.