The Boone County Fire Protection District is the largest volunteer fire department in the State of Missouri. It encompasses approximately 500 square miles, operates 14 fire station locations with some 50 pieces of fire apparatus. Over two hundred volunteer men and women give of their time and talents to protect their community and have become recognized nationally as a premier organization. The Boone County Fire Protection District also serves as the sponsoring agency for an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force – Missouri Task Force 1 (MO-TF1). This US&R Task Force operates as a state resource under SEMA in a similar capacity to those established in California. The Boone County Fire Protection District serves as a resource for personnel, management and training and maintains a vast equipment cache. In 1997, Missouri Task Force 1 was designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as one of 28 National teams eligible to deploy to national disasters. Most notably, MO-TF1 has deployed to New York City in response to the September 11th attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the devastating F-5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri in May 2011.