Malabar Safety Guide: Fire Department, Storm Alerts, Flood Zones and Burn Rules

The Town of Malabar runs its own Malabar Fire Department from the station at 1840 Malabar Road, phone 321-725-1030, with Joseph Hooker listed as Fire Chief (Town of Malabar Fire Department).

The fiscal year 2026-2027 budget summary the Town of Malabar advertised for its September 21, 2026 final budget hearing lists $1,071,752 for Fire Control (FY 2026-2027 budget summary), and the capital list adds $12,000 for eight SCBA masks and related equipment (capital list).

The town budget message explains one purchase that is particular to Malabar: $24,000 for an emergency response all terrain vehicle with a patient sled, because more than 30% of the town's land mass is natural preserve or conservation habitat used for passive recreation (FY 26/27 budget message). Malabar Scrub Sanctuary alone covers 577 acres of scrub, flatwoods and marsh (Brevard County EEL Program), and Jordan Scrub Sanctuary adds 354 acres (Jordan Scrub Sanctuary), and the budget message says the vehicle will help serve such areas, and that the town intends to apply for a grant that may reimburse half of its cost (budget message). The Malabar Fire Department guide covers staffing, equipment and inspections.

Malabar residents get countywide emergency alerts by signing up for AlertBrevard, the location based system Brevard County Emergency Management, Utilities and Fire Rescue use for boil water notices, wildfires and weather watches and warnings (AlertBrevard).

AlertBrevard can send voice calls, emails and text messages to the addresses and numbers a Malabar resident registers, and questions about the system go to Brevard County Emergency Management at (321) 637-6670. The county emergency management office sits at 1751 Huntington Lane in Rockledge, with John Scott listed as director (Brevard County Emergency Management).

The Town of Malabar posts its own notices on its News Flash page, which currently carries a yard waste and storm debris reminder (Town of Malabar News Flash).

Brevard County Emergency Management shows the hurricane evacuation zone for a Malabar address on its evacuation zone GIS map, which the Town of Malabar links from its emergency preparedness FAQ (Town of Malabar emergency preparedness FAQ).

The Malabar FAQ explains the lookup: type the address into the search box on the county map, then open the legend to read the zone letter. It also lays out the three kinds of public shelter in Brevard County, which are primary evacuation shelters, special needs shelters and pet friendly shelters. Shelter openings depend on the storm, so the town says never to go to a shelter until officials announce it is open, and to call the 2-1-1 Community Information Hotline for open locations.

Getting there is covered for people without a ride. The town FAQ says transportation to special needs and primary evacuation shelters is free for residents who register a transportation request, and only to and from a shelter. Space Coast Area Transit lists emergency evacuation services at no charge, and says people with special needs register with Brevard County Emergency Management at 321-637-6670, Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM, and re-register every year (321Transit). The town also advises Malabar evacuees to travel tens of miles, not hundreds, and to bring their own bedding, because cots are not provided.

Malabar's Coastal High Hazard Area, the land below the category 1 storm surge line, is a very small riverine area in the town's northwest corner, more than two miles inland from the Indian River (Coastal Management Element, page 6).

The Malabar plan defines that area with the state SLOSH storm surge model (page 5). Most of it is undeveloped, but about 10 single family homes along Briar Creek Boulevard and Hollow Brook Lane fall inside it, and those homes are served by public sewer and water (page 6).

The Malabar Coastal Planning Area is a separate idea: the land east of U.S. Highway 1 to the Indian River Lagoon, including the narrow shoreline strip at the south end of town around the U.S. Highway 1 and Rocky Point Road juncture (page 1). It counts 48 separate parcels in the shoreline strip north of that juncture (page 2).

Two planning facts matter on the day an order comes. The plan states plainly that there are no emergency shelters located within the Town, and that route choices to leave are limited (page 6), so a Malabar evacuee who needs a public shelter goes to one outside the town. The town's stated objective is to work with the county toward a hurricane evacuation time of less than twelve hours for a Category III storm (page 12). The same chapter records that the town was brushed or hit by a hurricane 45 times from 1871 through 2017 (page 6).

Most of Malabar sits outside the mapped floodplain: the town's 2019 comprehensive plan says nearly the entire town is in zone X, outside the 500 year floodplain (Public Facilities Element, page 8).

That does not mean no Malabar property is at risk. FEMA lists the Town of Malabar as NFIP community 120024 in Brevard County, participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with a currently effective flood map dated January 29, 2021 (FEMA NFIP Community Status Book). The same record shows no Community Rating System class for Malabar, so no town wide flood insurance discount is on file. The two official sources differ here: the town plan's coastal chapter speaks of continuing to participate in the Community Rating System (Coastal Management Element, page 1), while the FEMA record lists no class.

Read the plan statement with its date in mind. The comprehensive plan chapter is dated December 2019, before the current January 29, 2021 map took effect, so the parcel answer comes from the current FEMA map, not the plan text. The Flood Zones and Floodplain Rules in Malabar guide covers the coastal high hazard area, the 50 percent rule and the building standards.

The Town of Malabar no longer issues burn permits as of March 2, 2026; burns in Malabar now go through the Florida Forest Service Orlando Forestry District at (407) 888-8760 (Town of Malabar burn permit page).

A yard waste pile in Malabar needs no state authorization if it is under 8 feet across, meets the setbacks and is lit after 9 a.m. Eastern time and put out one hour before sunset. Piles over 8 feet across need a Florida Forest Service authorization and suppression equipment on hand, and land clearing, agricultural, silvicultural and acreage burns also need an authorization.

Household garbage, treated lumber, plastics, rubber, tires and paint or aerosol containers may never be burned. The Burn Permits in Malabar guide covers campfires, fire pits and who to call first.

Storm debris in Malabar goes just behind the curb in separate piles, kept out of the road, swales, ditches and storm drains so the drainage system can carry heavy rain, according to a town reminder on its News Flash page (Town of Malabar News Flash).

The Malabar guidance asks for one pile of vegetative debris and another of construction and demolition materials, since mixed piles may not be picked up. Limbs should be cut to pieces no longer than 4 feet and under 50 pounds each, and nothing should block water meters, mailboxes, fire hydrants, utility poles or low hanging power lines. Lithium ion batteries, paint and chemicals stay out of yard waste piles. For a large pile that needs a claw truck, the town tells residents to call Waste Pro to schedule a pickup.

Three Malabar safety guides sit under this hub; the table matches each readiness question to its key fact and the guide or official page that answers it.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Town of Malabar, Brevard County Emergency Management and FEMA websites. The Malabar plan chapters cited here are dated December 2019; the town FAQ points to the county map for zone letters and to 2-1-1 for open shelters.