After more than 40 years in public service, 18 of those with Sarasota County, Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane has concluded his extensive chapter of service with Sarasota County Government. McCrane has served at the federal, state and local levels throughout his career and is an ambassador to our community as a disaster preparedness educator.

McCrane was appointed Emergency Management Chief on Oct. 21, 2005, when Sarasota County’s Emergency Operations Center was activated for Hurricane Wilma. Since then, McCrane has worked to coordinate improvements across the division, and brought on several new staff members in the last few years to build the Emergency Management team that lead the county through Hurricane Ian.

In addition to the work with the Emergency Management team, McCrane has provided hours of presentations, educational discussions and about emergency response and disaster preparedness. These efforts have educated not only the Sarasota County community and businesses, but local governments and partners across the state.

“It is an honor to have worked with Ed during his time at Sarasota County. He has great passion in educating the residents and visitors of Sarasota County regarding disaster preparedness. The outreach he has done leaves a legacy here and has helped our community be better prepared. We look forward to a continued partnership with him in his future endeavors and wish him all the best,” said Emergency Services Director Rich Collins. 

During his time with Sarasota County, McCrane served as Incident Manager or part of the Unified Command team for eight tropical storms, three major hurricanes, the H1N1 (Swine Flu) pandemic, Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, the 2016 Siesta Key tornado and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also supported disaster recovery efforts of counties throughout the state, most recently in Lee County after Hurricane Ian where he coordinated with local governments and support organizations.

McCrane previously served as the West Florida Region 4 Coordinator for the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Central Florida Military Support to Civil Authorities Coordinator for the Department of Military Affairs, Florida National Guard where he was awarded the Florida Distinguished Service Medal. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army and is a retired Master Sergeant.

Emergency Management will work toward a seamless transition into the next Chief of Emergency Management. During the search for the next chief, Emergency Services Director Rich Collins, Scott Montgomery and Emergency Operations Manager EJ Landrith will ensure the continuity of operations.

For more information about Sarasota County Emergency Management, please visit scgov.net/beprepared or dial 311.