Country United States City Vancouver Employees 204 (2015) | State Washington Annual calls 22,484 (2011) | |
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Established January 1, 1867 (1867-01-01) | ||
The Vancouver Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Vancouver, Washington. The department is responsible for an area of 91 square miles (240 km2) and serves a population of over 246,000 people with the highest call volume per firefighter in the state.
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History
The Vancouver Fire Department was officially founded on April 1, 1867 when an ordinance was passed by the City Council organizing a fire department for the city. The motivation for the formation of the department came in August 1866 when a fire started in a furniture store and, in less than an hour, destroyed eight buildings were burnt to the ground.
Fireboat
In May 2014 the put into service the Discovery, a 46 feet (14 m) quick response fireboat. The fireboat was paid for through a port security grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Normally FEMA matches funds raised locally on a three to one basis, but, in Vancouver's case, FEMA waived the requirement for a local contribution to the capital costs, and paid the entire $1.6 million costs itself.