Country United States County Ventura Annual calls 34,779 (2012) | State California Established May 11, 1928 | |
Employees 574 total (2012)
395 Safety
158 Non-safety | ||
The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. Together, these areas compose the Ventura County Fire Protection District in the state of California, USA. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors is the fire district's board of directors. These five elected supervisors appoint the fire chief, and task him with providing fire protection services for the district.
Contents
- History
- Engine and medic engine
- Wildland fire engines
- Helicopters
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Units ARFF
- Dozers
- Fire boat
- Emergency operations
- Battalion 1
- Battalion 2
- Battalion 3
- Battalion 4
- Battalion 5
- Organization
- Bureau of Emergency Services
- References
In addition to the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, the department currently provides the following cities with service: Camarillo, Moorpark, Ojai, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley, and Thousand Oaks.
History
On May 11, 1928 the Ventura County Fire Protection District (VCFPD) was established. It wasn't for another two years that a 24-hour Fire Warden was placed on duty.
As the population of the county grew, the VCFD grew as well. In 1946 the department added radios to all of their trucks and rose to a total of 34 personnel. Nearly 33 years later in 1969, the department added a second radio frequency and added a full-time dispatch center at Station 31 in Thousand Oaks. Four years later in 1973, VCFD changed their engines from traditional Fire Engine Red to Yellow.
Engine and medic engine
Ventura County uses two main types of engines. The first is the standard engine, which is often referred to as a "triple-combination pumper" as it has a fire pump, water tank and fire hose. Each engine can deliver 1,500 GPM of water and carry 500 gallons of water. The engines also carry multiple ground ladders and different types of hose. The second type of engine is the Medic Engine. The only real difference between the medic engine and the standard engine is that the medic engines are capable of advanced life support with a firefighter also being a fully trained ALS paramedic.
In addition to the main engines, Ventura County also has reserve engines which are older engines kept as backups or for use on major incidents. Two of the counties reserve engines are provided by the Office of Emergency Services.
Wildland fire engines
Ventura County has 11 Type 3 wildland fire engines that are specifically designed for fighting brush fires. One feature that sets these engines apart from the standard engines is their ability to pump water from a 500-gallon tank while on the move. This allows firefighters to make a running attack on the fire.
Helicopters
Ventura County has four Helicopters that are jointly used by the VCFD and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. The fleet of helicopters is made up of four different Bell UH-1 Hueys, one each of the HH-1H, UH-1H, Bell 205B and Bell 212. Each Huey can carry up to nine firefighters and features a 375-gallon water tank that can be used to make drops onto fires. In addition to fire fighting missions, the Hueys are used for search and rescue. emergency medical services, marijuana eradication and surveillance.
Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Units (ARFF)
The Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting units are designed to fight large flammable liquid fires, specifically aircraft fires. They are also utilized on gasoline fires in refineries or tanker trucks on the highway. The engines carry 1,500 gallons of water and is fitted with a pump capable of 1,250 GPM. Two hundred gallons of foam concentrate is also carried on board.
Dozers
To aid in fighting wildfires, VCFD has multiple bulldozers. The dozers, as they are known, travel as a three piece unit consisting of the dozer itself, a tractor-trailer that transports the dozer and a tender that carries tools for servicing the dozer in the field.
Fire boat
The VCFD has a 38-foot fireboat stationed at the Channel Islands Harbor. It is outfitted with a 1,000 GPM water cannon.
Emergency operations
Bolded stations serve as quarters for the Battalion.
Battalion 1
Headquartered at Station 54, Battalion 1 services the Camarillo and Somis areas as well as the department's Special Operations activities. Special operations include dealing with hazardous materials, urban search and rescue, water rescue and specialized fire fighting activities such as shipboard and aircraft emergencies.
Battalion 2
Headquartered at Station 23, Battalion 2 services the Ojai Valley area as well as parts of the north coast.
Battalion 3
Headquartered at Station 30, Battalion 3 services the area of Conejo Valley.
Battalion 4
Headquartered at Station 41, Battalion 4 services the areas of Simi Valley and Moorpark .
Battalion 5
Headquartered at Station 51, Battalion 5 services the areas of the Santa Clara River Valley, El Rio and Port Hueneme.
Organization
VCFD is under the auspices of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, who appoint the Fire Chief. Reporting directly to the Fire Chief, the Deputy Fire Chief oversees the six bureaus within the department:
Bureau of Emergency Services
This bureau provides fire suppression, emergency medical care, hazardous materials response, Urban search and rescue, swift water rescue, and the Fire Training Section. Under the command of an assistant chief, the bureau composes all three divisions of fire stations, as well as the Fire Training and Emergency Medical Services Sections.