Ventura County Fire Department

InfoboxFireDepartment
name = Ventura County Fire Department

motto = Committed to excellence, delivered with pride.
established = 1928
staffing = Career
strength = 471 uniformed
87 non-sworn support [http://fire.countyofventura.org/publicinformation/publications/annual_reports/annualreport2006.pdf]
stations = 31
engines = 60
trucks = 3
squads =
rescues =
bulldozers = 9
airplanes =
helicopters =
fireboats = 5
EMSunits = 4
FirstResponderBLSorALS = ALS
chief = Bob Roper
commissioner =

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 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.

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.

The mission of the Ventura County Fire Department is to:
"Anticipate and respond
to the dynamic public safety needs
of a diverse community." [http://fire.countyofventura.org/chiefsmessage/images/graphics/mission_vision.jpg]

History

Founded in 1928.

Apparatus

VCFD provides fire protection services for a wide variety of terrain, and operates many different types of apparatus to meet its needs. To complement its array of engine and truck companies, VCFD also uses wildland engines, dozers, paramedic squads, patrol vehicles, water tenders, foam vehicles, and fire boats. They also operate the specialized "Crash" vehicles for Camarillo Airport. VCFD contracts with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department to provide air support. Medical transport by ambulance is provided by contract with privately owned ambulance companies. Currently, the primary ambulance for the county is American Medical Response.

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 Communications and Information Technology
*Bureau of Emergency Services
*Bureau of Fire Prevention
*Bureau of Fiscal Services
*Bureau of Human Resources & Planning
*Bureau of Support Services

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.

References

External links

* [http://fire.countyofventura.org/ Ventura County Fire Department Official Website]
** [http://38.101.117.146/fireline/ Fireline - Live Incident Descriptions of the Ventura County Fire Dept.]
** [http://fire.countyofventura.org/stations/index.html Fire Stations Map and Links]