Prince William County Fire and Rescue

InfoboxFireDepartment
name = Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue

motto =
established = 1966
staffing = Career
strength = 493
stations = 19
engines = 37
trucks = 7
rescues = 6
EMSunits = 38
FirstResponderBLSorALS = BLS & ALS
chief = Kevin McGee
Prince William County, Virginia is situated approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC in Northern Virginia. It encompsses a total area of 348 square miles. Prince William County includes within its boundaries the independent cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. It also includes four incorporated towns, Dumfries, Haymarket, Quantico and Occoquan. The current estimated population of Prince William County is 383,644 persons (as of Sept. 15, 2007).

As part of the metro DC response zone, Prince William County Fire and Rescue is labeled number 5 in the 800MHZ trucked radio system. All PWCDFR units begin with 5 followed by the station number. For example, the engine from station 4 is Engine 504, and the tower-ladder from station 13 is Tower 513. During an emergency that would require a response from multiple agencies, dispatchers are quickly able to identify what county a particular piece of apparatus came from.

ections

The Department of Fire and Rescue is comprised of three main sections to provide the highest level of service to the Prince William County community. These sections are Community Safety, Operations and Systems Support. Community Safety

The Community Safety section’s primary responsibility is to reduce hazards that contribute to the cause and spread of fire. This area of responsibility is demonstrated through code enforcement, fire and explosion investigations, fire protection system and plan reviews, community fire and life safety education and emergency management. Operations

The Operations section of the department is responsible for response to fire, emergency medical, hazardous materials and citizen assist calls. This section is also responsible for basic and advanced pre-hospital emergency medical care, fire hazardous materials incident mitigation and health and safety services for department members. Systems Support

The Department’s Systems Support section is an internal customer service provider. The Systems Support section manages department programs and activities from “behind the scenes” to ensure prompt, efficient and effective service to the Prince William County community. This section includes human resources, training, administrative support, budgeting and accounting, planning and analysis, information technology, logistical support and communications. Both uniform and non-uniform members staff this section, providing an eclectic mix of internal services to the department and its members.

Organization

Prince William County’s fire and rescue service is provided through a combination career and volunteersystem. Within this system, career members and twelve volunteer organizations, which make-up thefire and rescue service, collectively work together to staff the fire stations 24-hours a day, seven days aweek. Both services, under the administrative direction of the Fire and Rescue Association, uniformlyseek to provide high quality and efficient fire fighting and emergency medical services to the PrinceWilliam County community.

The Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue staffs 19 stations from 6 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday except for 5 stations 504, 506, 515, 516 and 525 in which volunteer staff is assisted by career staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are also 8 Advanced Life Support Units career staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at stations 503R, 504, 507, 511, 512, 514, 520, 525. The volunteer staff stations from 6 PM to 6 AM Monday through Friday, throughout the weekends, and on any holidays that career staff does not work.

External links

* [http://www.pwcgov.org/fire Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue]
* [http://www.pwcgov.org Prince William County Government]
* [http://evfdrs.org/ Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad]