Fire Department

IMG_2733.jpg

Welcome to the website of the Alameda Fire Department. You will find personnel, statistical, and departmental information. Check our Frequently Asked Questions for answers to questions you might have. We welcome your questions and feedback!

The members of the Alameda Fire Department are honored to be of service to the community. We strive at every level to provide excellent customer service and professional, compassionate care.

 

 

 

Department Head

Luby

Nick Luby, Fire Chief

Chief Luby has a 23-year career in the Fire Service that is hallmarked by leading continuous operational improvements and building solid relationships with inter-departmental stakeholders and external regional, state, and federal agencies.

The Alameda CARE Team (Community Assessment Response & Engagement), led by the Alameda Fire Department (AFD), provides a 24/7 alternative response to nonviolent individuals facing a mental health crisis.

The City of Alameda Fire Department is an organization of 117 dedicated, community service-oriented people who serve Alameda residents and visitors. We are also an all-risk public safety agency. This means we respond to all emergencies and hazards with the exception of those that are the responsibility of law enforcement.

Our services include: fire suppression, advanced life support, including ambulance transport services; fire prevention, and investigative services; community disaster preparedness, including Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT); hazardous materials response and mitigation; confined space rescue services and water rescue. We provide these services through Administration, Prevention, Training, Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Medical Services, and four strategically located fire stations with a minimum of 25 people on duty daily.

The City of Alameda has three strategic initiatives, which we also embody. They are: Economic Development, Employee Well-Being and Productivity, and Customer Service. We strive for economic development by streamlining our processes for business efficiency while seeking revenue opportunities to offset our operational expenses. We support employee well-being and productivity through training, career development, an employee wellness and fitness program, and by working in a collaborative environment. We provide exceptional customer service not only because it is one of the City's strategic initiatives, but because it is also the right thing to do. Our employees are trained, recognized, and rewarded for exceptional customer service.

History of the Alameda Fire Department

The Alameda Fire Department was organized on August 29, 1876 as a volunteer agency. In 1880 the Board of Trustees for the City officially recognized the Alameda Fire Department and placed it under the command of Chief Engineer Fred Krauth.

By 1881 the City had four fire houses:

  1. Citizen's Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1 and Thompson Hose Company, No. 1 on Webb Avenue just off Park Street;
  2. Whidden Hose Company, No. 2 (the former West End Engine Company, No. 1 on Webster);
  3. Central (Sherman) Hose Company, No. 3, on Sherman Street between Central and Santa Clara avenues; and
  4. Pacific Hose Company, No. 4, on Chestnut Street between Pacific and Railroad avenues.

By the end of the 19th century the Alameda boasted one steam fire engine, two chemical engines on wheels, six chemical extinguishers, two hook-and-ladder trucks, a pair of two-wheeled hose carriages, one hose wagon and four Johnson hand pumps. The appraised value of on the Fire Department's seven horses was $1,400 dollars and the value of all Department equipment was $12,000; the engine houses, $15,000.

In addition to emergency response, the Fire Department's involvement with the community has grown into a model for Public Safety.

Read more!

 

Emergency responses include fire suppression, emergency medical incidents, hazardous materials threats, and various technical rescue incidents. Click Here

 

030623_Citywide-CY-2022-Layout.png                          

DISPATCH & COMMUNICATIONS

DISPATCH

ACRECC Logo

The Alameda Fire Department contracts with the Alameda County Regional Emergency Communication Center (ACRECC) to provide Fire dispatch services, Emergency Medical triaging, and pre-arrival instructions for our residents. The Fire Department has contracted with ACRECC since 2002. 911 calls placed in the City of Alameda are initially answered by the Alameda Police Department; they are designated as the city’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). If the caller is reporting a fire, rescue, or medical emergency, the caller is immediately transferred to ACRECC.

ACRECC is located at a secured facility within the Lawrence Livermore Lab in Livermore to help ensure that dispatch services cannot be interrupted.

1.jpg

2.jpg

ACRECC serves the cities of Alameda, Dublin, Fremont, Newark, San Leandro, and Union City; the communities of Castro Valley, Cherryland, Ashland, San Lorenzo, and Sunol; Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Sandia national laboratories, Camp Parks Combat Support Training Center, all of unincorporated Alameda County, and is the Dispatch/System Status Management Center for the county contracted ambulance service.

The idea of a regional emergency communication system first germinated in the aftermath of the disastrous 1991 Oakland Hills fire. That fire was so widespread that mutual aid assistance was required from neighboring jurisdictions. Unfortunately, their radios couldn’t always monitor each other's communication frequencies. Two findings from that devasting incident were lack of coordination through dispatching and the inability of different radio systems to have interoperability. Key stakeholders throughout Alameda County and the region felt the best solution would be to establish a unified dispatch center to monitor and broadcast to multiple departments from one centralized location. This was the beginning of ACRECC.

ACRECC Organizational Chart

ACRECC is managed by the Alameda County Fire Department and started serving the community in 2002. The center is an accredited Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Center that utilizes the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) to triage calls and assist callers in rendering immediate lifesaving care to those in need. They process over 200,000 fire/EMS calls per calendar year. ACRECC is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by a minimum staffing of eight dispatchers and one supervisor.

**If you have address-specific information that you would like added to the ACRECC Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, you can email AFDdispatchinfo@alamedaca.gov. ACRECC can add lock code information, special hazards associated with the occupancy, or special access instructions so that AFD can expedite services if a resident becomes unable to provide access for First Responders. 

Learn more about ACRECC

 

COMMUNICATIONS

EBRC1.png

The Alameda Fire Department contracts with the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority (EBRCSA)  to provide the Fire Department with a resilient and interoperable two-way radio communication system.

The East Bay Regional Communications System Authority was officially created on September 11, 2007 with the formation of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA). In California State Statute, a JPA is viewed as an independent governmental agency with the same powers that accrue to one of the member agencies. Currently, there are 43 member agencies consisting of both Alameda and Contra Costa county, 30 cities, 6 special districts, 3 Colleges, Dublin-San Ramon Services District, and the California Department of Transportation, serving a population of over 2.5 million people. The Board of Directors is made up of 23 representatives consisting of Elected Officials, Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs, and City Managers who will be responsible for the overall development, operations, and funding of the system.

EBRC2.png

The system provides first responders a comprehensive way of communicating during day-to-day operations and a network to support large-scale disaster responses. Ever Fire Department in both counties is a part of the system and has the ability to communicate across jurisdictional boundaries with the turn of a dial on the radio.

EBRC3.png

Learn more about EBRCSA