Orange County Fire Authority

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Orange County Fire Authority

Established	1995
Staffing	795 full-time 430 reserve
Strength	Career
Stations	61 full-time 21 reserve
EMS Units	3
Fire chief	Chip Prather

The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for unincorporated areas of Orange County, California and cities that contract OCFA's services.

OCFA serves over 1,300,000 residents in 22 cities and unincorporated areas from 61 full-time stations and 21 reserve stations.^[1]

1 Structure
2 EMS
3 Standard response
4 Budget
5 History
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Structure

[edit] Headquarters

The OCFA Headquarters is located in the city of Irvine.

[edit] Operations Department

Orange County Fire Authority Headquarters

The Operations Department is responsible for directly rendering aid to the community. In 2005, OCFA responded to 76,369 incidents within its jurisdiction and 3,544 mutual aid calls.^[2] The department is split into five geographic divisions numbered I–V.^[3]

Division I

Division I is located in the western area of Orange County. It covers the communities of Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton, and Westminster; and the unincorporated communities of Midway City, Rossmoor, and Sunset Beach. Division I is covered by two battalions, numbers 1 and 8, from fifteen fire stations.^[4]

Division II

Division II is located in the central area of Orange County. It covers the cities of Irvine and Tustin; along with the John Wayne Airport and University of California, Irvine. Division II is covered by battalion 5 from nine fire stations. ^[5]

Division III

Division III is located in the southern and eastern areas of Orange County. It covers the cities of Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano; along with the unincorporated communities of Coto de Caza, Ladera, Las Flores, Modjeska Canyon, Trabuco Canyon, and Talega. Division III is covered by two battalions, numbers 6 and 7, from eighteen fire stations.^[6]

Division IV

Division IV is located in the northern area of Orange County. It covers cities of Irvine, Placentia, Tustin, Villa Park, and Yorba Linda; along with the unincorporated communities of El Modena, Orange Park Acres, Santiago Canyon, Silverado Canyon, and North Tustin. Division IV is covered by two battalions, numbers 2 and 3, from twelve fire stations.^[7]

Division V

It covers the cities of Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, and Mission Viejo. Division V is covered by battalion 4 from seven fire stations.^[5]

Operations Support Division

The Operations Support Division consists of the Emergency Communications Center (ECC), Community Volunteer Services (CVS) Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Emergency Planning and Coordination (EPAC), Special Operations Section, and the Operations Training and Safety Section.^[8]

The ECC houses the Dispatch Center which routes all emergency requests to individual OCFA units. The ECC also contains the Mapping and Geo-file Group which maintains and distributes the maps and station information that allows dispatchers to route calls to the correct station and provides fire stations with up-to-date maps of their coverage area.^[9]

[edit] Fire Prevention Department

The Fire Prevention Department is dedicated to proactively protecting the public by identifying and analyzing community risk; educating and informing; and developing, implementing, and enforcing regulations.^[10]

Investigation Services Section

This section investigates and reviews fires to determine appropriate intervention strategies.^[11]

Planning & Development Services Section

The Planning & Development Services Section reviews all architectural blue prints, development plans, and proposals submitted in OCFA's jurisdiction to ensure that they meet fire protection requirements for buildings and developments.^[12]

Risk Analysis & Mitigation Evaluation

This section identifies communities’ risks and creates appropriate mitigation strategies to improve the performance and effectiveness of community safety efforts.

Safety & Environmental Services Section (SESS)

SESS conducts fire safety inspections, enforces applicable fire codes and ordinances, gathers and maintains inventories of chemicals stored, handled, and used within the OCFA jurisdiction and coordinates hazardous materials emergency plans.

[edit] EMS

There are 3 ambulances and 11 medic vans that provide emergency medical services to all of Orange County.

[edit] Standard response

The standard OCFA response for a structure fire is 3 engine companies, one truck company, one paramedic unit and one Battalion Chief.^[13]

[edit] Budget

The department has a budget of US$220.8 million for the 2006/07 fiscal year.^[14]

[edit] History

Prior to 1980 the California Department of Forestry operated the Orange County Fire Department under contract. In 1980 then California Governor Jerry Brown cancelled the California Department of Forestry contract with the Orange County Fire Department against the wishes of Orange County. Orange County operated the Fire Department until 1995 when the County filed for bankruptcy, then the Orange County Fire Department reorganized as a Joint Powers Authority and became the Orange County Fire Authority.