Jefferson County Fire Service

Jefferson County Fire Service
"Dedication, Loyalty, Honor"
Agency overview
Established	1947
Employees	418 Career 433 Volunteers
Staffing	Combination
EMS level	BLS & ALS
Facilities and equipment
Stations	43 Active

The Jefferson County Fire Service (abbreviated JCFS and known locally as "County Fire," or, recently "Suburban Fire") is a loose confederation of the 17 independent fire protection districts within Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky. JCFS formed for the purpose of mutual aid, training, and local standardization.

Organization

The JCFS is not a distinct fire department per se but an umbrella organization coordinating cooperation between the many disparate fire districts within the county that by their proximity must work together efficiently. JCFS does not have a chief or any type of hierarchy and has no binding executive or legislative authority over its membership. Instead it comprises various committees and associations that specialize in areas that affect the fire service in Jefferson County as a whole.

Most of the Jefferson County fire districts wear the Jefferson County Fire distinctive insignia patch on the right shoulder of their uniforms.

Apparatus

Apparatus Type	# of Apparatus
Command Units & Response Vehicles	76
Utility Vehicles	46
Pumpers, Quads, Squrts, Tankers, Trucks	80
Aerials, Ladders, Quints	24
Ambulances	3
Special Rescue/Response, Parade Units	42
TOTAL	271

Specialized teams

Several combined teams exist to provide specialized service to all of Jefferson County and on request from other area agencies. These teams are composed of members of the various member districts; leadership staff is developed from within the teams. Each member operates under the authority of their parent district but all team participants collectively operate together under a unified command system unique to the team.

• Jefferson County Hazardous Materials Team (HAZMAT)^[1]
• Jefferson County Special Operations Command (JSOC) ^[2]

History

Jefferson County Fire Department

Before 1947 Jefferson County Fiscal Court operated the Jefferson County Fire Department. The department operated three engine companies from three stations equally spread across the unincorporated county land.^[3]

Fire Taxing Districts

A chapter of Kentucky's codified set of laws, the Kentucky Revised Statutes allows for the incorporation of fire protection taxing districts in otherwise unincorporated areas. As the population of Jefferson County grew after the Second World War small communities began to believe the services of the county fire department were wholly inadequate for their growing needs. These communities secured the votes necessary to establish fire protection districts. The districts levied a tax based on a property owner's total real estate worth and allowed for more money to be available exclusively for fire protection. Eventually 21 separate districts were formed, completely covering all of Jefferson County outside of the Cities of Louisville and Shively. Since it was now unnecessary Jefferson County Fiscal Court disbanded the county fire department completely in 1964.

City–County merger

The 2003 merger of Louisville and Jefferson County governments did little to affect the Jefferson County fire districts. Since the merger other non-official names for JCFS have been coined such as "Louisville Metro Suburban Fire" and the "Suburban Division, Louisville Metro Fire". Since Louisville Metro Government has no direct control over 18 of the 19 fire departments inside its boundaries, to refer to any fire department in the area as "metro" would be misleading and inaccurate. Although held by some to be pejorative, the term "Suburban Fire" is used exclusively by Metro Government to refer to Jefferson County Fire Service member districts.

The merger legislation permits the continuing existence of all governmental subdivisions of the county including cities and fire protection districts. It does, however, prohibit the incorporation of new ones. Consequently, and as a result of financial woes, several districts have chosen to dissolve and to be absorbed by neighboring districts. Strict mergers of districts are not possible since a new governmental entity would necessarily be created.

Of the original 21 fire protection districts, so far four have chosen to dissolve. Their tax revenue, areas, personnel, and equipment have been absorbed by neighboring districts. Those former districts had names that are still familiar: Edgewood, South Dixie, Black Mudd, and Dixie Suburban.

Dixie Suburban-Lake Dreamland Merger

Dixie Suburban and Lake Dreamland fire departments officially merged in July 2011.^[4]

Associations

The core of JCFS is made up of several associations representing different aspects of the fire service within Jefferson County.

Firefighter's Association

The Jefferson County Firefighters Association serves to advance the interests of the firefighting members of the various districts in matters that pertain to personnel.^[5]

Chief's Association

The Jefferson County Fire Chiefs Association meets regularly to direct the other organizations in the completion of their respective missions. The Chiefs are the parent association and provide oversight to the Inspectors, Instructors, Firefighters Associations & Special Operations Teams.^[6]

Instructor's Association

The Jefferson County Fire Instructor's Association helps to pool county-wide resources for training and continuing education. The JCFIA also sponsors and conducts the large annual Jefferson County Fire School.^[7]

Trustee's Association

The Jefferson County Fire Trustees Association promotes inter-agency cooperation between the various boards of trustees of the districts for matters of constitutionality, legal affairs, and general guidance.^[8]

Fire Inspector's Association

The Jefferson County Fire Inspector's Association promotes public fire safety education, fire inspectors training and education, and discusses solutions to fire inspections and uniform fire code applications that arise from new technologies.^[9]

Constituency

Member fire districts

Member districts of JCFS include all departments within Louisville-Jefferson County organized under Chapter 75 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes.

Jefferson County Fire Protection Districts
Anchorage	Buechel	Camp Taylor
Eastwood	Fairdale	Fern Creek
Harrods Creek	Highview	Jeffersontown
Lake Dreamland	Lyndon	McMahan
Middletown	Okolona	Pleasure Ridge Park
St Matthews	Worthington

Although not fire protection districts organized under Chapter 75 of the KRS the City of Shively Fire Department and Louisville Division of Fire often participate with JCFS in training.

Mutual Aid

The primary purpose of JCFS is to coordinate help and cooperation between the fire districts in fire suppression activities. The member district of JCFS have, through the years, integrated their response plans with one another to the extent that the districts de facto operate as one on the fireground. Newly adopted dispatching protocols disregard traditional district boundaries and direct the response of the closest, most appropriate fire equipment to a call for help. It is not uncommon to see fire apparatus from two or more districts on the scene of a routine fire call. Interoperability between the JCFS districts and Louisville Division of Fire is informal and the two organizations do not participate in the unified chain of command when operating together.

References

See also

• Louisville Division of Fire
• Louisville Metro EMS
• Louisville Metro Police Department
• Shively, Kentucky

Municipalities and communities of Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States County seat: Louisville Cities Anchorage Audubon Park Bancroft Barbourmeade Beechwood Village Bellemeade Bellewood Blue Ridge Manor Briarwood Broeck Pointe Brownsboro Farm Brownsboro Village Cambridge Coldstream Creekside Crossgate Douglass Hills Druid Hills Fincastle Forest Hills Glenview Glenview Hills Glenview Manor Goose Creek Graymoor-Devondale Green Spring Heritage Creek Hickory Hill Hills and Dales Hollow Creek Hollyvilla Houston Acres Hurstbourne Hurstbourne Acres Indian Hills Jeffersontown Kingsley Langdon Place Lincolnshire Louisville (balance) Lyndon Lynnview Manor Creek Maryhill Estates Meadow Vale Meadowbrook Farm Meadowview Estates Middletown Mockingbird Valley Moorland Murray Hill Norbourne Estates Northfield Norwood Old Brownsboro Place Parkway Village Plantation Poplar Hills Prospect‡ Richlawn Riverwood Rolling Fields Rolling Hills St. Matthews St. Regis Park Seneca Gardens Shively South Park View Spring Mill Spring Valley Strathmoor Manor Strathmoor Village Sycamore Ten Broeck Thornhill Watterson Park Wellington West Buechel Westwood Wildwood Windy Hills Woodland Hills Woodlawn Park Worthington Hills Former CDPs Buechel Fairdale Fern Creek Highview Newburg Okolona Pleasure Ridge Park St. Dennis Valley Station Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties