San Rafael Fire Department

San Rafael Fire Department

Operational area
Country	United States
State	California
City	San Rafael
Agency overview[1]
Annual calls	7,072 (2012)
Employees	77 (2012)
Annual budget	$21,649,979 (2012)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Christopher Gray
EMS level	Both
IAFF	1775
Facilities and equipment[2]
Battalions	1
Stations	7
Engines	7
Trucks	2
Ambulances	5
USAR	1
Wildland	1 - type 3
Website
Official website
IAFF website

The San Rafael Fire Department (SRFD) provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of San Rafael, California.^[3] The San Rafael Fire Department serves an estimated population of 57,000 people with approximately 75 firefighting and emergency medical field personnel. The department responds to, on average, approximately 7000 emergency calls annually, with about 70% being emergency medical calls. EMS patients are transported to the hospital of there choice, unless the call is urgent.

The department has 7 stations with 23 personnel daily. The department's color scheme is in the process of being changed from yellow, to a more traditional fire engine red. All new apparatus be painted red. Currently, only 2 of the 7 engine compare red, and one truck company (a brand new 2015 pierce 100ft ladder) is also painted red. the department use KME, HME, and Pierce for its rigs. Reserve apparatus consists of 3 reserve engines and two trucks. A county wide mutual aid program ensures that enough resources are available to respond to large events and assist during a high call volume time.

History

The San Rafael Fire Department was first organized on December 5, 1874 when William Miller and J.B. Rice posted a notice in the Marin County Journal, calling for volunteer firemen. The organisation was first named the "San Rafael Hose Company Number One" but was then renamed the "San Rafael Hose, Hook and Ladder Company" to show the range of their equipment. There were 45 volunteers from a variety of trades including a justice of the peace and a school superintendent and were led by sheriff James Tunstede. Their first major appliance was a hose cart which was pulled by hand to a hydrant. The water supply of San Rafael used gravity to provide pressure and so a pump was not required. By the 1890s, the Company had 90 volunteer members, two hand pulled hose carts, two hose carriages and one hook and ladder wagon that was pulled by a rented team of horses when needed.^[4][5]

In 1945, the first full-time fire chief, Fred Schueuer was hired. In the mid-1980s, the first fire station had to be remodeled and upgraded. In that era, there was one station in San Rafael with 250 hydrants and 15 paid firefighters as well as a host of volunteers.^[6] In 2008, led by firefighter Dave Holland, the San Rafael Fire Department upgraded its fire engines with the installation of solar panels on the vehicles. The electricity generated would be used to power computers, flashlights, and other equipment on the fire engine, so as to avoid depleting the vehicle's batteries or wasting fuel to recharge the batteries.^[7][8]

Fire Station 51 in June 2014.

The San Rafael Fire Department has signed agreements with the fire departments of both the community of Marinwood and the City of Larkspur to pool together their equipment and facilitate the exchange of employees to make up for any labor shortages at any of the fire departments.^[9][10] Larkspur and San Rafael announced that they intended to merge the administrative structures of both fire departments, though legally, the employees would still be considered employees of the fire department that hired them.^[11]

Notable incidents

In 2013, the department was praised for rescuing a horse which had fallen into a well. Water was pumped into the well to float the animal to the surface where a crane was then used to lift it out.^[12][13]

Stations & Apparatus

The SRFD has 7 stations spread across the city.^[2]

References

Coordinates: 37°58′25″N 122°31′52″W / 37.97361°N 122.53111°W / 37.97361; -122.53111