Fire department service demands and response patterns

Fire Department Service Demands

The El Dorado Hills, California Fire Department's stated mission is to "care for, protect and serve the community with integrity and excellence. As such, it is the daily mission of the department to provide emergency services for 24 hours per day and 7 hours per week. The Department's main aim is to manage crises such as providing rapid response to medical aid calls, auto accidents, wildland, brush and structure fires (El Dorado Hills Fire Department, 2010).

Along with these, the Department also prides itself on providing extensive services to the public, including public safety education, tours of the fire stations, car seat inspections, blood pressure checks, home safety inspections, and even rattlesnake removals.

The El Dorado Hills Fire Department is enabled to provide these services by means of support from the El Dorado Hills Firefighters' Association. This Association is dedicated to community service.

Furthermore, the Department is committed to being an integrated part of the community by providing information on its services, employees and commitments via a website, and also via frequent contact with the public, which, as seen above, extends beyond emergency services. Community events such as the annual "Santa Run" is an example among many other events. Community members are encouraged to participate in these events, or to visit one of the many fire stations in El Dorado Hills for a tour.

Another important service to the community is post-trauma counselling and help. The Department provides a booklet to help victims of fire events handle the subsequent shock and trauma they often suffer as a result. Firefighters are also available to help victims deal with the effects of disastrous or fire events.

The Fire Department therefore not only provides round the clock services, but also does this in a way that makes it part of the community it serves. The excellence of the Department is based upon the way in which it provides services to the community.

Having served the community since its inception in 1963, the Fire Department is fully equipped in terms of equipment and manpower to handle both its daily duties to the community and disaster events. Over the years, it has grown with the community in and is currently fully able to handle all of the community's demands for both emergency and additional services.

Currently, the El Dorado Hills Fire Department includes 15 Administrative Staff members, 51 paid Firefighters and Paramedics, and 34 Volunteers working with paid personnel. There are four stations across the District, strategically placed to serve the community effectively.

In 1963, the El Dorado Hills Fire Department was founded as part of the County Water District. At the time, the District included only one fire station to serve its 10,500 acres, ninety homes, and facilities such as a school and market. Over more than forty years since, the District grew to 30,000 acres, including 13, 215 homes and a population estimated at 39, 645 (El Dorado Hills Fire Department). The commercial district includes approximately 4, 000,000 square feet.