Jefferson County Fire Service

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.^[1]

Mergers

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.

Black Mudd-Okolona merger

The Okolona Fire Protection District absorbed the Black Mudd Fire District in 2003. Black Mudd station 1 became Okolona station 3.

South Dixie-Pleasure Ridge Park merger

The South Dixie Fire District merged with Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Protection District in July 2004. South Dixie station 1 became Pleasure Ridge Park station 7, and South Dixie station 2 became Pleasure Ridge Park station 8.

Edgewood-Okolona merger

The Edgewood Fire District merged with Okolona Fire Protection District in 2005. Edgewood station 1 became Okolona station 4. This station was closed and tore down in 2010.

Dixie Suburban-Lake Dreamland merger

Dixie Suburban and Lake Dreamland fire departments officially merged in July 2011.^[2] Dixie Suburban station 1 became Lake Dreamland station 3, which currently serves as a storage and training facility.

Anchorage-Middletown merger

On March 5, 2018, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer signed the executive order making the merger between Anchorage Fire & EMS and the Middletown Fire Protection District official. The new department is called Anchorage Middletown Fire & EMS and will operate from a headquarters on Urton Lane, formally home to Middletown Station 1. This merger brings the number of JCFS fire departments to 16. All EMS operations will operate from headquarters.^[3]

Fire departments

The Jefferson County Fire Service is composed of 16 fire protection districts that collectively protect 333 square miles and 495,000 people, surrounding the original Louisville city limits.^[4]

Unit numbering system

Fire departments in the JCFS use a unified numbering system, that makes dispatching and radio transmissions a lot easier. The numbering system consists of 4 digits, and just by seeing these 4 digits, a firefighter can tell the department, the type of unit, and the number of the unit for any given vehicle. Many other counties surrounding Jefferson County in Kentucky also use this numbering system or a similar one.

The first and second digits of the 4-digit number represent the department. Department numbers include:^[5]

Defunct department numbers include 20 (Anchorage) 30 (Dixie Suburban), 35 (South Dixie), 44 (Edgewood), and 60 (Black Mudd).

JCFS special teams

The Jefferson County Fire Service has special service teams^[6] that consist of members from various departments across the county. These special teams have their own tones and "department number". The JCFS Special Operations Team uses 2 "department numbers", 1 for their water rescue equipment trailers, and 1 for their collapse and trench rescue equipment trailers. While many departments carry special equipment in their own marked vehicles and trailers, the JCFS owns their own special equipment in JCFS marked vehicles & trailers. Though some trailers go under the "department number" of the department that owns the station it's located at, or have their own call-signs.

Radio

Emergency and most government services in Jefferson County operate on one radio system, locally called Metrosafe. Metrosafe currently uses a Project 25 Phase 1 trunking system.

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.

April 3, 2015 major flooding and 8-Alarm GE Appliance Park fire

GE Appliance Park has completely removed building 6 after the fire, and they currently have no plans to rebuild the building or build a new building on the site.

Fairdale High School Fire & EMS Academy

Fairdale High School offers a Fire & EMS program that introduces students to and prepares them for careers in emergency services. The academy often trains with local fire departments, and is active in the community. They have, for a long time, maintained a fully equipped and operational pumper. The current unit, Brutus II, is a 1990 Pierce Lance pumper with a 1500 GPM pump and a 1000-gallon water tank. This unit was donated by the Fairdale Fire District, where it served as Engine 9032.

Before Brutus II arrived, the program maintained Brutus. Brutus was donated to the school from the Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Department, where it served as Engine 2223. Brutus was a 1982 Duplex D-350/Grumman 1250/750.^{[10] [11]}

Junior Firefighter Programs

Many of the Jefferson County Fire Service fire departments have an explorer program to allow kids, usually ages 16 to 18 to get a feel for what it is like to be a firefighter. They get hands on training, a state firefighter number, and their training hours get logged into the system. Namely the Highview and Okolona Fire Departments have existing official explorer/junior firefighter programs implemented and active. it is unclear whether the Fairdale Fire Department, Buechel Fire Department, Fern Creek Fire Department, and the Eastwood Fire Department still have an active program.^[12]