Vancouver Fire Department (Washington)

An engine company is the standard multi-purpose response resource for each VFD first-due zone (station area). Engines carry water, hose, and a full complement of emergency medical equipment.

Both VFD truck companies (aka ladder trucks) are housed alongside engine companies. VFD truck companies carry a full complement of ground ladders and a 100 ft. aerial ladder, along with other structure-fire-specific tools. They are also the primary technical rescue companies, carrying patient extrication equipment, forcible entry equipment, and other special equipment. Both VFD trucks are tractor-drawn aerials (TDAs) and do not carry water. They are the only fully-staffed truck companies in all of Clark County.

VFD engine companies are staffed 24/7 with 3 members minimum, and truck companies are staffed with 4 members minimum. Each engine company and truck company is supervised by a Captain (who is counted as part of the 3 or 4 person unit) For some of each day, Vancouver also operates at least one 2-person ALS rescue (an SUV unit; in-service status varies with day of week, shift staffing and time of day). Staff for rescue(s) does not impact minimum engine and truck staffing.

All VFD engine companies and truck companies are Advanced Life Support (ALS) units. Every firefighter, Captain and Battalion Chief is certified to either the EMT-B or paramedic level. The department's daily minimum on-duty staffing is 40, including 2 BCs. (but not including rescue, see below) More than 80% of the department's annual call volume is EMS-related. Because of their distributed locations, the fire companies provide primary ALS treatment until the AMR transport unit arrives.

All staffed VFD companies (and most of the other fire companies in Clark County) are dispatched via AVL, a GPS-based location feature of the regional computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system at CRESA (ref). The closest company(s) of a CAD-recommended type is automatically sent to an incident, regardless of jurisdiction.

Vancouver's heavy rescue, hazardous materials, fire boat, rehab and air units, as well as all water tenders and brush engines, are not normally staffed. They can be cross-staffed by their co-housed engine or truck crew when needed. (Exception- Fireboat 1 is housed several miles distant from Engine 3, the company that responds to staff it, when they are available)

The combined City of Vancouver/Fire District 5 response area is split into two geographic battalions (Battalion 1: East, Battalion 2: West). Each battalion is managed by a Battalion Chief (BC) working a 24/48 schedule. At present, each BC supervises 5 stations and their respective companies.

A Battalion Chief (BC) serves as the incident commander (IC) for all complex, multi-company operations. Both BCs respond to every structure fire incident to fill IC and other roles. A BC also normally responds with Vancouver companies that are dispatched to complex incidents outside of the VFD response area. They provide additional command staff assistance at those incidents. For very large incidents, the VFD can request the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) mobile command post unit. VPD's acquisition of this unit allowed the VFD to discontinue maintenance and operation of its own command post unit.

Technical Rescue: Heavy Rescue 5 and a Clark Co. FD 6 multi-purpose vehicle make up the Clark County Technical Rescue Team fleet. The team is composed of members from both departments, as well as from other agencies within Clark County. HR5 can be cross-staffed by members of E5 and/or T5 (when available) for initial deployment. This team is a regional asset.

Hazardous Materials: Engine 10 serves as the on-duty HazMat company for emergency consultation (in addition to its normal fire/EMS duties). The special-purpose HazMat 10 unit is not staffed, but is usually part of a team deployment. The team must be assembled for a full mobilization, with members often coming from home (paged off-duty). This can take 1 hour or more. This team is a regional asset.

In May 2014, the VFD put into service the Discovery, a 46 feet (14 m) quick response fireboat.[5] The fireboat was paid for through a port security grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Normally FEMA matches funds raised locally on a three to one basis, but, in Vancouver's case, FEMA waived the requirement for a local contribution to the capital costs, and paid the entire $1.6 million costs itself. [5]