Riverside County Fire Department

Overview of the Riverside County Fire Department
Fire fighers at work County Fire Department is one of the largest regional fire service organizations in California. The Department responded to 110,224 incidents during the 2005 calendar year. The Department is staffed with approximately 952 career and 1,100 volunteer personnel, and currently serves approximately 2 million residents in an area of 7,004 square miles. The Riverside County Fire Department service area consists of the unincorporated county areas; 18 contract cities, and one Community Service District (CSD). The incorporated cities of Hemet, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Murrieta, Riverside, Corona and Norco administer and operate their own fire departments.

The Cities and CSD Proudly Served are:

The RCOFD operates 95 fire stations in 17 battalions, providing fire suppression, emergency medical, rescue, and fire prevention services. The department’s service area is organized into six divisions. The equipment used by the department has the versatility to respond to both urban and wildland emergency conditions. The RCOFD inventory includes structural engines, rural engines, brush engines, telesquirts, trucks, paramedic units, a helicopter, hazardous materials unit, incident command units, water tenders, fire crew vehicles, mobile communications centers, breathing support units, lighting units, power supply units, fire dozers, mobile training vans, and mobile emergency feeding units.

The Riverside County Fire Department is the Operational Area Coordinator for the California Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System for all fire service jurisdictions in the County of Riverside. Riverside County Fire Departmentalso has several automatic aid agreements with other city jurisdictions as well as the adjacent National Forests.

The County of Riverside contracts with the State of California for fire protection. Public Resources Code (PRC) 4142 affords legal authority for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to enter into agreements with local government entities to provide fire protection services with the approval of the Department of General Services. By virtue of this authority, CAL FIRE administers the Riverside County Fire Department.

CAL FIREis primarily a wildland fire protection agency with the legal responsibility for protection of approximately 33 million acres of private and state lands in California. The Riverside Unit of CAL FIRE (with headquarters in Perris) provides direct protection for 1,070,000 acres of “ wildland.” These vegetation-covered, watershed lands are designated by the State Board of Forestry as state responsibility areas. This is generally private land, outside of incorporated cities and federally owned land, where the organized protection force is at maximum strength during the declared “fire season.”

Governance of RCOFD
Riverside County was one of the first in California to endorse and support cooperative and integrated fire protection for the greatest efficiency and economy, authorizing funds to augment the State effort as early as 1906. Since 1921, the County has appointed the CAL FIRE Riverside Unit Chief as the County Fire Chief. It has appropriated County funds to augment and improve the level of protection of an additional 3,570,000 acres of local responsibility area, and protect lives and structural property in the unincorporated areas of the County. The County determines the level of contractual service. The County enhances the existing CDF system, which protects 1,070,000 acres of state responsibility area, for year-round protection. The first county-owned fire stations and engines were provided in 1946. Gradually, as it grew in population and structural development, the County authorized additional facilities and equipment using a small nucleus of paid firefighters and organized volunteers to augment the existing administrative and support positions already funded by the State.

Today, with over 50 years of service, the Riverside County Fire Department includes City, County, State, and volunteer fire stations in its regional, integrated fire protection organization. Of the twenty-four cities in Riverside County, Riverside County Fire Department serves 18 of them as well as one Community Services District. Volunteer firefighters, trained and available for emergencies are paid for actual fire fighting services. Funding for the Riverside County Fire Department is obtained from various sources such as the County general fund and city general and benefit assessment funds, redevelopment money and other sources. Riverside County Fire Department's combined State, County, and contract cities budget is over 80 million dollars.