Page 77 - Saginaw FY21 Annual Budget

CITY OF SAGINAW
DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION

2020-2021

FIRE

The Fire Department is responsible for a wide range of services that draw from the multi-faceted training,
skills and capabilities of its personnel to effectively and professionally perform fire prevention, code
application and enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, emergency medical services, hazardous material
mitigation, disaster planning coordination and emergency management.

The Department is organized into two divisions, both under the direction of the Fire Chief: the Fire
Operations Division and the Fire Services Division. Each division is under the direction of a Division Chief
with established duties and responsibilities however, to provide effective, efficient and seamless operation of
the Department, both Divisions have some overlapping duties, responsibilities and supervisory authority. The
Fire Department currently has a total of 28 employees and operates from two fire stations.

Fire Station #1, located at 400 S. Saginaw Blvd., is staffed by a Fire Captain or Fire Lieutenant, an
Apparatus Operator and three firefighters as normal staffing. Approved minimum staffing is four. Adjacent to
Fire Station #1 is the Department’s administrative facility housing the offices of the Fire Chief, the Fire
Operations Division Chief, the Fire Services Division Chief / Fire Marshal, and the Emergency Management
Coordinator. The administrative facility also houses the Tarrant County Fire Alarm Center and the City's
“Emergency Operations Center” or EOC.

Fire Station #2, located at 801 Basswood Blvd., is staffed by a Fire Captain or Fire Lieutenant, an Apparatus
Operator and one firefighter at all times.

The Department aggressively participates in “Automatic Aid” with the Fort Worth, Lake Worth, Haslet, Blue
Mound and Eagle Mountain Fire Departments. This essentially means that for structure fires and other major
incidents, an automatic response to the incident from participating departments takes place simultaneously
consisting of pre-determined apparatus and personnel.

The Fire Department also aggressively participates in "Mutual Aid" with other fire departments in the area to
both provide and receive aid for incidents that extend beyond normal response capabilities. A "mutual aid"
response is typically initiated by request on an incident by incident basis.

The Department is also contracted by the Tarrant County Emergency Services District to serve the
unincorporated areas outside our city limits.

The Department is responsible for providing the following emergency services and specialized functions:

FIRE SUPPRESSION: Responsible for rapid response to any explosion, fire or fire-related emergency for
the purposes of rescue, control, extinguishment and mitigation.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL (FIRST RESPONDER): Responsible for immediate response to any medical
emergency or injury for evaluation, treatment and stabilization, providing both basic and advanced life-
support level care. 28 of 29 Saginaw firefighter personnel are certified as Emergency Medical Technician -
Paramedics.

77