Fire Services
Operations Division
The Operations Division of the Turlock City Fire Department is responsible for the daily emergency response activities of the Department. This includes medical emergencies, fires, hazardous materials spills, technical rescues, public assistance, and other emergency calls. The Operations Division is led by the Operations Chief Tim Lohman and his primary functions are Personnel Management, Resource Management, and Special Operations.
Personnel Management
We provide these services to our community with 48 Line firefighter positions in the department. We accomplish this through the 3 platoon system consisting of 3 Battalion Chiefs, 15 Captains, 15 Engineers, and 15 Fire Fighters. All of our personnel are EMT’S, and we provide Basic Life Support (BLS) emergency medical services. Our line personnel work 24 hour shifts, the 3 on 4 off schedule. We have 3 firefighters at each of our 4 stations. We have a mandatory physical fitness program for all of our line personnel, and that program is managed by a Captain within our department. All of our Fire Fighters are highly dedicated to this community, and are proud to serve the Citizens of Turlock.
The city is divided into 4 districts, and is served by an engine company in each district. Each of the four fire stations is located to provide the best response times to locations in that district. In addition we have a 100’ ladder truck at station 1 that is cross staffed by the Firefighters at that station.
Our fire department responded to a total of 5026 emergency calls for service in 2008. Our units are dispatched through the 911 system that we share with our Police Department. The graph below shows the increase in call volume over the past 5 years.
The steady growth of the city is a direct reflection on our increased call volume. Of the total calls for 2008, 69% were ems calls for service. That is near the national average of 70%. The graph below illustrates the types of calls our department responded to in 2008. Through this recent growth we have been able to maintain our response times to 5 minutes or less the past 3 years. The second graph below shows the trend for average response times to emergency calls by the fire department
Equipment
All of our emergency response equipment is managed by the Operations Division. Many of our firefighters work directly with the Operations Chief to assist in the many different equipment management programs. We have 3 firefighters (2 Captains & 1 Engineer) who help in the apparatus maintenance and repair program. They help maintain our 4 frontline type I engines, and 1 truck that are all 1999 or newer Pierce Apparatus. In addition, we have a 1993 Hi Tech type I engine in reserve.
It is our operational goal to standardize the equipment on our engines to help provide consistency in delivering our services. We carry a large cache of EMS equipment including defibrillators, to provide high quality EMS care. We also carry firefighting equipment, auto extrication equipment, and a variety of tools to help us mitigate the many different types of emergencies that we respond to.
We have a Battalion Chief who manages the direction, and purchasing of our EMS program and supplies. We have a Captain and Engineer who manage the maintenance, testing, and purchasing of parts for our SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) program. We have another Engineer who manages our Personal Protective Clothing program. In addition, 3 Captains, an Engineer, and a Firefighter who maintain our mapping program, and 1 Captain who manages our hose program. It is our department philosophy to allow our firefighters to manage these essential programs within our department to help with career growth, and meet the daily requirements of these programs.
Special Operations
Many of our Firefighters extend their training and experience beyond their normal firefighting duties by participating on one or more specialty teams. All of these teams require commitment, technical expertise, and training above our normal training expectations.
The technical rescue team is made up of several members of the department who all train together once per month on special skills such as high angle, low angle and building collapse skills. In this picture the team has assembled and they are preparing for search and rescue training inside a collapsed building. Personnel assigned to the Technical Rescue Team are certified by the State of California as Confined Space Rescue or Rescue Systems One qualified. The team trains monthly to maintain their skills, evaluate equipment, and become familiar with potential hazards in our jurisdiction. The team responds to rescues as required.
Our Haz Mat team is made up of 7 memebers from the department which consists of 2 Haz mat Specialists, and 5 Haz Mat Technicians. They all participate on the Stanislaus County Haz Mat Team in addition to providing technical support on all Haz Mat emergencies in our city.
All of our firefighters are trained to a first responder level for haz mat emergencies.
Our department participates in the State wide mutual aid plan, and we have one engine designated to respond on strike teams with other agencies from our county.. We also will help provide in county mutual aid at the request of any of the other fire agencies within Stanislaus County.
We also have members of our department who are part of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) overhead team, and the Operational Area Council. When asked to participate by the County we could provide trained individuals to assist in the county EOC.
Through these operations our department is focused on providing essential services and quality trained people to help provide the very best service to our citizens and visitors.
