Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
Encyclopedia
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is a combination career and volunteer organization that provides fire suppression, emergency medical, technical rescue, hazardous materials, water rescue, life safety education, fire prevention and arson investigation services to Fairfax County
, Virginia
. Emergency medical services include advanced life support response by ALS capable engines and transport units.
As part of the Council of Metropolitan Governments, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is labeled number 4 in the 800 MHz trunked radio system. All FCFR units begin with 4 followed by the station number. For example, the engine from station 4 is Engine 404, and the tower-ladder from station 36 is Tower 436. During an emergency that would require a response from multiple agencies, dispatchers are quickly able to identify what county a particular piece of apparatus came from.
FCFRD is one of the most highly funded departments (per capita) in the nation, and is able to supply its employees with the most advanced technology available. As of January 1-2007, the department had an operating budget of nearly $175 million dollars (roughly $175 per person, compared with FDNY’s budget of $125 per person.)
Each year the department receives over 30,000 employment applications. The recruitment process is highly competitive and often takes over a year to complete all the necessary steps.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue also sponsors one of the nation’s Urban Search and Rescue
response teams. Named 'Virginia Task Force 1,' the team is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural or man-made catastrophic event. The team is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine operations, and technical search. Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency
for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development
/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance during international missions. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions.
There are 12 active volunteer fire departments in Fairfax County. Volunteers are active operationally as well as administratively - with nearly 300 volunteer personnel available to provide supplemental staffing for fire and rescue services. While some volunteer stations own and maintain their station, as well as owning the equipment, Fairfax County provides 24-hour staffing with paid firefighters and paramedics on three shifts.
Volunteers work hand in hand with the career staff, providing supplemental staffing on the career staffed fire engines, fire trucks, rescue squads, paramedic units and ambulances, as well as additional units such as fire engines, paramedic units, ambulances and canteens. Volunteers also provide resources for large community events like Celebrate Fairfax.
Each department works closely with the other volunteer fire departments in Fairfax County, pooling resources to provide the best possible service to the community.
Fire hydrant
s are quite common in Fairfax and thus the county only has 5 tanker trucks stationed in the few remaining rural parts of the county: Great Falls, North Point, Clifton, Crosspointe, and the area around U.S. Route 1
near Gunston.
In 2010 Fairfax County Fire & Rescue responded to 91,838 calls, nearly 70% of which were EMS related. In 2009 Fairfax County Fire & Rescue redesigned their EMS system to staff an ALS medic unit in every station.
Employees work rotating shifts, based on the “federal government system.”
24on – 24off – 24on – 24off – 24on – 96off.
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Emergency medical services include advanced life support response by ALS capable engines and transport units.
As part of the Council of Metropolitan Governments, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is labeled number 4 in the 800 MHz trunked radio system. All FCFR units begin with 4 followed by the station number. For example, the engine from station 4 is Engine 404, and the tower-ladder from station 36 is Tower 436. During an emergency that would require a response from multiple agencies, dispatchers are quickly able to identify what county a particular piece of apparatus came from.
Overview
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department consists of 37 fire stations, numbered 401 through 441 with the Fairfax City Fire Department operating stations 403 and 433. The stations cover an area of 399 square miles (1,033.4 km²). With over 1,600 uniformed staff, and 300 operational volunteers, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is the largest fire department in the Commonwealth of Virginia.FCFRD is one of the most highly funded departments (per capita) in the nation, and is able to supply its employees with the most advanced technology available. As of January 1-2007, the department had an operating budget of nearly $175 million dollars (roughly $175 per person, compared with FDNY’s budget of $125 per person.)
Each year the department receives over 30,000 employment applications. The recruitment process is highly competitive and often takes over a year to complete all the necessary steps.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue also sponsors one of the nation’s Urban Search and Rescue
Urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces due to natural disasters, structural collapse, transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches.USAR teams in different countries may be organised in a...
response teams. Named 'Virginia Task Force 1,' the team is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural or man-made catastrophic event. The team is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine operations, and technical search. Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance during international missions. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions.
There are 12 active volunteer fire departments in Fairfax County. Volunteers are active operationally as well as administratively - with nearly 300 volunteer personnel available to provide supplemental staffing for fire and rescue services. While some volunteer stations own and maintain their station, as well as owning the equipment, Fairfax County provides 24-hour staffing with paid firefighters and paramedics on three shifts.
Volunteers work hand in hand with the career staff, providing supplemental staffing on the career staffed fire engines, fire trucks, rescue squads, paramedic units and ambulances, as well as additional units such as fire engines, paramedic units, ambulances and canteens. Volunteers also provide resources for large community events like Celebrate Fairfax.
Each department works closely with the other volunteer fire departments in Fairfax County, pooling resources to provide the best possible service to the community.
Fire hydrant
Fire hydrant
A fire hydrant , is an active fire protection measure, and a source of water provided in most urban, suburban and rural areas with municipal water service to enable firefighters to tap into the municipal water...
s are quite common in Fairfax and thus the county only has 5 tanker trucks stationed in the few remaining rural parts of the county: Great Falls, North Point, Clifton, Crosspointe, and the area around U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 is a major north–south U.S. Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs 2,377 miles from Fort Kent, Maine at the Canadian border south to Key West, Florida. U.S. 1 generally parallels Interstate 95, though it is significantly farther west between...
near Gunston.
In 2010 Fairfax County Fire & Rescue responded to 91,838 calls, nearly 70% of which were EMS related. In 2009 Fairfax County Fire & Rescue redesigned their EMS system to staff an ALS medic unit in every station.
Employees work rotating shifts, based on the “federal government system.”
24on – 24off – 24on – 24off – 24on – 96off.
Fairfax County Fire Stations
| Station | Locality | Fire Units | EMS Units | Battalion Management | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | Truck | Rescue Squad Heavy rescue vehicle A heavy rescue vehicle is a type of specialty firefighting or EMS apparatus. They are primarily designed to provide the specialized equipment necessary for technical rescue situations such as auto accidents requiring vehicle extrication, building collapses, confined space rescue, rope rescues and... |
Tanker Water tender A water tender, also known as a tanker in some regions, is a specialized firefighting apparatus designed for transporting water from a water source to a fire scene... |
Medic Unit Ambulance An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient... |
Ambulance Ambulance An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient... |
Battalion Chief | EMS Supervisor | ||
| Station 1-V | McLean McLean, Virginia McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census.... |
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| Station 2-V | Vienna Vienna, Virginia Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to... |
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| Station 4 | Herndon Herndon, Virginia Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:... |
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| Station 5-V | Franconia Franconia, Virginia Franconia is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 18,245 at the 2010 census, down from 31,907 in 2000 due to the splitting off of part of it to form Kingstowne CDP.... |
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| Station 8-V | Annandale Annandale, Virginia Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:... |
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| Station 9 | Mount Vernon Mount Vernon, Virginia Mount Vernon is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Nearby CDPs are Fort Belvoir , Groveton, Virginia and Hybla Valley, Virginia , and Fort Hunt, Virginia... |
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| Station 10-V | Bailey's Crossroads Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia Bailey's Crossroads is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 23,643 at the 2010 census... |
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| Station 11 | Penn Daw | X | X | X | X | X | |||
| Station 12-V | Great Falls Great Falls, Virginia Great Falls is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,427 at the 2010 census.Although primarily a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., one major attraction is Great Falls Park which overlooks the Great Falls of the Potomac River, for which... |
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| Station 13-V | Dunn Loring Dunn Loring, Virginia Dunn Loring is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,803 at the 2010 census.-History:... |
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| Station 14-V | Burke Burke, Virginia -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 57,737 people, 19,215 households, and 15,756 families residing in the community. Burke is the largest community in Virginia recognized by the Census Bureau, other than counties and incorporated cities . The population density was 5,008.0 people per... |
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| Station 15 | Chantilly Chantilly, Virginia Chantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the... |
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| Station 16 | Clifton Clifton, Virginia Clifton is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States located away from Washington, D.C. In 2010, the population was 282.-Pre-Colonial era:... |
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| Station 17-V | Centreville Centreville, Virginia Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,... |
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| Station 18 | Jefferson Jefferson, Virginia West Falls Church is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 29,207 at the 2010 census.... |
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| Station 19-V | Lorton Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population is 27,709 as of the 2008 census estimate.-History:... |
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| Station 20 | Gunston | X | X | X | |||||
| Station 21-V | Fair Oaks Fair Lakes, Virginia Fair Lakes is an unincorporated community and business park located northwest of Fairfax in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Census Bureau defines Fair Lakes as a census-designated place with a population of 7,942 as of 2010.- About :... |
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| Station 22-V | Springfield Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs including North Springfield,... |
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| Station 23 | West Annandale Annandale, Virginia Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:... |
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| Station 24 | Woodlawn Woodlawn, Virginia Woodlawn is a census-designated place in Carroll County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,249 at the 2000 census. Woodlawn is musically notable as the home of Heritage Shoppe and Heritage Records, a store and record label owned by Bobby Patterson, a musician from a regionally... |
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| Station 25 | Reston Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census... |
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| Station 26 | Edsall Road | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Station 27 | West Springfield Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs including North Springfield,... |
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| Station 28 | Seven Corners Seven Corners, Virginia Seven Corners is a commercial center and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,701 at the 2000 census. Seven Corners has a "Falls Church" mailing address but is not within the independent City of Falls Church, Virginia. The area got its name... |
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| Station 29 | Tysons Corner Tysons Corner, Virginia Tysons Corner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Part of the Washington Metropolitan Area located in Northern Virginia, Tysons Corner lies between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway . The population was... |
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| Station 30 | Merrifield Merrifield, Virginia Merrifield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 11,170 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Merrifield is located at... |
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| Station 31 | Fox Mill | X | X | X | |||||
| Station 32 | Fairview | X | X | X | |||||
| Station 34 | Oakton Oakton, Virginia Oakton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. The population was 29,348 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 22124.-Geography:Oakton is located at... |
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| Station 35 | Pohick | X | X | ||||||
| Station 36 | Frying Pan | X | X | X | |||||
| Station 37 | Kingstowne Kingstowne, Virginia Kingstowne is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is a master-planned community that lies amidst the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Springfield, Alexandria, and Lorton, Virginia and is centered around the intersection of South Van Dorn Street and Kingstowne... |
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| Station 38 | West Centerville Centerville, Virginia Centerville, Virginia may refer to:*Centerville, Accomack County, Virginia*Centerville, Goochland County, Virginia*Centerville, Montgomery County, Virginia... |
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| Station 39 | North Point Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census... |
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| Station 40 | Fairfax Center | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Station 41 | Crosspointe | X | X | X | X | X | |||
| Station 42 | Wolf Trap (Planned) | X | X | X |
External links