Gold Ridge Fire Protection District - GRFPD (or state identifier GFD) is a special district governed by a board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

, that provides fire protection

Fire protection

Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of...

 and emergency medical services

Emergency medical services

Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...

 in the unincorporated areas of Sebastopol, California

Sebastopol, California

Sebastopol is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, approximately north of San Francisco. The population was 7,379 at the 2010 census, but its businesses also serve surrounding rural portions of Sonoma County, totaling about 50,000 people...

 including; Hessel, Twin Hills, and Freestone. The district includes approximately 75 sq mi (194.2 km²) and serves a population of approximately 25,000. Gold Ridge Fire Protection District has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Bennett Valley Fire Protection District

Bennett Valley Fire Protection District

Bennett Valley Fire Protection District - BVFPD is a special district governed by a board of directors, that provides fire protection and emergency medical services in the unincorporated area of southeast Santa Rosa, California outside of the city limits in Bennett Valley. The district...

(a separate special district also located in Sonoma County, California) which allows for sharing of overhead and staff. Gold Ridge Fire Protection District works in close coordination with its surrounding fire districts/departments and provides automatic and mutual aid for all types of incidents and station cover assignments.

Operations

The Gold Ridge Fire Protection District operates three fire stations, two that are continuously staffed by one of three shifts: A, B, and C shift. Each shift works 48 hours on and 96 hours off and consists of a Battalion Chief and two 3 person engine companies. There are also volunteer firefighters who can backfill the station or respond to incidents with additional apparatus, when needed. The third station is staffed by volunteers, living within the district, that respond from home. Station 2 personnel respond to all district 3 incidents to guarantee emergency response.

Fire stations and apparatus

Fire Station	Type 1 Engine	Type 3 Engine	Watertender	Special Unit	Address
Station 1	8181	8161	8191	8131 (air support unit)	4500 Hessel Rd.
		8169 (reserve)		8141 (utility pickup)

Fire Station	Type 1 Engine	Type 3 Engine	Watertender	Special Unit	Address
Station 2	8182	8162	8192	Battalion 81	1690 Watertrough Rd.
				8142 (utility pickup)

Fire Station	Type 1 Engine	Type 3 Engine	Watertender	Special Unit	Address
Station 3	None	8163	8193	None	456 Bohemian Hwy.