Palm Beach County Fire Rescue
 | |
| Operational area | |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Florida |
| County |  Palm Beach |
| Agency overview[1] | |
| Established | October 1st 1984 |
| Annual calls | 120,280 (2013) |
| Employees | 1,490 |
| Annual budget | $349 million (2014) |
| Staffing | Career |
| Fire chief | Jeff Collins |
| EMS level | ALS |
| IAFF | 2928 |
| Motto | When seconds count, Count on us [2] |
| Facilities and equipment[1] | |
| Battalions | 7 |
| Stations | 49 |
| Engines | 43 |
| Quints | 5 |
| Squads | 2 (Special Ops) |
| Rescues | 2 (Special Ops) |
| Ambulances | 53 |
| Tenders | 4 |
| HAZMAT | 2 (Special Ops) |
| USAR | 2 (Special Ops) |
| Airport crash | 5 |
| Wildland | 19 |
| Helicopters | 2 |
| Light and air | 1 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| IAFF website | |
The Palm Beach County Fire Rescue provides fire protection, emergency medical services, ALS transport and hazardous materials mitigation for unincorporated parts of Palm Beach County, Florida and 18 cities under contract.[3]
The department is responsible for 1,813 square miles (4,700 km2), providing services to over 746,000 residents throughout the county.[3] Along with the unincorporated areas of the county, PBCFR provides services for Belle Glade, Cloud Lake, Glen Ridge, Haverhill, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Lake Clarke Shores, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, Manalapan, Pahokee, Palm Springs, Royal Palm Beach, South Bay, South Palm Beach and Wellington.[4]
Operations
Combat Operations, Structure and Staffing
The department is made up of 7 battalions which contain anywhere from 3 to 9 fire stations. The battalions are numbered as follows:
- Battalion 1: 7 stations, serving the north county area (Jupiter, Lake Park, Jupiter Farms etc.)
- Battalion 2: 9 stations, serving the western county area (Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee, etc.),
- Battalion 3: 13 stations, serving the central county area and is divided into 2 districts:
- District 10: 6 stations, serving Westgtate, Palm Springs, Haverhill, Cloud Lake unincorporated Palm Beach County areas such a Century Village West Palm
- District 3: 7 stations, serving Lake Worth, Lantana, Manalapan, South Palm Beach, Lake Clarke Shores etc.
- Battalion 4: 8 stations, serving suburban Boynton Beach, Suburban Delray Beach.
- Battalion 5: 7 stations, serving suburban Boca Raton including Boca West, Loggers Run, Mission Bay.
- Battalion 7: 3 stations, serving the Glades area including Pahokee, Canal Point, Belle Glade, South Bay, US27 from Broward to Hendry County lines, John Stretch Park, several sugar mills and agricultural areas, Lake Okeechobee.
- Battalion 9 (Special Operations)- 4 stations, including PBIA and Trauma Hawk.
These units in addition to responding to calls in their immediate districts are also able to respond to special operations calls throughout Palm Beach County. Each of the 7 Battalions is led by a District Chief who is responsible for overseeing ALL operations, budgets, contracts, etc. in their Battalion. District Chiefs are on a day schedule Monday-Friday but are always on call to respond to large scale incidents as needed. P.B.C.F.R. combat personnel work on a 24 on 48 off schedule, there are 3 shifts A,B, and C. Working under the District Chief in each Battalion are the Battalion Chiefs, who are the highest ranking combat officer and also work the 24/48 schedule. Each shift is led by a Battalion Chief. Each Battalion has 2 combat command level officers one being the Battlaion Chief the other being the District Captain. These 2 command officers work together to insure smooth and safe operation on all incidents, training, and oversight/management duties. The District Captain is primarily responsible in overseeing EMS response and training, while the Battalion Chief is primarily responsible for Fire response and training. Both of these officers function in the command structure as single unit resources and command staff. The Battalion Chief and the District Captain oversee the stations in their respective battalions. Each Station is made up of various units but the normal station includes an Engine or Truck company led by a Captain, and a Rescue unit (ALS Transport) led by a Lieutenant.
The numbering or call signs of P.B.C.F.R. units is as follows; Battalion Chiefs are numbered based on the station they are house in or the battalion HQ station, as are the District Captains. An example of this would be the Battalion Chief of Battalion 3/District 3 would be Battalion 91, while the District Captain of the same battalion would be EMS91. The Engine at station 91 is Engine 91, and the Rescue is Rescue 91. Some stations such as Station 23 have 2 rescues housed in the station. In this case the engine would be "Engine 23", the first rescue would be "Rescue 23" and the second rescue would be "Rescue 223". "Battalion 28" and "EMS 28" would be the battalion 2 Battalion Chief and District Captain.
The District Chiefs or the day chiefs that are the highest-ranking officers in each battalion report to the Division Chief of Operations. The Division Chief of Operations is a day chief that works out of headquarters (405 Pike Rd, West Palm Beach). The Division Chief of Operations (Radio Call Sign OPS2) reports to The Deputy Chief of Operations (Radio Call Sign OPS1). This makes up the combat or 911 response and mitigation structure. P.B.C.F.R. has a Training Division with a Division Chief of Training and multiple Staff Captains of training. The department also has a Rescue Division that is led by a District Chief of Rescue and several staff Captains of Rescue. These areas all working together insure the most well trained, highly skilled response to any emergency and the rapid and safe mitigation of well over a hundred thousand responses each year.
Special Ops
The department has two special operations apparatus. These multipurpose units function as heavy rescues, HazMats, USAR and rescue squads. Locate at stations 19 and 34, they are responsible for hazardous materials incidents, dive rescue, confined space rescue and high angle rescue.[5] They also assist the Sheriff's Office's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team.[6] The units also function as mobile command center on extended operations.
Airport Operations
The PBCFR is responsible for providing aircraft rescue and firefighting for the Palm Beach International Airport, one the 50 busiest airports in the United States. The station which is located near the center of the airport grounds, is home to 13 pieces of specialized fire fighting equipment.[7]
These apparatus include:
- An air stair which allows for assistance in deplaning in an emergency.[8]
- Five Airport crash tenders that go by the call sign Dragon (Dragon 1, Dragon 2, etc.).[9]
- A foam unit that carries Purple-K concentrate to assist with extinguishing a fire.[10]
- A heavy rescue vehicle that carries additional tools for a plane crash and other mass-casualty incidents.[11]
Trauma Hawk
The Palm Beach County Fire Rescue partners with the Palm Beach County Health Care District to operate the Trauma Hawk Aero-Medical Program.[12] The Trauma Hawk program, established in November 1990, replaced the use of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office helicopters to medevac critically injured patients to area hospitals.[12] At the Trauma Hawk Station, located at the south west corner of Palm Beach International Airport, the department has two Sikorsky S-76C helos.[13] The air ambulances are identically equipped and can carry two patients each and up to four medical attendants if needed.[13] Each helicopter is staffed with a pilot, a registered nurse (RN) and a paramedic. The nurses and paramedics are Palm Beach County Fire Rescue employees while the pilots are Health Care District employees.[12]
Stations and apparatus
Below is a list of all apparatus and their respective fire stations. This list, taken from the PBCFR website, is current as of 25 February 2014[update].[14]
| City | Engine | ALS Rescue | Truck | Wildland | Other | Battalion | Staffing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Jupiter Farms | Engine 14
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 14 | Brush 14 | Tender 14 | 1 | 6 | |
| 15 | Juno Beach | Rescue 15 | Ladder 15
(2005 Ferrara Inferno) |
Brush 15 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 16 | Jupiter | Engine 16
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 16 | Brush 16 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 17 | West Palm Beach | Engine 17
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 17 | Brush 17 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 18 | Jupiter | Engine 18
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 18
(2013 International/Horton) |
1 | 5 | |||
| 19 | Jupiter | Engine 19
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 19
(2009 International/Horton) |
Brush 19 | District 1
Battalion 19 Special Operations 19 |
1 | 9 | |
| 20 | Wellington | Engine 20
(2014 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 20 | Brush 20 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 21 | Royal Palm Beach | Engine 21
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 21
(2013 International/Horton) |
Brush 21 | Tender 21 | 2 | 6 | |
| 22 | Royal Palm Beach | Engine 22
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 22 | Brush 22 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 23 | West Palm Beach | Engine 23
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 23 Rescue 223 |
District 3
Battalion 23 EMS 23 |
3 | 10 | ||
| 24 | West Palm Beach | Engine 24
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 24 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 25 | Wellington | Engine 25
(2014 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 25
(2013 International/Horton) |
Brush 625 | Special Events Rescue | 2 | 6 | |
| 26 | West Palm Beach | Engine 26
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 26
(2013 International/Horton) |
Brush 26 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 27 | Wellington | Engine 27
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 27 | Brush 27 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 28 | Royal Palm Beach | Engine 28
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 28 | Brush 628 | District 2
Battalion 28 EMS 28 |
2 | 8 | |
| 29 | Royal Palm Beach | Rescue 29 | Truck 29 (2010 Sutphen Monarch) | 2 | 5 | |||
| 30 | Wellington | Engine 30
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 30
(2009 International/Horton) (2013 International/Horton) |
2 | 5 | |||
| 31 | Palm Springs | Engine 31
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 31
(2014 International/Horton) |
3 | 5 | |||
| 32 | Lake Worth | Engine 32
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 32
(2009 International/Horton) |
Brush 32 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 33 | West Palm Beach | Engine 33
(2009 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 33
(2014 International/Horton) |
3 | 6 | |||
| 34 | West Palm Beach | Engine 34
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 34
(2013 International/Horton) |
District 9
Battalion 34 Special Operations 34 |
9 | 9 | ||
| 35 | Lantana | Rescue 35
(2013 International/Horton) |
Truck 35 (2014 Sutphen Monarch) | 3 | 5 | |||
| 36 | West Palm Beach | Engine 36
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 36
(2010 International/Horton) |
3 | 6 | |||
| 37 | Lantana | Engine 37
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 37 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 38 | Manalapan | Engine 38
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
3 | 3 | ||||
| 39 | Palm Springs | Engine 39
(2014 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 39
(2014 International/Horton) |
3 | 5 | |||
| 41 | Boynton Beach | Engine 41
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 41
(2010 International/Horton) (2009 International/Horton) |
4 | 8 | |||
| 42 | Delray Beach | Engine 42 (2012 Sutphen Shield) | Rescue 42 | Brush 42 | District 4
Battalion 42 EMS 42 |
4 | 9 | |
| 43 | Lake Worth | Engine 43
(2014 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 43
(2009 International/Horton) |
Brush 43 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 44 | Boynton Beach | Engine 44 | Rescue 44 Rescue 244 (2013 International/Horton) |
4 | 5 | |||
| 45 | Delray Beach | Engine 45
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 45 Rescue 245 |
4 | 8 | |||
| 46 | Lake Worth | Engine 46
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 46
(2009 International/Horton) |
4 | 6 | |||
| 47 | Boynton Beach | Rescue 47
(2009 International/Horton) |
Ladder 47
(2007 Ferrara Inferno) |
4 | 5 | |||
| 48 | Lake Worth | Engine 48
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 48
(2009 International/Horton) |
Brush 48 | (Staffing Permitting)Battalion 48
EMS 48 |
4 | 3 | |
| 51 | Boca Raton | Engine 51
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 51
(2014 International/Horton) |
5 | 6 | |||
| 52 | Boca Raton | Engine 52
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 52 | 4 | 3 | |||
| 53 | Boca Raton | Engine 53
(2012 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 53
(2006 Freightliner/American LaFrance) |
5 | 6 | |||
| 54 | Boca Raton | Engine 54
(2009 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 54
(2014 International/Horton) |
Brush 654 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 55 | Boca Raton | Engine 55
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 55
(2009 International/Horton) |
5 | 6 | |||
| 56 | Boca Raton | Rescue 56
(2006 Freightliner/American LaFrance) (2013 International/Horton) |
5 | 5 | ||||
| 57 | Boca Raton | Rescue 57
(2013 International/Horton) |
Truck 57
(2009 Sutphen Monarch) |
District 5
Battalion 57 EMS 57 |
5 | 8 | ||
| 58 | Boca Raton | Engine 58
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
5 | 3 | ||||
| 72 | Pahokee | Engine 72
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 72 | Brush 72 | Tender 72 | 7 | 7 | |
| 73 | Belle Glade | Engine 73
(2006 E-One Typhoon) |
Rescue 73
(2010 International/Horton) (2013 International/Horton) |
Ladder 73
(2002 Ferrara Inferno) |
District 7
Battalion 73 EMS 73 |
7 | 13 | |
| 74 | South Bay | Engine 74
(2009 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 74 | 7 | 5 | |||
| 68 | Lake Park | Engine 68 | Rescue 68 | Foam 68 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 81 | West Palm Beach Palm Beach Int'l Airport |
Rescue
Pumper 81 |
Rescue Pumper
81 |
District Chief 8, Air Stair 81 Crash 1-5, Foam 81, Heavy Rescue 81 |
9 | |||
| 91 | Lake Worth | Engine 91
(2014 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 91
(2010 International/Horton) |
District 3 (Satellite Office)
Battalion 91 EMS 91 |
3 | 8 | ||
| 93 | Lake Worth | Engine 93
(2013 Sutphen Shield) |
Rescue 93
(2014 International/Horton) |
3 | 6 | |||
| 82 | Palm Beach Int'l Airport Trauma Hawk |
Trauma Hawk 1
Trauma Hawk 2 |
9 | 6 |
References
- ^ a b "FY2014 Fact Sheet" (PDF). Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Palm Beach County Fire Rescue". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ a b "About Us". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Area's Served". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Apparatus List". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Special Operations". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Station 81". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Air Stair 1". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Dragon 1". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Foam 81". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Support 81". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ a b c "Trauma Hawk". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ a b "Station Trauma Hawk". Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Station List". Palm Beach County Fire Department. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
