San Bernardino City Fire Department Statistics

The City of San Bernardino serves a resident population of approximately 202,000 and covers a diverse service area of 59.3 miles. In this service area are approximately 19 miles of wild land interface area, a major rail yard, an international airport, the County Seat, a jail, two major mall complexes, and three major interstate freeways (10, 215 and 210).

The San Bernardino City Fire Department staffs twelve fire engine companies, two aerial truck companies, one heavy rescue, five 4-wheel drive brush engines, one hazardous material response rig and one medic squad housed in twelve stations in the City. The total number of Emergency Operations Personnel is 161 divided among 3 platoons. Our current "On-Duty" strength per shift (Total number of personnel available to respond to emergencies including two battalion Chief Officers ) is 53 divided among the fourteen companies. The average work week is a 56-hour week.

The department responded to 28,171 life and property threatening emergency incidents during the 2008 calendar year . Of these 4,311 were fire and other type of alarms. The San Bernardino City Fire Department responded to 23,790 medical emergencies during this same time. The SBFD processed an additional 4,116 Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) responses (ambulance only).

During 2008 several civilians and firefighters sustained minor to severe injuries from fires. Three of the twelve fire engine companies consistently average an annual call load greater than 3600 placing them among the highest volume companies in the United States.

TRAINING

The following have mandated California Fire Departments to provide a set minimum number of hours training in specific Fire Department related areas: Insurance Services Office (ISO), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), California Occupational Safety & Health Association (Cal-OSHA), Sara Title III, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), California Code Regulations (CCR), California Penal Code (PC), California Health and Safety Codes (H&S), Local Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMS), California Labor Codes (LC), California Government Code (GC), California Welfare and Institutions Codes (W&I), California Business and Profession Codes (B&P), American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI).

The San Bernardino City Fire Department has set on a comprehensive training program to meet these requirements. San Bernardino City also has area specific training to meet the needs of a very diverse work environment inside the City of San Bernardino. Some specific area needs are Emergency Medical for trauma. This is due to the large number of automobile accidents on both highways and inner city streets, industrial accidents and violence related calls. Hazardous Materials training because of an active Hazardous Materials response team responding throughout the County as well as the City for incidents in the transportation of hazardous materials on the Highways, and Railways and chemical accidents at manufacturing plants. Structural firefighting training due to several non-sprinklered commercial, single family and multiple family residential buildings in the City. Wild land Interface training due to the local seasonal climates and the history of Large Interface fires of the area. High-rise firefighting due to multiple story office buildings in the downtown area. Rescue training for over the side rescues on Mountain roads, elevators, vehicle extrication, and structure rescues.

The morale of the personnel of the San Bernardino City Fire Department is very high. This is due to the fact that the personnel are constantly using their trained skills or are bettering themselves through their daily mandated training, driver operator training, specialized training, an active call load and twenty to fifty businesses to inspect each month.