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Department Overview
Operating from 3 facilities and serving residents in over 50 square
miles, the St. Charles Fire Department utilizes full-time, part-time (paid
on call), and contracted employees to deliver a wide range of services.
The services fall within the four general categories of Administration,
Fire Suppression, Fire Prevention, and Emergency Medical Service. Each
category is subdivided to accommodate the specialized functions needed
to operate the department.
Organizationally,
the department operates under the direction and leadership of the Fire
Chief. Currently, there are five Assistant Fire Chief positions. Three
have the primary assignment of “Shift Chief” and work a 24/48
schedule as the shift commander. Each of these officers also has role
of responsibility within the department. One heads Operations, a second
is in charge of Training, EMS and Safety, and the third coordinates Support
Services. The two remaining Assistant Chief positions are devoted to Administration
and the Office of the Fire Marshal. They work the day schedule and will
also fill-in for the Shift Chief during vacations and other days off.
Three Captains are charged with the command of a fire station as well
as an additional specialized role of responsibility. Individual companies
are staffed with an officer and a minimum of two firefighters.
Each year, the St. Charles Fire Department will respond to approximately
5,000 requests for emergency service, perform several thousand fire and
safety inspections, and provide multiple public education programs. The
staff of 37 full-time and 20 part-time employees will average over 325
public contacts per employee, per year.
The department participates in the MABAS
system and has several Automatic Mutual Aid agreements with bordering
Fire Departments to ensure rapid and effective response. Dispatching is
done by the Tri-Com
9-1-1 communications center and the department is a member of the
Tri-City Ambulance Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement for ambulance
response.
The Fire Department holds a Public Protection Classification (PPC) of
ISO Class 2. ISO
collects information on a community’s public fire protection and
analyzes the data using the fire suppression rating schedule. This fire
suppression rating schedule measures the major elements of a community’s
fire suppression system and develops a numeric grade. The classification
grade is from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents the best public protection,
and class 10 indicates less than the minimum recognized protection.
The department strives to maintain excellence in service delivery, encourage
participation by employees, and address employee needs. This is accomplished
in accordance with the guidelines given by our own mission statement,
as well as the mission and values of the City of St. Charles.
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