CAL FIRE Recognizes its Public Safety Telecommunicators #CaFire

Thursday, April 18, 2013

CAL FIRE Recognizes its Public Safety Telecommunicators #CaFire

NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATIONS WEEK RUNS APRIL 14-20
CAL FIRE operates 21 Emergency Command Centers (ECC) throughout California that answer over 350,000 calls

When an emergency strikes, the public turns to the 9-1-1 system as the lifeline to ensure police, fire and medical personnel are able to respond quickly. Since 9-1-1 operators often go unrecognized, CAL FIRE is taking the opportunity during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to highlight the critical role the department’s dispatchers play in an emergency. The national recognition week began on Sunday, April 14 and will run through the Saturday, April 20.

“Our Emergency Command Center personnel are the frontline of any emergency and they help bring calm to an otherwise chaotic and stressful situation,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, director of CAL FIRE. “They are the voice on the otherside of the phone or behind the radio that often go unnoticed by the public.”

CAL FIRE operates 21 Emergency Command Centers (ECC) throughout California that answer over 350,000 calls for help and dispatch out over a thousand different pieces of emergency equipment including fire engines, helicopters and airtankers. Approximately 100 local fire departments contract with CAL FIRE to provide dispatching services.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week was started by Congress back in 1991 to help highlight the thousands of individuals who respond to emergency calls. These men and woman are there 24/7 to aid and dispatch emergency professionals and resources during a crisis.

CFN - California Fire News 2013

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Thursday, April 18, 2013