District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department

District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department

File:DistrictofColumbiaFireandEMSLogo.png
Operational area
Country	United States
City	Washington, D.C.
Agency overview
Established	September 24, 1804 (1804-09-24)
Annual calls	~150,000
Employees	2,130 (2013)
Annual budget	$199,373,728 (2013)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Gregory M. Dean
EMS level	ALS and BLS
IAFF	36
Facilities and equipment
Battalions	6
Stations	33
Engines	33
Tillers	15
Platforms	1
Rescues	3
Ambulances	24 ALS and 27 BLS
HAZMAT	2
Wildland	1
Fireboats	2
Light and air	1
Website
Official website
IAFF website

The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, (also known as DC FEMS, FEMS, DCFD, DC Fire, or Fire & EMS), established July 1, 1884, provides fire protection and emergency medical service to the city of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. An organ of the devolved district government, Fire & EMS is responsible for providing fire suppression, ambulance service and hazardous materials containment for the federal district.

History

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A DCFD fire engine in December 2005.

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DCFD Engine Company #23 (Foggy Bottom Firehouse)

File:DCFD Fire Department fire truck - 2010-09-07.jpg

DCFD Engine 7

On January 13, 1803, prior to the formation of a fire fighting company in the city, Washington's first law regarding fire control was passed; this law instructed that for every building in the city, the building's owner must provide leather buckets for use in fire suppression. Owners were required to provide as many buckets as there were stories to the building. The fine for failure to provide the required number of buckets was one dollar per missing bucket.

To resolve problems stemming from the rivalry between competing private volunteer companies, an act to consolidate volunteer fire departments and organize a paid fire department was approved in 1864 and implemented on September 23, 1871, with the District of Columbia Fire Department becoming fully professional with a combination of paid and volunteer staff under the banner of DCFD. This very first incarnation of the fire department had seven paid firefighters and thirteen call men to answer alarms, manning three engines and two ladders. By 1900, the DCFD had grown to 14 engine, 4 ladder and 2 chemical companies.

Rescuers and firefighters from the DCFD were major participants in the 1968 riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Widespread civil unrest, looting and arson resulted in the mobilization of the entire force, along with 70 outside companies, to battle over 500 fires and perform 120 rescues during the four days of disorder. The department was riven by racial tension in the 1970s and 1980s, as the nearly all-white department became much more racially integrated and African American firefighters sought upper-level supervisory and management positions.

2010s budget and maintenance problems

Main article: Recent history of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department

In January 2010, The Washington Examiner reported that, in a major management failure, the agency failed to budget for seniority pay in its fiscal 2010 budget, causing a $2 million shortfall. After a hiring freeze left 130 positions unfilled, the department was projected to spend $15.4 million in fiscal 2010 (2.5 times the budgeted amount). More than 75 percent of the agency's budget goes to salaries and fringe benefits.

Problems with vehicle maintenance also worsened after 2010. The department lost track of the location of reserve vehicles, and sometimes listed fire engines as available for duty when they had been stripped for parts and sent to the junkyard. In 2012, the agency hired a consultant at a cost of $182,000 to create an accurate database of vehicle status and location. Both the D.C. City Council and the District of Columbia's inspector general have strongly criticized the department's record. The District of Columbia Firefighters Association, Local 36, IAFF, argues that the problem lies with poor management, while DCFEMS has said the problems either cannot be accounted for or are the result of rank-and-file incompetence or neglect.

In July 2013, more than 60 DCFEMS ambulances were out of commission due to maintenance issues, and the department was forced to hire a private ambulance service to provide staffing at a Major League Baseball game. On August 8, 2013, a DCFEMS ambulance ran out of fuel while part of President Barack Obama's motorcade, and ended up stranded on the South Lawn of the White House. (EMS personnel said they reported a broken fuel gauge months ago, while DCFEMS said workers failed to fill the vehicle with gasoline.) On August 13, 2013, two DCFEMS ambulances caught fire—one while delivering a patient to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the other while responding to an emergency call at an apartment building on Benning Road SE. (Another ambulance was dispatched to take the patient to the hospital.)

Stations and apparatus

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Engine 10 and Truck 13's quarters in Trinidad.

As of June 2015 below is a complete list of stations and apparatus in used by the DCFD.

	Neighborhood	Engine	Truck	Squad	EMS	Special	Command	Battalion
1	Dupont Circle	Engine 1	Truck 1		Ambulance 1 Medic 1	Twin Agent Unit 2		6
2	Penn Quarter	Engine 2		Squad 1	Medic 2	Mass Casualty Unit	EMS 8	6
3	Judiciary Square	Engine 3			Ambulance 3	Water Supply Engine 52		6
4	Pleasant Plains	Engine 4			Ambulance 4	Air Unit 1		4
5	Georgetown	Engine 5			Medic 5	Rehab Unit, Canteen 1		5
6	Mount Vernon Square	Engine 6	Truck 4		Ambulance 6			1
7	Navy Yard	Engine 7			Medic 7	Brush Unit 1		2
8	Barney Circle	Engine 8			Medic 8		EMS 2, Battalion 2	2
9	Adams Morgan	Engine 9	Truck 9		Ambulance 9			4
10	Trinidad	Engine 10	Truck 13		Ambulance 10			1
11	Columbia Heights	Engine 11	Truck 6		Ambulance 11	Water Supply 54	EMS 4, Battalion 4	4
12	Eckington	Engine 12			Ambulance 12	HazMat	EMS 1, Battalion 1	1
13	Mount Vernon Square	Engine 13	Truck 10		Ambulance 13			6
14	Michigan Park	Engine 14			Ambulance 14 Medic 14			1
15	Anacostia	Engine 15		Squad 3	Ambulance 15 Medic 15		EMS 3, Battalion 3	3
16	Downtown	Engine 16	Tower 3		Ambulance 16		EMS 6, Battalion 6	6
17	Brookland	Engine 17			Medic 17			1
18	Capitol Hill	Engine 18	Truck 7		Ambulance 18			2
19	Twining	Engine 19			Medic 19			3
20	Tenleytown	Engine 20	Truck 12		Ambulance 20		EMS 5, Battalion 5	5
21	Adams Morgan	Engine 21			Medic 21	Water Supply Engine 55		5
22	Brightwood	Engine 22	Truck 11		Ambulance 22			4
23	Foggy Bottom	Engine 23			Ambulance 23			6
24	Brightwood Park	Engine 24		Squad 2	Medic 24	Mass Causality Unit		4
25	Congress Heights	Engine 25			Ambulance 25	Mass Decon		3
26	Brentwood	Engine 26	Truck 15		Ambulance 26			1
27	Eastland Gardens	Engine 27			Ambulance 27 Medic 27			2
28	Cleveland Park	Engine 28	Truck 14		Ambulance 28			5
29	Berkley	Engine 29	Truck 5		Ambulance 29			5
30	Capitol View	Engine 30	Truck 17		Ambulance 30 Medic 30			2
31	Chevy Chase	Engine 31			Medic 31			5
32	Garfield Heights	Engine 32	Truck 16		Ambulance 32			3
33	Bellevue	Engine 33	Truck 8		Ambulance 33 Medic 33	Mass Casualty Unit 2		3
	Southwest Waterfront					Fire Boat 1 Fire Boat 2		6

See also

• Government of the District of Columbia
• Fireboat John H. Glenn Jr.
• Benjamin C. Grenup Monument to the first D.C. firefighter killed in action

External links

• Official website
• Flickr Group
• District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department at the Wayback Machine (archived December 8, 2003)