The Santa Barbara City Fire Department (SBFD) is the agency that provides

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

and basic life support (BLS)

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

exclusively for the city of Santa Barbara. Not to be confused Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Equipment

Type 1 Engine

Santa Barbara City has a total of 11 Pumper Engines with 7 acting as frontline engines and an additional 4 in reserve. These engines are staffed by 3 personnel, A

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and a

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

. Each engine is fitted with a 1500 GPM pump and carries 750 gallons of water.

Type 3 Engine

The Type 3 Engines, which are used mainly for

vegetation fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

s, are smaller than the Type 1s which are used primarily in the city. The Type 3 has 4 x 4 capability and can thus climb hills and make it through rough terrain. One of the features that makes the Type 3 ideal for vegetation fires is that it can pump water while driving, whereas the Type 1 engine must be put into park to flow water. This allows the Type 3 to make "mobile attacks" on vegetation fires, a tactic that can help minimize the rate of spread by having a firefighter walk the edge of a fire with a hose line and the Type 3 trailing close behind. Each of the engines feature a 500-gallon water tank and a 20-gallon tank for the

Class A foam Firefighting foam is a foam used for fire suppression. Its role is to cool the fire and to coat the fuel, preventing its contact with oxygen, thus achieving suppression of the combustion. Firefighting foam was invented by the Russian engineer and ...

injection. In September 2013, the SBFD bought a second $400,000 Type 3 Engine and placed it at station 7, moving the older Type 3 to station 4.

Special Response Unit

The Special Response Unit is a box van that contains supplies for a

Mass Casualty Incident A mass casualty incident (often shortened to MCI) describes an incident in which emergency medical services resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. For example, an incident where a ...

(MCI). It is dispatched automatically to any reported aircraft emergency on or off the airport as well as by request of any incident's IC.

Heavy Rescue

In March 2006, the SBFD acquired a $450,000 Heavy Rescue unit built by SVI Trucks. At over 33 feet long, the Heavy Rescue weighs 44,000 pounds, fully loaded. The interior has seating for six people as well as storage for all the tools necessary. The vehicle also has foldout

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a lig ...

s on both sides.

Airport Foam Engines

Station 8, located at the

Santa Barbara Municipal Airport Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States. SBA covers 948 acres (384 ha) of land and has three runways. It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the city of Goleta. The a ...

, which was previously under the jurisdiction of Santa Barbara County Fire and was later annex to the City of Santa Barbara, is home to 3 Oshkosh Striker vehicles. Responding to approximately 65 calls per year, each of these engines can carry 1500 gallons of foam, dry chemical and Halotron.

Stations and apparatus

References

{{California fire departments Santa Barbara, California Fire departments in California