Operations Division

Operations Overview

The Victoria Fire Department is an all-risk fire department that provides services to mitigate the effects of a variety of emergency situations, including motor vehicle accidents, physical entrapments, fires, hazardous materials; to name a few. The provision of these services is the responsibility of the Fire Operations Division of the Department. This Division of the organization is managed by Assistant Fire Chief - Shannon Martin.

Schedules

Resources within the Operations Division include 117 uniformed men and women, who deliver service from six stations, staffed 24-hours per day with a shift schedule of 48 hours on/96 hours off. These stations are strategically placed throughout the City of Victoria. Each station is equipped with a fire engine and an ambulance at a minimum. 

Each of the four-engine companies is staffed with a lieutenant, a fire engineer, and at least one firefighter. Additionally the Department staffs a Ladder Truck and a Quint with one firefighter, a fire engineer, and a captain. The Department also has two four-wheel-drive brush fire units, a water tender (tanker), two boats, a Kubota Wildland Firefighting UTV, a hazmat truck with trailer, a rescue truck (Light and Air) and two reserve apparatus.

Response Rate

The Victoria Fire Department (VFD) responds to approximately 11,000 requests for service, per year from the citizens and visitors of Victoria. The majority (71%) of these calls were to provide emergency medical services. All engine companies, ladder truck, and Quint are equipped to deliver emergency medical care. 

All VFD firefighters are trained to at least the EMT-Basic level and can provide essential life-saving treatment, including cardiac defibrillation, and treat injuries such as lacerations, fractures, or burns from any emergency response vehicle.

Teams & Training

The City of Victoria has a wide assortment of potential fire problems, ranging from high-rise buildings to extensive brush and pasture lands with homes intermixed, to industrial plants. The Department is equipped and trained for combating fires in each of these situations and all other types in-between. 

The Department has a Hazardous Materials Response Team, which will respond to incidents involving leaks or spills of dangerous chemicals. Additionally, Victoria firefighters are trained and specially equipped to deal with rescue situations, such as vehicle accident entrapments, Technical Rescue, and Swiftwater Rescue. Between emergency calls, firefighters present public fire safety programs, maintain apparatus and equipment, participate in training classes, and field training exercises.

ProQA Dispatch

ProQA Dispatch Software integrates the power of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch’s protocols with today’s critical computer technologies. It helps emergency dispatchers move smoothly through Case Entry and Key Questioning. 

It assists dispatchers in quickly identifying the appropriate Determinant Code for each case and clearly displays the response configuration specifically assigned to the code by local agency authorities. ProQA then guides dispatchers in providing all relevant Post-Dispatch and Pre-Arrival Instructions, as well as important case completion information.