The City of Coos Bay's Fire Department is a full-service emergency safety provider.

In addition to responding to over 4,200 emergency requests for assistance annually, the department provides a number of proactive services including fire and safety inspections, emergency planning (disaster), consultative services and educational programs for the general public and business community. The department provides services to the City of Coos Bay as well as contracted fire and medical service to Timber Park, Libby and Bunker Hill Fire Protection Districts, encompassing an area of 17 square miles and a population of approximately 23,000.

Rating

CBFD has been re-classified as a Class 3 Fire Department. The most recent number released by ISO show that out of the over 47,000 fire departments rated by ISO only 5.6% are rated a 3 or better. In the state of Oregon we join only 58 other departments with a rating of 3 or 2, there are no 1’s in the state. The audit rated the following, Receiving and Handling Alarms, Fire Department Operations, Equipment, Training and Water Supply. The reviews are scheduled for every ten (10) years. The last rating was conducted in 2002, at that time Coos Bay was rated at a 4. This change will result in a savings in insurance costs to property owners in the City, Libby and  Bunker Hill Fire Districts. Each insurance company evaluates the properties they insure in the area and apply the rating to that property. Upon renewal of your insurance policy you should ask your agent to be sure you are getting the new rating credit. This new rating is because of the hard work that everyone at the Fire Department does. Our dispatch center also assisted in getting the lower rating as well as the Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board. Congratulations to everyone on a job well done!

Personnel

CBFD is staffed by a Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, 3 Battalion Chiefs, 3 Lieutenants, 9 career Firefighter/Engineers, 12 Volunteer Firefighters, and up to 9 Student Firefighters who work directly with full time staff. Off-duty career and volunteer staff report to Station 1 at 450 Elrod Ave. when called out for general alarms.

A "General Alarm" is used when additional staffing is needed, due to structure fires, mutual aid, or specialized rescue efforts. Personnel are alerted by the North Coos 911 dispatch center through a paging system. In addition to the resources identified above, the department participates in a countywide mutual aid system, which increases the total amount of resources immediately available.

Fire Suppression

CBFD provides a quality level of service in a number of fire suppression disciplines including ship board, bulk fuel, rail, urban, and wildland/urban interface type fires. Career personnel receive in-depth training on a daily basis and volunteers must meet minimum hourly training requirements on a weekly basis. The department also has and maintains state of the art equipment and apparatus to meet the challenges of differing types of fires.

When a fire alarm is received the department will initiate an efficient response with its personnel, at the same time both volunteer and off-duty career personnel can be recalled by way of a "General Alarm" to provide an effective supplemental force for any operation.

Emergency Medical

CBFD participates in cooperation with Bay Cities Ambulance to provide a tiered emergency medical response. This system assures a very efficient and effective service level to our customers.

Any call for emergency medical assistance is immediately responded to and handled by the departments career staff. The department's career staff currently comprises 11 Paramedics, 5 EMT-Intermediates, and 6 EMT-Basics. Fire Engines carry medical equipment up to and ALS level which is the same level of equipment that is carried on an ambulance in our area. With these tools, our EMTs and Paramedics can provide a very wide and robust level of care prior to the arrival of the ambulance and throughout the care of our citizens. 

Technical Rescue and Specialized Response

CBFD has the expertise and equipment to handle the wide variety of rescue situations that could arise. For technical rescue and specialized response different members of CBFD have specialized training and/or certification in Rope Rescue, Vehicle and Machinery Extrication, Hazardous Materials Response, Wildland Firefighting, Drone flight and operation, Confined Space Operations, and other areas. 

Hazardous Materials Team

CBFD has an intergovernmental agreement with State of Oregon and the Oregon State Fire Marshals office to house and staff 1 of 13 Oregon Regional Hazardous Materials Response Teams (RHMERT). This team provides emergency hazardous material response for all of the south coast from near north of Gardiner to the Oregon/California border. The team is supplemented with one member of the Myrtle Point Fire Department. The team is supplemented with one member from Myrtle Point Fire, one from Charleston Fire, and one from North Bend Fire. 

Emergency Salvage

CBFD has the equipment and expertise to assist with mitigating emergency salvage issues. This includes water removal, protection of furnishings from damage, protection of certain types of equipment, due to water entering a structure or while overhauling a structure and smoke removal to name but a few. It must be understood these functions are to abate EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.

Fire Cause Determination

CBFD conducts investigations of all fire incidents it responds to in order to determine the point of origin and cause of the fire. A team of department personnel are available at all times for this purpose.

Stations & Resources

Service to the community is provided from 3 strategically located fire stations. The locations and resources at these stations are as follows: