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Geoff Herald
Fire Chief
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TJ Wiedl
Deputy Fire Chief
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| Address: |
19 New Street
Danbury, CT 06810 |
| Phone: |
203-796-1550 |
About us:
The Danbury Fire Department is an all hazard emergency response agency. Our core mission is to provide for the safety and security of citizens and visitors to Danbury, with a focus on providing the best possible customer service on every call. When people call 911 and have an emergency they expect help immediately. We respond to medical calls, water leaks, flooding, odors, alarms, fallen trees, aircraft crashes, motor vehicle accidents and people trapped under ground, above ground, and just about anywhere in between. This year our 9-1-1 center answered over 41,276 calls. This resulted in 3,454 fire and service responses, and an additional 4,310 “first responder” or medical responses.
The Danbury Fire Department is highly trained and educated. Firefighters go through a rigorous process to be appointed to the department and then attend various educational forums throughout their career. Continuing education is encouraged and supported by the department. College courses are presented onsite at our headquarters in cooperation with Naugatuck Valley Community College. Department members also hold certificates from the National and State Fire Academies, the State of Connecticut and independent training groups. Many of our members hold advanced degrees ranging from Associates to Masters Degrees.
The department’s Career Division is currently comprised of one hundred and twenty three memebrs. This allows the department to staff 5 fire stations with 6 engine companies, an aerial truck company and a command vehicle. These assignments are staffed 24 hours a day.
Another component of the department is the Volunteer Division. These men and women serve the community of Danbury in various capacities as members of 12 volunteer companies. They serve as Firefighters, Fire Police and apparatus engineers. These volunteers undergo similar training as the career members and are an integral part of the department. As volunteers, they give freely of their time to protect our citizens.
The department is a keystone in the states’ regional response plan with a number of state resources housed in Danbury. These resources will respond to the region or state, while staffed by Danbury firefighters. We provide staffing to operate and support a Hazardous Material response vehicle, foam trailer, a Mass Hazardous Material Decontamination trailer and a Mass Casualty trailer.
Our accomplishments:
The department continues to face the challenges of potential terrorism and large scale natural risks. During this past year, we initiated “Haz-Mat Thursday” where the members of our Hazardous Materials Response Team (HMRT) train on Thursdays. This training program builds on the 160 hours of Haz-Mat classroom and practical basic training each member has completed. Delivered under the direction of our team members, this training is critical to our department readiness.
Our local efforts, coupled with those of the Department of Emergency Management Homeland Security (DEMHS) Region 5 HMRT have significantly increased the preparedness level of the department and the region. As one of three battalions (Waterbury, Torrington and Danbury) of the regional response team, Danbury personnel may be called to respond and be utilized throughout the western Connecticut Region 5 in response to hazardous material spills.
Our public education outreach effort continues throughout the community with mock crash simulations in local high schools, Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention, and public education programs. The department has also placed Automatic Defibrillators (AED) in municipal buildings and schools throughout the city. Our EMS Division maintains these AEDs and gives instruction in the use of these devices. Many of the current units are soon to be replaced with newer models. These initiatives, combined with our inspection, education, prevention and suppression duties, contribute to making the City of Danbury one of the safest in the state.
The office of the Fire Marshal has been re-titled as the Office of Community Risk Reduction. This has been done to better reflect the actual demands and duties of the office. Reducing community risk of injury and loss due to code violations, accidental fire, and over occupancy is broader than simply fire prevention. The Officers of Community Risk Reduction are charged with educating the citizens and business entities of the city in methods of reducing injuries due to fire, scalding and fire code compliance. These officers are comprised of the Fire Marshal and six Deputy Fire Marshals. Annual visits are made to each Danbury school to present Fire Safety Programs. This education is a key stone in creating a fire safe environment in Danbury. This office is also responsible for the enforcement of sections and codes found in the Connecticut General Statutes. In the last year there were over 5450 code enforcement inspections completed by the Fire Marshal’s Office. They also investigated over 225 citizen complaints and 97 fires, explosions, and emergency responses.
This year the Fire Department has again been the recipient of a grant through the State Neighborhood Assistance Act program. We were also fortunate to once again receive a very generous donation from Bedoukian Research Inc. This generous donation allowed the department to purchase a seventh thermal imaging camera. With this camera we have equipped all of our primary emergent response units with these devices. This grant also provides funding with which we plan to acquire a different device using similar technology. This camera will be used to assist in wilderness rescue and Haz-Mat responses by providing vision in darkness and lowlight conditions to locate injured victims in the woods and to discern Haz-Mat situations at night from a distance.
The citizens of Danbury have a Fire Department that is equipped and prepared to fulfill our mission. By working together, the city and the Department’s Career and Volunteer staff, will meet the communities’ demand for excellence in education, prevention, fire suppression and rescue services.