The East Providence Fire Department is a full-time career department that protects 48,688 residents in an area of 16.5 square miles. The main operating frequency is 470.7625 mgh, and the fire-ground frequency is 470.5870, under the identification of KCB 723. The city is border by the City of Pawtucket, RI to the north, Town of Barrington, RI to the south, Town of Seekonk, MA to the east, and The Capital City of Providence, RI to the west. The department has a Class 3 ISO rating and handles over 10,000 incidents annually
The department was organized in 1875, with the first paid members starting in 1911. The department never used horse drawn equipment, making the transition directly from hand-pulled to motorized apparatus. The department grew to 135 members in the late 1960's, and has since been scaled back to the present day 119 members.
The Current 119 members are led by a 22 year veteran of the department, Chief Joseph J. Klucznik. The members are divided into staff and line divisions. Staff personnel include the Chief of Department, 1 Administrative Assistant, 2 Fire Prevention Officers, 2 Training & Safety Division Officers, 1 Emergency Medical Services Director, 1 Fire Alarm Inspector, 1 Fire Prevention secretarial position and 1 part-time office assistant. Line personnel operate four groups, with each group rotating through a 48 hour work week of two ten hour days, two fourteen hour nights, followed by four days off. Each group is commanded by a Battalion Chief, with a mimimum on-duty strength of 26 personnel. All members of the department, with the exception of the chief of the department, are members of Local 850, International Association of Firefighters.
All Personnel are certified; NFPA 1001 Firefighter I & II, Hazarous Materials Operations level, and Emergency Medical Technician - Cardiac or Basic. All Fire Officers are certified NFPA 1021 Fire Officer level I.
The department operates out of 4 stations, manning 5 Engine Companies, 2 Ladder Companies , 3 ALS Rescues, 1 Special Hazards (Heavy Rescue), 1 Hazardous Materials Truck and Battalion 1. The department also maintains 2 Engine Companies and 3 ALS Rescues in reserve status. The Special Hazards and Hazardous Materials Companies are manned by members of Stations 1 & 3 as tag-along pieces.
Manning on the apparatus is as follows: Engine Company: 1 Officer and 2 Firefighters. Ladder Company: 1 Officer and 1 Firefighter. Rescue Company: 2 Firefighter EMT-Cardiacs.
All Engine and Ladder Companies carry Automatic External Defibrillators and are certified as ALS response units. Each Engine Company is equipped with a thermal imaging camera.
The department operates a Hazardous Materials Response Team, mitigating haz-mat emergencies both on a city and state level. The department is the first department in the state to operate a dedicated, mobile Hazardous Material Response Truck; Haz-Mat 1.
Three Fire / Rescue Boats, Zodiac 1, Zodiac 2, and Marine 3, are staffed by Engine or Ladder Company personnel and protect the 14.4 miles of shore line along the upper Narragansett Bay, Seekonk, and Providence Rivers. Zodiacs 1 & 2 are 16' trailered inflatable boats located at Station 1 & 3. Marine 3 is a 34' fire/rescue boat ,placed in service in the summer of 2008, and is in the water year round.
These fire and rescue companies provide protection to 40 School & Day Care centers, 28 Churches, 18 EHS, (extremely hazardous substance), Facilities, 16 Group Homes, 13 Nursing Homes, 9 High-Rise Buildings, 1 Childrens Hospital, 2 Petrolium Storage Facilities; Capital Oil, and Exxon/Mobile.
The department provides protection to the Port of East Providence. This shipping port recieves aprroximately 300 ships and barges annually, delivering over 1 billion gallons of fuel.
The city is also home to WPRI TV Channel 12, a Fox affiliated broadcasting station.
DEPARTMENT PROFILE
