Much of the Department's early staffing was provided by reserve/volunteer firefighters, and Poway's first ambulance was staffed by off-duty firefighters. Increasing call volume and the daily operating demands quickly exceeded their ability to provide reliable services. Today, the Department is staffed by a full-time, professional work force. Three personnel are assigned to each engine company, three personnel to the truck company, and two on each ambulance. The Department has constant staffing of sixteen personnel per day, per division. All fire suppression personnel are assigned to a 56-hour work week.
The Poway Fire Department currently has 5 chief officers, 48 sworn fire suppression personnel, 1 fire inspector, 2 administrative assistants, and 2 contract inspectors. The command staff is made up of the Fire Chief (Director of Safety Services) and four Division Chiefs. The Director of Safety Services has the additional responsibility of administering the San Diego County Sheriff's Department law enforcement contract with the City of Poway.
| 1961 |
The Poway Municipal Water District established the Poway Fire Department in October 1961 with James Westling as the first Fire Chief. The Fire Department began providing services from Fire Station One located on Community Road with a 1961 Ford station wagon as the Chief's car and a 1961 American LaFrance Fire engine built on a Ford Chassis. |
|
| 1964 |
As call volume increased, a second Ford-American LaFrance was purchased in 1964 and both engines worked out of Fire Station One. |
|
| 1964 |
On February 8, 1966, the Department suffered its only line-of-duty death with the passing of Captain Ignatius J. Leone due to a heart attack while responding on a structure fire. | |
| 1967 |
On October 30, 1967, Captain Von Ruple and Engineer Glen Olson were overrun by fire and suffered severe burns. Glen Olson received burns again the following year due to a fuel line rupture on one of the LaFrance Fire Engines. The Poway Firefighters Association purchased and operated Poway's only ambulance. |
|
| 1970 |
The ambulance service was turned over to the Poway Municipal Water District in 1970 due to the rising operating expenses. The old Cadillac ambulance was replaced by a Suburban ambulance at that time. |
|
| 1973 |
Due to long response times and a greater demand for services, a second station was built on Lake Poway Road in 1973. Von Ruple served as the Department's second Fire Chief. |
|
| 1974 |
Bill Bond became the third Fire Chief. |
|
| 1975 |
The Poway Firefighters began a door-to-door campaign to collect donations to help implement the paramedic service. One of the American LaFrance engines was replaced by a Mack engines. These new Mack fire engines allowed firefighters to ride in seats in an open cab rather than on the tailboard thereby increasing firefighter safety. The other American LaFrance engine was replaced by a Mack engine in 1978. The two American LaFrance engines served as reserve engines well into the 1980s. |
|
| 1976 |
Seven Poway Firefighters cross-trained as paramedics and began operating the Department's ambulance. This enhancement significantly improved the delivery of prehospital care without increasing staffing levels. The Poway Firefighters built two brush engines out of military surplus cargo transports. |
|
| 1977 |
The Poway Municipal Water District made a strategic decision by determining that a needs assessment was necessary to evaluate station location, apparatus, and personnel needs for the community. |
|
| 1978 |
As result of this study completed by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), a bond issue was placed on the ballot to relocate both Stations One and Two and to purchase new apparatus. The bond issue passed with 79 percent of the voters in favor. The study also identified suggested station locations based on projected growth of the area. These locations were at Twin Peaks and Pomerado Road, Midland Road and Del Poniente Road, and Poway Road and Highway 67. This study was performed before the Poway Business Park was conceived. |
|
| 1980 |
After incorporation, the Poway Fire Department became the Safety Services Department under the direction of the City of Poway. The City has grown considerably and so has the demand for services provided by the department. Population has increased over the years, from 13,971 in 1970; 32,263 in 1980; 33,368 in 1990; 50,830 today, with the potential build out of 55,000 residents by the year 2020. Bill Toon became the fourth Fire Chief. The 1980s brought about many changes. The Fire Department moved into the newly constructed Station One at 13050 Community Road and relocated Station Two to its current location at 16912 Westling Ct. The Poway Fire Department began contracting dispatch services through the City of San Diego Fire Department. A rescue engine was purchased to replace a 1950's vintage vehicle. |
|
| 1982 |
Two new Beck Brush engines replaced the old military brush engines. |
|
| 1986 |
The Department added a Beck 1500-gallon water tender to the fleet. |
|
| 1988 |
One of the Mack engines was replaced with a 1988 E-One fire engine. This was one of the first four-door, enclosed-cab fire engines in the county. This engine allowed for enhanced firefighter safety and gave the Poway Fire Department the ability to flow an elevated master stream for the protection of the newly built Poway Business Park. The Department switched to the analog 800 MHZ radio system and installed Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) in the Department fleet. These MDT's had all of the dispatch information printed on a screen in the cab and allowed "push button" status changes. |
|
| 1989 |
Mark Sanchez becomes the fifth Fire Chief. |
|
| 1994 |
The 1990s saw the color change in the Fire Department fleet. In 1994 the first red Pierce engine, ambulance, and staff SUV arrived. The rest of the fleet changed colors as the units ended their service life. The firefighter's station uniforms changed to meet the new NFPA 1500 standards. The new NFPA-compliant Nomex uniforms were dark blue and offered another enhancement to firefighter safety. |
|
| 1997 |
Both brush engines were replaced by BME brush engines. |
|
| 1998 |
The department sought to enhance paramedic services by adding paramedics to the engine companies. Some of the former Poway firefighter/paramedics volunteered to recertify as paramedics to save the City hiring additional personnel. This move created a performance standard to deliver advanced life support within six minutes 90 percent of the time. |
|
| 2001 |
The department increased staffing to add a second paramedic ambulance which worked out of an office off of Monte Vista Road. |
|
| 2002 |
The old water tender was replaced by a Pierce 3000-gallon water tender. |
|
| 2003 |
Staffing was increased to add a third engine which was placed into service out of Station One. A trailer was moved onto the new Station Three construction site as temporary housing for the third engine and the second paramedic unit. |
|
| 2005 |
Fire Station Three was completed and opened. |
|
| 2006 |
The newly constructed state-of-the-art training tower that was built in the Poway Business Park became operational. The training tower was showcased during the 2007 Fire Expo in San Diego. Fire Departments from across the country have visited or inquired about the tower's design to use as a blueprint for their future training facilities. This tower replaced a 16-year-old tower that was demolished to accommodate the City Hall expansion. The old training tower saw a lot of use over the years as it was also rented out to other fire agencies for use during their fire academies and pump testing. |
|
| 2007 |
The Department added a truck company without increasing staffing by taking the fourth person off each engine company. The Department's MDTs were replaced by Mobile Data Computers (MDCs). These new computers show other units on a real time map. The computer GIS map also has building footprints and addresses. The Department's fleet was renumbered and enhancements were added to the satellite tracking of the department fleet. |
|
| 2008 |
A countywide preplan system went into use. In 2008 one of the BME brush engines was replaced with a four-wheel-drive Westmark brush engine, and the other is scheduled to be replaced in 2009. |
The Poway Municipal Water District established the Poway Fire Department in October 1961 with James Westling as the first Fire Chief. The Fire Department began providing services from Fire Station One located on Community Road with a 1961 Ford station wagon as the Chief's car and a 1961 American LaFrance Fire engine built on a Ford Chassis. On February 8, 1966, the Department suffered its only line-of-duty death with the passing of Captain Ignatius J. Leone due to a heart attack while responding on a structure fire. On October 30, 1967, Von Ruple and Glen Olson were overrun by fire and suffered severe burns. Glen Olson received burns again the following year due to a fuel line rupture on one of the LaFrance Fire Engines. The Poway Firefighters Association purchased and operated Poway's only ambulance. The ambulance service was turned over to the Poway Municipal Water District in 1970 due to the rising operating expenses. The old Cadillac ambulance was replaced by a Suburban ambulance at that time. As call volume increased, a second Ford-American LaFrance was purchased in 1964 and both engines worked out of Fire Station One. Due to long response times and a greater demand for services, a second station was built on Lake Poway Road in 1973. Von Ruple served as the Department's second Fire Chief in 1973 and was followed by Bill Bond in 1974.
In 1975 the Poway Firefighters began a door-to-door campaign to collect donations to help implement the Paramedic service. In 1976, seven Poway Firefighters cross-trained as paramedics and began operating the Department's ambulance. This enhancement significantly improved the delivery of prehospital care without increasing staffing levels. In 1976 the Poway Firefighters built two brush engines out of military surplus cargo transports. The American LaFrance engines were replaced by Mack engines, one in 1975 and the other in 1978. These new Mack fire engines removed the firefighters from their places riding on the tailboard to seats in an open cab thereby increasing firefighter safety. The two American LaFrance engines served as reserve engines well into the 1980s.
The Poway Municipal Water District made a strategic decision in 1977 by determining that a needs assessment was necessary to evaluate station location, apparatus, and personnel needs for the community. As result of this study completed by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) in 1978, a bond issue was placed on the ballot to relocate both Stations One and Two and to purchase new apparatus. The bond issue passed with 79 percent of the voters in favor. The study also identified suggested station locations based on projected growth of the area. These locations were Twin Peaks and Pomerado Road, Midland Road and Del Poniente Road, and Poway Road and Highway 67. This study was performed before the Poway Business Park was conceived.
After incorporation in 1980, the Poway Fire Department became the Safety Services Department under the direction of the City of Poway. Bill Toon became the fourth Fire Chief of the Poway Fire Department. The City has grown considerably and so has the demand for services provided by the department. Population has increased over the years, from 13,971 in 1970; 32,263 in 1980; 33,368 in 1990; 50,830 today, with the potential build out of 55,000 residents by the year 2020.
The 1980s brought about many changes. The Fire Department moved into the newly constructed Station One at 13050 Community Road and relocated Station Two to its current location at 16912 Westling Ct. The Poway Fire Department began contracting dispatch services through the City of San Diego Fire Department. A rescue engine was purchased to replace a 1950's vintage vehicle. In 1982, two new Beck Brush engines replaced the old military brush engines. In 1986, the Department added a Beck 1500-gallon water tender to the fleet. One of the Mack engines was replaced with a 1988 E-One fire engine. This was one of the first four-door, enclosed-cab fire engines in the county. This engine allowed for enhanced firefighter safety and gave the Poway Fire Department the ability to flow an elevated master stream for the protection of the newly built Poway Business Park. The Department switched to the analog 800 MHZ radio system and installed Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) in the Department fleet. These MDT's had all of the dispatch information printed on a screen in the cab and allowed "push button" status changes. In 1998, the department sought to enhance paramedic services by adding paramedics to the engine companies. Some of the former Poway firefighter/paramedics volunteered to recertify as paramedics to save the City hiring additional personnel. This move created a performance standard to deliver advanced life support within six minutes 90 percent of the time. In 1989 Mark Sanchez was promoted to Director of Safety Services and became the fifth Fire Chief.
The 1990s saw the color change in the Fire Department fleet. In 1994 the first red Pierce engine, ambulance, and staff SUV arrived. The rest of the fleet changed colors as the units ended their service life. The firefighter's station uniforms changed to meet the new NFPA 1500 standards. The new NFPA-compliant Nomex uniforms were dark blue and offered another enhancement to firefighter safety. In 1997, both brush engines were replaced by BME brush engines.
In 2001 the department increased staffing to add a second paramedic ambulance which worked out of an office off of Monte Vista Road. In 2002, the old water tender was replaced by a Pierce 3000-gallon water tender. In 2003 staffing was increased to add a third engine which was placed into service out of Station One. A trailer was moved onto the new Station Three construction site as temporary housing for the third engine and the second paramedic unit. The new station was completed and opened in 2005.
In 2006 the newly constructed state-of-the-art training tower that was built in the Poway Business Park became operational. The training tower was showcased during the 2007 Fire Expo in San Diego. Fire Departments from across the country have visited or inquired about the tower's design to use as a blueprint for their future training facilities. This tower replaced a 16-year-old tower that was demolished to accommodate the City Hall expansion. The old training tower saw a lot of use over the years as it was also rented out to other fire agencies for use during their fire academies and pump testing.
In 2007 the Department added a truck company without increasing staffing by taking the fourth person off each engine company. The Department's MDTs were replaced by Mobile Data Computers (MDCs). These new computers show other units on a real time map. The computer GIS map also has building footprints and addresses. The Department's fleet was renumbered and enhancements were added to the satellite tracking of the department fleet. In 2008, a countywide preplan system went into use. In 2008, one of the BME brush engines was replaced with a four-wheel-drive Westmark brush engine, and the other is scheduled to be replaced in 2009.
Much of the Department's early staffing was provided by reserve/volunteer firefighters, and Poway's first ambulance was staffed by off-duty firefighters. Increasing call volume and the daily operating demands quickly exceeded their ability to provide reliable services. Today, the Department is staffed by a full-time, professional work force. Three personnel are assigned to each engine company, three personnel to the truck company, and two on each ambulance. The Department has constant staffing of sixteen personnel per day, per division. All fire suppression personnel are assigned to a 56-hour work week.
The Poway Fire Department currently has 5 chief officers, 48 sworn fire suppression personnel, 1 fire inspector, 2 administrative assistants, and 2 contract inspectors. The command staff is made up of the Fire Chief (Director of Safety Services) and four Division Chiefs. The Director of Safety Services has the additional responsibility of administering the San Diego County Sheriff's Department law enforcement contract with the City of Poway.