OUR MISSION, VISION, AND
VALUES
Mission
We, the members of the City of Merced Fire Department, will prevent, prepare for, and mitigate emergencies to protect the citizens of the City of Merced through exceptional service and visionary leadership.
Vision
The City of Merced Fire Department is a progressive
organization unified in creating a safe and secure community.
Vaalues
The City of Merced Fire Department is a progressive
organization unified in creating a safe and
secure community.
Quickk Factt -
PPCC Classs 2
X To help establish appropriate fire insurance
premiums for residential and commercial
properties, insurance companies need reliable,
up-to-date information about a community’s
fire-protection services. The Insurance Services
Office (ISO) provides that information through
the Public Protection Classification (PPC
®)
program. A community’s investment in fire
mitigation is a proven and reliable predicator of
future fire losses. Insurance companies use the
ISO’s PPC information to help establish fair
premiums for fire insurance for residential,
commercial and industrial properties —
generally offering lower premiums in
communities with better protection.
X On January 27, 1984, the City of Merced
became a PPC Class 2 community and has
maintained the classification since that time.
Merced is one of 164 cities out of 877 surveyed
in California to have earned the PPC Class 2
rating, with 1 being the highest and 10 being
the lowest. With enhancements in fire
protection being made annually, it is our goal to
become a PPC Class 1 community.
Quick Factoids
• Career Agency, Full-Time, No Volunteers
• Fire Dept. Budget - FY 21/22: $16,830,300
• Population Protected: 90,971
• Fire Dept. Cost per Capita: $185
• Firefighters per 1,000 Residents:. 7
• Square Miles Served: 23.3
• PPC Class: 2
• Calls for Service in 2021: 11,565
• Sworn Personnel: 63
• Non-Sworn Personnel: 4
• Fire Stations (51, 52, 53, 54 & 55): 5
• Engines (E51, E52, E53, E54, E55, OES E5601,
and OES E393): 7
• Trucks (T51): 1
• Daily Minimum Staffing: 18
FFire Station Map
• There are 5 fire stations strategically placed throughout the city and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by three separate shifts. These stations are supervised by a Fire Battalion Chief.
• To find your fire station, click here.
• Fire Station 51
• 99 East 16th Street, Merced, CA 95340
• Fire Station 52
• 1400 Falcon Way, Merced, CA 95340
• Fire Station 53
• 800 Loughborough Drive, Merced, CA 95340
• Fire Station 54
• 1425 East 21st Street, Merced, CA 95340
• Fire Station 55
• 3520 North Parsons Avenue, Merced, CA 95340
Quickk Factt -
Callss forr Servicee – Whyy aree Wee Needed?
X Percentage of Fire /Other Calls vs.
Emergency Services (EMS) Calls.
X As reflected in the pie chart, 60%
of the calls received are EMS
related.
X Q. What does this mean?
X A. With the significantly high
proportion of calls requiring EMS
related services, it benefits the
community to have EMT’s to assist
them in their time of need.
Seconds can make a difference in
patient outcome.
X Increase Communication with
Riggs Ambulance. Sharing data
with Riggs Ambulance can improve
patient outcomes as well as
firefighter safety. MFD is working
on obtaining grant funding to
achieve this objective.
Quickk Factt -
Callss forr Servicee byy Shift
X The department has a three-shift
system (A, B, and C). Shift
employees (Fire Captains, Fire
Engineers, Firefighters, and Shift
Fire Battalion Chiefs) work a forty-
eight/ninety-six (48/96) schedule.
In other words, shift employees
work for two consecutive twenty-
four hour shifts and then are off for
ninety-six hours (Four days). The
shift change occurs at 8:00 a.m.
Shift employees work long shifts
that include weekends and
holidays.
X In the year 2021, A Shift was the
busiest shift, having responded to
3,890 calls for service, followed
closely by C Shift with 3,862 calls
for service, and lastly B shift,
responded to 3,813 calls for
service.
Quickk Factt -
Callss forr Servicee byy Station
X The department has five fire
stations (51, 52, 53, 54, and 55)
strategically located throughout
the city and each has one engine
company, staffed with three
personnel. Fire Station 51 also has
a truck company staffed with a
minimum of three personnel.
X In the year 2021, Fire Station 51
was the busiest station, having
responded to 4,008 calls for
service.
4,008
956
3,003
1,777
1,341
480
0 500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
51 52 53 54 55 Other
Number of Calls
Fire Station
Calls for Service by Station
AA Yearr inn thee Lifee
off thee Mercedd
Firee Department
• 2021 was challenging and
rewarding as we continued to
navigate the everchanging COVID
landscape in order to provide the
same or better level of pre-
pandemic service.
• Former Sacramento Fire Battalion
Chief Derek Parker was appointed as
the City of Merced’s Fire Chief and
officially took command of the
department on January 4, 2021.
FFiree Academyy Graduation
• Fire Chief Derek Parker swore in eight
new members to our fire department
family after they successfully completed
their 4-week fire academy.
• On April 19, 2021, we welcomed four
Probationary Firefighters to Recruit
Academy 21-01: Daniel Timko, Joseph
Conti, Kevin Pixley and Diego Basulto.
• On October 4, 2021, we welcomed
four Probationary Firefighters to Recruit
Academy 21-02: Adam Welsh, Rhett
Avant, Dustin King, and Steven Silveira.
PPromotions,,
FFirefighterr off thee Year,,
aandd Retirement
• Two firefighters were promoted to
Fire Engineer.
• Firefighter Billy Dickens was
promoted to Fire Engineer on
04/05/21.
• Firefighter Luke Poole was
promoted to Fire Engineer on
09/06/21.
• We bid a fond farewell to Firefighter
Brent Boyd who joined our family on
08/14/06 and retired on 10/17/21
after 15+ years of dedicated service.
• Fire Captain Keith Albrecht was
chosen by his peers to receive the
prestigious Firefighter of the Year
Award for his exemplary efforts to
provide better service, enhance
public relations with the community
and exemplary efforts made to
improve the working conditions of
the department.
MMasterr Mutuall Aid
Beginning on January 27, 2021, the Merced Fire
Department responded to 12 requests statewide for
firefighters and fire equipment to assist on wildland
fires and to preposition/mobilize for mud and debris
incidents.
• 01/27/21 - 01/29/21 Preposition/Mobilize
• 06/27/21 - 07/04/21 Lava
• 07/21/21 - 08/23/21 Dixie
• 07/26/21 - 10/19/21 Dixie
• 08/03/21 - 08/18/21 River Complex
• 08/17/21 – 09/12/21 Caldor
• 08/20/21 - 09/06/21 Monument
• 08/23/21 - 09/07/21 Dixie
• 08/31/21 - 09/12/21 Caldor
• 09/13/21 - 10/19/21 Windy
• 09/21/21 - 10/21/21 Caldor
• 09/26/21 - 10/21/21 River Complex
CCommunity Partnerships - COVID-19
Vaccinations and Testing
• After learning that the Merced County Health
Department needed additional qualified people to inoculate members of the community against COVID-19, the Merced
Fire Department partnered with the local and state health department to train its firefighters to administer the
vaccines.
• This collaboration is an important resource to ensure that vaccines are provided equitably to people throughout our entire community. The Fire Department is humbled to be able to demonstrate its creativity and commitment to the public’s health. In March, our firefighters joined nursing students and staff at Merced College’s COVID-19 vaccination site to help administer vaccines and monitor patients. We teamed with Dr. Sima Asadi and her team to administer
vaccines at the Merced Civic Center.
• The Fire Department co-hosted a drive through COVID-19 testing site for city employees and their families with Dr.
Sima Asadi and Patients First and performing the testing.
CCommunityy Outreachh && Publicc Education
• Considering the health and safety of our community
and personnel, we made a concerted effort to reduce
non-emergency contact with the public due to
concerns over the pandemic and while proactively
ensuring proper safety measures were taken when
performing public outreach. We missed interacting with
you in 2021!
Leveraging Technology to
Improve Service Delivery
• Fire Hydrant Inspections – Previously, hydrant inspections were performed by firefighters using a paper-based workflow of taking notes, writing emails, and making phone calls to get repairs completed, which was a labor-intensive project. 2021’s solution was to move away from a paper-based workflow and design a new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) app for mobile firefighters to collect data, completely assignments, thereby streamlining the hydrant inspection process and giving stakeholders access to real-time information. The new app has streamlined the process and decreases the workload which still increasing the firefighter’s productivity.
• Illegal Fireworks Crackdown – Using a new GIS app, a more accurate and efficient methodology of identifying, collecting, and responding to user of illegal fireworks was developed resulting in an unprecedented number of citations being billed at $1,000 per citation.
07/04/21
Joerg Street
Structure Fire
03/03/21 Gerard Street Structure Fire
08/25/21 Canal Street Structure Fire
09/21/21 Derby Street
Structure Fire
11/15/21 Citadel Street
Structure Fire
Diversity and Inclusivity
We exist to serve our community.
We want our firefighters to match the
demographics of Merced.
We are trying different methods to reach
out to those who have never considered
becoming a firefighter.
We held our first recruitment fair on the
south side.
We are changing our recruitment process
and standards and trying new avenues to
attract a workforce that represents our
Citizens.
We are committed to diversifying our
department and including all of our
current and future firefighters to be one
big happy family!
NNew Apparatus – OES #5601 (Type 6 Fire Engine)
The State of California Office of Emergency Services transferred a new Type VI fire engine to the MFD on 07/08/21. Type VI fire engines are widely used in wildland urban interface fire response because of their versatility, maneuverability, off-road abilities, and fire suppression capabilities. The MFD will use the fire engine during day-to-day duties and when the State requests assistance from our firefighters.
Thank you for Letting Us Serve
You!