All Hazards - Fire Specialty Units
Your Scottsdale Fire Department is an “all hazards” fire department. In addition to responding to fires at residences and businesses, the Scottsdale Fire Department is responsible for: aircraft emergencies, hazardous material emergencies, technical rescues and the Bike Team.
Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Emergencies
With approximately 143,000 operations in 2013, Scottsdale Airport is one of the premier single runway facilities in the nation. Thousands passengers a year travel through Scottsdale Airport to see the numerous sights across the state of Arizona.
Scottsdale Airport Fire Station 9 is located along the tarmac and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The crews at this station have special certification skills and equipment including two foam trucks designed for aircraft firefighting.
The members of the Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) team regularly practice skills required to respond to an aircraft emergency or crash. They also provide medical services and fire response to neighboring residences and businesses.
The Scottsdale Airport and its surrounding Airpark is a major economic asset for the City of Scottsdale. Centrally located in Scottsdale's only industrial-zoned area, the Airport and Airpark are primary sources of employment. The Airpark area is headquarters to more than 30 national/regional corporations and home to nearly 2,200 small and medium-sized businesses with more than 42,000 jobs.
Want to learn more: Check out this Heavy Metal
piece by the Scottsdale Video Network(CityCable11).
Hazardous Materials incidents encompass a wide variety of potential situations including fires, spills, transportation accidents, chemical reactions, explosions and similar events. Every incident presents the potential for exposure to hazardous materials; even the products of combustion of an ordinary fire may present severe hazards to personnel safety.
All firefighters are trained in the basics of hazardous material identification and safety procedures. In addition, Scottsdale Fire Department has a Hazardous Materials Team that is comprised of members with specialized training and equipment.
In the event of a hazardous situation, the HazMat team is dispatched to help evaluate, test, decontaminate and mitigate a wide-range of hazards from unknown powders to broken gas lines. They also work closely with the police department and other federal agencies, such as the FBI and U.S. Postal Service.
Training for HazMat team members includes an intensive 200-hour course along with weekly in-service training to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, safety precautions and potential risks.
Technical Rescue
The Technical Rescue Team has grown and adapted to meet the needs for specialized rescue services for Scottsdale’s residents and visitors. The team is responsible for safely performing rescues in difficult and often dangerous locations. These responses represent the High Risk/Low Frequency type incidents that require specialized equipment and training: High Angle, Swift Water, Confined Space, Structural Collapse, Trench and Tree Rescue.
In 2005, the Technical Rescue Team (TRT) was located at Fire Station 606 and consisted of 12 members assigned to Engine 606. With the inclusion of SFD into the Regional Automatic Aid System, the Technical Rescue Team was now used as a regional resource. Scottsdale could both provide and receive technical rescue services regardless of political boundaries. Scottsdale Technical Rescue soon became a leader among its regional partners, with members representing SFD in the ROCC (Regional Operations Consistency Committee) and the East Valley Training Consortium.
In 2007, the team was expanded to 24 members with the addition of the PUGS (Paid Unassigned Guys/Gals). By 2012, the TRT Station was moved to Fire Station 610 and the PUGS were relocated to Fire Station 614. This redeployment provided a more efficient response to frequent areas such as the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and Pinnacle Peak Park. Furthermore, Scottsdale and Phoenix Fire/PD Air Unit worked together to provide training to some members as Air Rescue Technicians with their Firebird 10 Helicopter. This joint effort increases the team’s ability to access far off areas of the Preserve, providing better service to people in need of assistance.
Scottsdale Fire’s Technical Rescue Team continues to provide its residents and visitors with a premier level of care and expertise. This is achieved by leadership, dedication and a passion for the trade.
Bike Team
In 2005, the Scottsdale Fire Department Bike Team consisted of roughly a dozen members and quickly grew to just more than two dozen within the year. Currently, the Bike Team has grown to more than 50 members and 20 bikes. The team has the personnel and equipment to field a response of 10 two-person teams consisting of one firefighter Paramedic and one firefighter EMT.
The Bike Team is deployed for special events throughout the City of Scottsdale during the course of a year. The team’s primary mission is to provide timely Advanced Life Support (ALS) care by reaching and accessing patients during specialized events within a dense area of population. Typically these events will have decreased vehicle access that cause response time challenges when a daily staffed fire department response unit responds from the local fire station. The Team’s secondary mission is to relieve the impact on daily staffed Medical and Fire delivery service that large events would otherwise draw from normal City of Scottsdale coverage. With the deployment of bike medics and EMTs, patient care can be rendered in a decreased amount of time while not effecting regular service delivery.
This team works and responds within several high profile events each year. Bike Teams are present throughout The Waste Management Open, The Bird’s Nest, Barrett Jackson Auto Auction, the Rock-n-Roll Marathon, The Parada del Sol, and The New Year’s Eve Block Party, as well as numerous other events during the year, protecting more than 1 million customers who visit the city each year.
Being mobile not only provides for a quick response, it also provides customers with accessibility to SFD Firefighters. The team has the unique opportunity to connect with the public for the entire length of the event. The team practices the SFD “We Care for You” in all aspects, such as patient care, giving directions, answering questions, providing additional Public Safety education, and simply interacting with people.
Contact Information
City of Scottsdale - Fire Department
Witzeman Public Safety Building
8401 E. Indian School Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
General Information: 480-312-8000
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-Emergency: 480-312-8911
Email: fire@ScottsdaleAZ.gov
Podcast: Firewatch
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