The Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) provides

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

and

emergency medical service Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

s to the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Established in 1866, the department is responsible for with a population of over 159,000.

History

The first fire company in Alexandria was the Friendship Fire Company, founded in 1774.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

is reported to have been a part of it, but no records remain to prove that, however he did purchase a fire engine for the company in 1775. The first paid firefighters were hired in 1855 and the Alexandria Fire Department was established in 1866. Before that the City of Alexandria was served by multiple volunteer departments. By the end of the Civil War, many of the volunteer companies were under staffed so, in 1866, the City Council passed an act to combine the remaining fire companies into the Alexandria Fire Department. In 1977, the department announced they were no longer hiring firefighters who smoked and anyone hired "signed a contract that included a provision against smoking", as part of a larger push for stricter health requirements. Alexandria was among the first departments in the country to have similar requirements. Volunteer fire fighters, as opposed to volunteers who work in stations and other roles, effectively ended in 1981 when the City passed new regulations requiring all fire fighters to meet the stricter standards applied to career fire fighters. Former volunteers continued to protest that decision through the mid-1980s, often invoking George Washington's name who they regard as taking part in the first volunteer fire company in Alexandria. Along with other departments, units from AFD responded to the

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and the

Congressional baseball shooting On June 14, 2017, a mass shooting occurred during a practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia, where six people were shot, including the then U.S. House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise, U.S. Capitol Poli ...

in 2017, which took place in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. In early 2021, Alexandria became the first locality in Virginia to authorize public unions to collectively bargain, after Virginia allowed localities to do so for the first time on May 1, 2021 after the Supreme Court of Virginia banned the practice in 1977. The union representing Alexandria firefighters, IAFF Local 2141, became the first that voted to collectively bargain.

Operations

Fire Station 203 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - 52028916562

Marine Operations

The Marine Operations Division was started in 1997 to provide protection in the various waterways in and adjacent to the city. The team is trained in both open water and swiftwater rescue as well as marine firefighting. Two Zodiac inflatables (Boat 204 and Boat 214) are available to be rapidly deployed in all weather conditions. The inflatables are designed to be towed by either Engine 204 or Support Unit 204 (a Chevy Suburban), which is equipped with a variety of water rescue equipment. Additionally the division has a MetaCraft Firestorm 50

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

, the ''Vigilant'', equipped with two pumps attached to four

fire monitor A deluge gun, fire monitor, master stream or deck gun is an aimable controllable high-capacity water jet used for manual firefighting or automatic fire protection systems. Deluge guns are often designed to accommodate foam which has been injecte ...

Fire Prevention and Life Safety

The Fire Prevention and Life Safety (FPLS) Section is composed of several units – Fire Prevention Inspections, Fire Protection Systems Retesting, Environmental Investigations & Fire Investigations. The Fire Prevention and Life Safety Section is responsible for enforcement of the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code, applicable sections of the Virginia Construction Code and related sections of the Code of the City of Alexandria.

Stations and apparatus

On June 12, 2021, the City of Alexandria Fire Department will implemented an organizational restructure. It included Specialty Team relocations, apparatus relocations, Advanced Life Support (ALS) unit upgrades, Battalion Management Teams (BMT), the addition of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) lieutenants and other quality improvements. ALS Suppression Units will be minimally staffed with one ALS provider on several suppression units (engines and trucks marked with "ALS" in the chart below). Upgrading those engines and trucks to ALS units improves ALS coverage in Old Town and Landmark areas, higher medical call volume. A new station is planned as part of the

Landmark Mall Landmark Mall (or Landmark Regional Shopping Center) (formally Landmark Center) was an American shopping mall. Located in a triangle formed by Duke Street (Virginia State Route 236), Interstate 395, and Van Dorn Street (Virginia State Route 401 ...

redevelopment.

References

External links

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Friendship Firehouse Museum
{{Virginia fire departments Fire departments in Virginia

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

1866 establishments in Virginia Government agencies established in 1866 Alexandria, Virginia