The Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) 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 services 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. ...

for the unincorporated areas of Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States. The cities of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Boulder City Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of on ...

North Las Vegas North Las Vegas is a suburban city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 216,961, with an estimated population of 251,974 in 2019. The city was incorporated on May 1, 19 ...

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

and

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

each have their own fire department, but emergency management is provided by the county government.

History

In 1953, Las Vegas was growing rapidly with a growth from 8,422 residents in 1940 to over 64,000 in 1960. Meanwhile, Clark County had reached a population of 127,016. The unprecedented growth created a greater need for fire protection. The Clark County Fire Department was formally created on November 23, 1953. The revenues from the towns of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

provided funds for the construction of the first station.

Fire Administration

The CCFD is headed by a

Fire Chief A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner' ...

, currently John C. Steinbeck, who replaced former Fire Chief Greg Cassell on Feb. 7, 2020. The CCFD organization consists of six bureaus. Each bureau is commanded by a Deputy Fire Chief. These bureaus include: *Bureau of Finance Administration *Office of Emergency Management *Bureau of Support Services *Bureau of Emergency Medical Services *Bureau of Operations Training *Bureau of Homeland Security

Command Staff

USAR Task Force

The CCFD is the founding member of Nevada Task Force 1 (NVTF-1), one of 28

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA)

Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

(USAR-TF) that are prepared to respond to state or federal disasters throughout the United States. The task force team is deployed by FEMA for the rescue of victims of structural collapses due to man-made or natural disasters.

Notable fires

MGM Grand Fire

On November 21, 1980, the

MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Horseshoe Las Vegas (formerly MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and Bally's Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It originally opened as the MGM Grand Hotel on D ...

(now

Bally's Las Vegas Horseshoe Las Vegas (formerly MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and Bally's Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment (2020), Caesars Entertainment. It originally opened ...

) in

suffered a major fire. The fire killed 85 people, most through smoke inhalation. The CCFD was the first agency to respond, and thus was in command at the scene of the fire, which remains the worst

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

in Nevada history, and the third-worst hotel fire in modern United States history.

PEPCON Disaster

The PEPCON disaster was an

industrial disaster This article lists notable industrial disasters, which are disasters caused by industrial companies, either by accident, negligence or incompetence. They are a form of industrial accident where great damage, injury or loss of life are caused. Ot ...

that occurred in

on May 4, 1988, at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) plant. The fire and subsequent

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

s killed 2 and injured 372 people and caused an estimated US$100 million of damage. A large portion of the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

within a radius of the plant was affected, and several agencies activated disaster plans.

Stations & Apparatus

The CCFD is spread out throughout the unincorporated areas of the county in 42 separate fire stations, including one located at

Harry Reid International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...

References

External links

Current active calls
{{Authority control

Fire Department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

Fire departments in Nevada Ambulance services in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Nevada