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Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue

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Area Served[]

The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department (CMFR) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Costa Mesa, a suburban city located in Orange County, Southern California, some 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Costa Mesa, Spanish for "Table Coast", was incorporated as a city on June 29, 1953, encompasses an area covering 15.81 square miles, and serves a population of approximately 111,918. The City of Costa Mesa is bordered by the City of Fountain Valley to the northwest; the City of Santa Ana to the north-northeast; unincorporated Orange County and John Wayne Airport to the northeast; the City of Irvine to the east; the City of Newport Beach to the south; and the City of Huntington Beach to the west-northwest.

Mutual Aid[]

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue has mutual aid agreements with the Orange County Fire Authority, the Fountain Valley Fire Department, the Huntington Beach Fire Department, and the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Department Profile[]

The Costa Mesa Fire Department is budgeted for 95 full-time staff members, consisting of 84 sworn positions and 11 nonsworn positions, working in three divisions: Fire Administration, Fire/Rescue/Emergency Medical Services and Community Risk Reduction. Daily operations staffing is 31 personnel. Its resources include six fire stations and ten front-line emergency apparatus. These are comprised of four engine companies, two ladder truck companies, three BLS transport ambulances, and one battalion chief vehicle, working three 24-hour rotating shifts. Each fire engine is staffed with one captain, one engineer, and one firefighter; with at least one member of the crew certified as a paramedic. CMFR also cross staffs a technical rescue / USAR vehicle, one type-3 and one type-6 wildland engine companies (both OES owned), and an OES Type-1 engine company. Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue responded to 13,420 calls for service in 2021, with over 80% consisting of EMS calls.

History[]

Prior to 1925, Costa Mesa had no organized fire protection. In 1924, local residents, together with the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, raised money for the purchase of a 1924 American LaFrance chemical wagon and the formation of the Cost Mesa Volunteer Fire Department. Engine 1 responded to its last fire on January 4th, 1933. From that time until March 1st, 1936 when Orange County provided a new engine, Costa Mesa again had no fire truck whatsoever. After delivery on the new truck, the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce donated the 1924 pumper to the County of Orange, who repaired it before sending it to serve in Midway City. On March 5th, 1956, the Costa Mesa City Council passed Ordinance No. 123. This opened the positions of Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Captain, Engineer and Hoseman, thus creating the regular paid Costa Mesa Fire Department. Effective September 1, 2018, Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue entered into a multi-year contract with Care Ambulance Service for the provision of ambulance operator staffing services and ambulance transportation related services, part of a new ambulance transportation service model. Care Ambulance Service will provide staffing for three CMF&R Ambulance units for each 24-hour shift, 365 days per year, and also will ensure that the three rescue ambulances are staffed by two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) at all times.

Fire Stations[]

Station Address In Service Notes
1 / 3 121 Rochester Street 1938 - 1979 Closed and demolished; now a parking lot / New FS3 built at 1865 Park Avenue
1 1570 Adams Avenue April 27, 1963 - March 2017 Demolished and replaced by current fire station 1 at same location

Apparatus Roster[]

  • All pump/tank measurements are in US gallons.
  • Shop number in brackets after unit number.
  • California license plate denoted by CA#.

Fire Station 1 - 1570 Adams Avenue[]

Dedicated September 29, 2018

  • Battalion 8 - 2018 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4 (CA#1493757)
  • Engine 81 (ALS) (520) - 2016 Pierce Arrow XT (1500/500/20F) (SN#29904-01)
  • Ambulance 81 (BLS) (553) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I (CA#1421257) (Ex-Medic 81)

Fire Station 2 - 800 Baker Street[]

  • Engine 82 (ALS) (528) - 2018 Pierce Arrow XT (1500/500/20F) (SN#32267) (CA#1599798)
  • Medic 82 (ALS) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I

Fire Station 3 - 1865 Park Avenue[]

Dedicated 1979

  • Engine 83 (ALS) (526) - 2016 Pierce Arrow XT (1500/500/20F) (SN#29904-02) (CA#1495586)
  • Ambulance 83 (BLS) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I (CA#1421255) (Ex-Medic 83)
  • (Reserve) - pumper

Fire Station 4 / Training Tower - 2300 Placentia Avenue[]

  • Truck 84 (ALS) (529) - 2023 Pierce Arrow XT 6710 (500/300/15F/102' Ascendant tractor-drawn) (SN#36538)
  • Medic 84 (ALS) (556) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I (CA#1421258)
  • Cal OES 1312 - 2020 International HV507 4x4 / BME Model 34D Type 3 wildland (500pto,100aux/500/20A) (CA#1587874) (VIN#3HAEETAR4LL190362)
  • (Reserve) - pumper
  • (Reserve) (554) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I ambulance (CA#1421259)

Fire Station 5 - 2450 Vanguard Way[]

  • Engine 85 (ALS) (527)- 2023 Pierce Arrow XT (1500/500/20F) (SN#37451)
  • Ambulance 85 (BLS) (551) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I (CA#1421254) (Ex-Medic 85)

Fire Station 6 - 3350 Sakioka Drive[]

Dedicated August 1993

  • Truck 86 (ALS) (517) - 2010 Pierce Arrow XT 6710 (-/-/100' tractor-drawn) (SN#22629) (CA#1279875) (Ex-Truck 84, ex-Truck 83)
  • USAR 86 (522) - 2002 American LaFrance Eagle / Hackney tractor-drawn walk-around (CA#1142385) (Ex-USAR 84, ex-USAR 86, ex-USAR 81, ex-USAR 85)
  • Ambulance 86 (BLS) (555) - 2014 International TerraStar / Leader Type I (CA#1421256)

Station/Assignment Unknown[]

  • Battalion 8 - 2005 Ford Excursion (CA#1225403)
  • Battalion 9 - 202? Chevrolet Silverado 4x4
  • Cal OES 1102 - 2019 HME Ahrens-Fox 1871-SFO SMFD Model 18 Type 1 (1250/850/20F) (SN#23236) (CA#1562259) (VIN#44KFT428XKWZ23236) (Ex-OES 415)
  • Cal OES 1607 - 2020 Ford F-550 SuperCrew DRW 4x4 / HME Ahrens-Fox AF622 Type 6 wildland (500pto,180aux/280/20A) (SN#23415) (CA#1606265) (VIN#1FD0W5HT1LED22997)
  • Utility 4 - 2008 Ford F-250 4x4
  • Ford F-150 utility (CA#1317506)
  • 201? Chevrolet Volt
  • (525) - 2007 American LaFrance Eagle 134 aerial (?/?/75' rear-mount ladder) (CA#1255810) (Ex-Truck 86)
  • (515) - 2007 American LaFrance Eagle pumper (1500/750/50F) (CA#1299870) (Ex-Engine 85)
  • (514) - 2004 American LaFrance Eagle pumper (1500/750/50F) (Ex-Engine 84)
  • 2003 American LaFrance Eagle pumper (1500/750/50F)

Retired Apparatus[]

  • 2001 HME 1871-SFO SMFD / Westates Type 1 pumper (1000,100aux/750/20A) (SN#19599; SN#00-827-0)) (CA#959527) (VIN#44KFT42861WZ19599) (Ex-OES 302) (Returned to OES)
  • 2001 Ford E / Leader Type III ambulance (CA#1190886) (Ex-Medic 82)
  • 2001 Ford E / Leader Type III ambulance (CA#1184238) (Ex-Medic 83)
  • 1991 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (ex-Engine 84, ex-Engine 4)
  • 1990 Chevrolet Suburban (Ex-Battalion 8)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone aerial (1500/300/95' rear-mount platform) (Ex-Quint 83) (Sold to Hampton County Fire Department)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 86, ex-Engine 6)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 85, ex-Engine 5)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 83, ex-Engine 3) (Sold to Hellsgate Fire Department)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 82, ex-Engine 2)
  • 1989 E-One Cyclone Hush pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 81, ex-Engine 1) (Sold to Hellsgate Fire Department)
  • 1988 GMC DRW (Ex-Squad 1)
  • 1986 Ford L-Series / Boardman pumper (1500/750) (Ex-Engine 284 Reserve, ex-Engine 6)
  • 1986 Ford L-Series / Boardman pumper (1500/750) (Ex-Engine 384 Reserve, ex-Engine 5)
  • 1983 Maxim MLT aerial (-/-/100' tractor-drawn) (SN#87-1076) (Ex-Truck 82, ex-Truck 2)
  • 1976 Crown Firecoach pumper (1250/300/50' articulating boom) (Ex-Engine 4 "The White Knuckler”)
  • 1976 Ford Econoline Type II ambulance (Ex-Medic 1)
  • 1975 Chevrolet Type II ambulance (Ex-Medic)
  • 1970 American LaFrance pumper (1500/500) (Ex-Engine 281 Reserve)
  • 1970 Crown Firecoach CR36-F700 / Ford C-700 walk-around rescue (Crown SN#F-1646) (Ex-Squad 3, ex-Squad 4) (Sold to St. George Fire Department (Utah))
  • 1968 Crown Firecoach CA100-81 aerial (-/-/100' Maxim mid-mount) (Crown SN#F-1569) (Ex-Truck 3) (Sold to Beacon Hose Company (Connecticut))
  • 1965 Seagrave aerial (-/-/100' mid-mount) (CA#179610) (Ex-Truck 1)
  • 1964 American LaFrance 900 Series pumper (1250/500) (SN#5-1-9646) (Ex-Engine 2)
  • 1963 Ford (Ex-Fire Chief)
  • 1961 American LaFrance 900 Series pumper (1250/500) (SN#5-1-8609) (Ex-Engine 4)
  • 1958 American LaFrance 900 Series pumper (1000/500) (SN#N-703) (Ex-Engine 17)
  • 1956 Seagrave pumper (1000/150
  • 1955 Chevrolet (Ex-Fire Chief)
  • 1955 GMC panel truck (Ex-Salvage/Rescue Truck)
  • 1954 Van Pelt pumper (1000/?) (Ex-Civil Defense)
  • 1945 Seagrave pumper (750/150) (US Army military surplus)
  • 1943 Willys Jeep ¼-ton 4x4 w/ generators and spot lights (Ex-Light Unit together with 2nd Jeep) (US Army surplus)
  • 1943 Willys Jeep ¼-ton 4x4 w/ generators and spot lights (Ex-Light Unit together with 2nd Jeep) (US Army surplus)
  • 1943 International / John Bean High-Pressure tank truck (HP/500) (The “Bean Rig”) (US Army surplus)
  • 1938 International pumper (550 FM/200) (CA#10380)
  • 1933 panel truck (Ex-Rescue)
  • 1931 GMC TC-30-CF / American LaFrance (500/100) (SN#G-472) (Ex-Palm Springs Fire Department (California))
  • 1924 American LaFrance chemical wagon (750/70) (Ex-Engine 1)

External Links[]

Station Map[]

  • Costa Mesa FD highlighted in white; OCFA highlighted in yellow.
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