San Rafael Fire Department (California)

Area Served[]

The San Rafael Fire Department (SRFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for to the City of San Rafael, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Marin County. Northern California. San Rafael, named for the Archangel Raphael, was incorporated as a city on February 18, 1874, encompasses an area covering 22.54 square miles, and serves a population of approximately 61,271. The City of San Rafael is bordered by the Lucas Valley as well as the unincorporated community of Lucas Valley-Marinwood to the north; San Pablo Bay, the northern extension of San Francisco Bay, and China Camp State Park to the east; the City of Larkspur and the unincorporated communities of San Quentin as well as Greenbrae to the south; the unincorporated community of Kentfield to the southwest; and the towns of Ross and San Anselmo to the west; San Rafael is connected to the East Bay via the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge.

Department Profile[]

The San Rafael Fire Department is budgeted for 90 uniformed / sworn members, providing structural firefighting, emergency medical care and advanced life support (ALS) with transport, technical rescue, hazardous materials and emergency preparedness, fire prevention, fire investigation, code enforcement, disaster preparedness, and public education to the citizens of San Rafael. Daily staffing is 23 personnel working two 24-hours shifts or days in a row followed by 96-hours or four days off, out of seven fire stations, one of which is located within the Marinwood Community Services District. The department's resources include ten front-line emergency apparatus comprised of six engine companies, one aerial ladder truck company, two paramedic ALS rescue ambulances, and one battalion chief vehicle. In addition, SRFD cross staffs one additional Type 1 engine company (E54), two additional paramedic ALS rescue ambulances (M55 and M56), two Type 3 and one Type 6 wildland unit, one lighting unit, one hose tender, one rescue ATV, one fireboat, personal watercraft, and a rescue swimmer team. SRFD responded to 9,088 calls for service in 2021, approximately 70% of which were emergency medical calls.

History[]

The San Rafael Fire Department was founded on December 5, 1874, consisting of a 45 man volunteer company for the purpose of providing fire protection for the newly incorporated City of San Rafael. The newly formed company called itself “San Rafael Hose Company Number One”, but soon changed its name to the “San Rafael Hose, Hook and Ladder Company” to better identify its duties. The company’s first piece of equipment was a four wheeled hose cart which was pulled by hand. The San Rafael Hook and Ladder Company continued to evolve and improve. By the 1890’s, the Company had 90 volunteer members, two hand pulled hose carts, two hose carriages and one hook and ladder wagon that was pulled by a rented team of horses when needed. Later the horse team of Tom and Jerry were purchased to provide full time service and availability in order to reduce response time to a fire. In 1913, the Department entered the modern era when it purchased its first motorized chain driven apparatus- a Pope chemical wagon. The San Rafael Fire Department has maintained an ISO Class 1 rating since 2016. In 2018, the City of San Rafael and the Marinwood CSD Fire Department amended a long-standing Shared Services Agreement (SSA) to provide Marinwood with all chief officer services, ambulance services, as well as joint training from the San Rafael Fire Department.

Fire Stations[]

Station	Address	In Service	Notes
51	1039 C Street	1917 - June 21, 2017	Closed and demolished. Replaced by new Public Safety Facility / Fire Station 51
52	210 Third Street	?? - February 27, 2017	Closed and demolished. Replaced by new Fire Station 52
53	30 Joseph Court	1960 - 2019	Closed permanently and replaced by new Fire Station 57. Building purchased by the County of Marin
51	1151 C Street	2017 - 2020	Temporary facility during construction of new Public Safety Facility / Fire Station 51
52	519 Fourth Street	January 30, 2017 - May 13, 2019	Temporary facility during construction of new Fire Station 52

Apparatus Roster[]

All pump/tank measurements are in US gallons.
California license plate denoted by CA#

Fire Station 51 - 1375 Fifth Avenue[]

Dedicated July 2020

Engine 51 (ALS) - 2017 Pierce Enforcer (1500/500/20F) (SN#30272-01 or 02) (CA#1464393)

Light Unit 51 - 1995 International

Utility 51 - 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4

Battalion 53 - 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4

Battalion 54 - 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4

Battalion 55 - 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4

Fire Station 52 (Training Center) - 52 Union Street[]

Dedicated May 13, 2019

Engine 50 (Reserve) - 2001 KME Predator Severe Service (1500/500)

Engine 52 (ALS) - 2019 Pierce Enforcer (1500/500/20F) (SN#33652) (CA#1575517)

Medic 52 (ALS) - 2018 Ford E-450 / PL Custom Type III

Utility 52 -

Engine 53 (Reserve) - 2001 KME Severe Service Predator (1500/500)

Engine 59 (Reserve) - 2001 KME Severe Service Predator (1500/500)

Fire Station 54 - 46 Castro Street[]

Built 1964 / Renovated 2022/2023

Engine 54 (ALS) - 2001 KME Predator Severe Service (1500/500) (Cross-staffed with Truck 54)

Truck 54 (ALS) - 2015 Pierce Velocity (-/-/105' rear-mount ladder) (SN#28388)

Utility 54 -

Engine 652 (ALS) - 2008 International 4x4 Type 3 wildland (CA#1243505)

Fire Station 55 - 955 Point San Pedro Road[]

Built 1965 / Renovated 2022/2023

Engine 55 (ALS) - 2013 KME Predator Severe Service (1500/500/20F)

Hose Tender 55 -

Medic 55 (ALS) - 2018 Ford E-450 / PL Custom Type III (Cross-staffed with Engine 55)

Utility 55 -

Medic Supply trailer -

Loch Lomond Marina - 110 Loch Lomond Drive[]

Fireboat "San Rafael" - 2007 MetalCraft Marine 31' FireStorm 30 (SN#1167435) twin diesel jet driven (1800/-) (Ex-Southern Marin Fire Protection District Fireboat "Liberty")

Fire Station 56 - 650 Del Ganado Road[]

Engine 56 (ALS) - 2013 KME Predator Severe Service (1500/500/20F)

Medic 56 (ALS) - 2017 Chevrolet Express 4500 / AEV Type III (cross-staffed with Engine 56)

Truck 57 (Reserve) - 2001 HME 1871 / Smeal (-/-/75' rear-mount) (Ex-Truck 57)

Air trailer -

Fire Station 57 - 3530 Civic Center Drive[]

Dedicated November 19, 2019

Engine 57 (ALS) - 2017 Pierce Enforcer (1500/500/20F) (SN#30272-02 or 01)

Medic 57 (ALS) - 2018 Ford E-450 / PL Custom Type III (Ex-Medic 53)

Utility 57 -

ATV 57 -

Engine 751 - 2019 Ram 5500 4x4 Type 6 wildland (300/250)

Assignment Unknown[]

Cal OES 2612 (6058) - 2020 Ford F-550 Crew Cab DRW 4x4 / HME Ahrens-Fox AF622 Type 6 wildland (500pto,180aux/280/20A) (SN#23458) (CA#1616858) (VIN#1FD0W5HT5LED23005)

2013 Chevrolet Express 4500 / AEV Type III ambulance (SN#13572)

Retired Apparatus[]

2008 HME Ahrens-Fox 1871-SFO SMFD Model 18 Type 1 pumper (1250/850/20F) (SN#21351) (CA#1318906) (VIN#44KFT428X8WZ21351) (Ex-OES 358 - returned to OES and reassigned to Redlands Fire Department)

2003 Almar 27' enclosed center console / twin Evinrude E-TEC 135HP outboards (Ex-Fireboat "Confidence", ex-San Juan Island Fire & Rescue) (Sold to Berkeley Fire Department (California)

1996 HME 1871 / 3D pumper (1500/500) (SN#2770-A) (Ex-Engine 52)

1992 Pierce Arrow aerial (-/-/105' rear-mount ladder) (SN#E6995) (Ex-Truck 55)

1987 Seagrave HB-40CJ pumper (1250/500) SN#T79693 (Ex-Engine 57)

1985 Seagrave HB-50CF pumper (1500/500) SN#S79528 (Ex-Engine 55)

1970 Duplex CF / Van Pelt aerial (-/-/85' rear-mount Snorkel) (SN#720960) (Ex-Truck 57)

Station Map[]

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