Welcome from the Fire Chief

Welcome to the Grand Rapids Fire Department's Web site! If you are visiting for business reasons or just browsing for pleasure, our goal is to provide information about our department that is both interesting and useful. We appreciate your interest.

It is my pleasure to serve as the Fire Chief for this great community and Fire Department. The Grand Rapids Fire Department is a multi-faceted organization that provides a wide range of life safety and emergency management services to the citizens and visitors of the City of Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids Fire Department is dedicated to protecting lives, property, and the environment, while placing safety and service above all else. The men and women that make up the Grand Rapids Fire Department are dedicated to serving our community with commitment, courage, and compassion.

It is the belief of the Grand Rapids Fire Department that there is nothing more important than the community we serve. I hope our Web site helps you better understand what services the Fire Department provides. The members of the Grand Rapids Fire Department are continuously seeking innovative ways to improve and to provide exceptional service to our community.

I would like to remind everyone that the presence of working smoke detectors in your home, along with an escape plan, increases your odds of surviving a fire by ten-fold. Please check your smoke detectors today and design an escape plan for you and your family. You and your family's safety are very important to us.

About Us

Whether it is providing all facets of fire prevention and community safety, extinguishing fires, providing emergency medical services, responding to a hazardous materials call or performing technical rescue activities, our Department is committed to providing the highest quality emergency response services.

The Grand Rapids Fire Department has an annual operating budget of $24 million, and a total staff of 227 personnel. Of the 227,

• 227 Total staff
• 207 Career Suppression personnel
• 8 Fire Prevention Inspectors
• 12 Support staff members

We respond to incidents from 11 strategically located fire stations and operate...

• 2 Battalion chiefs
• 7 Engines
• 2 Rescue engines
• 4 Ladder trucks
• 5 Medical squads
• Various special response units