Mesa City Council issues proclamation to declare 2023 as the official 125th Anniversary of Mesa Fire and Medical Department

Historic Milestones in department development

• July 1, 1898, before annual July 4th Celebration, Mayor D.T. LeBaron Jr. advises citizens to stay safe and vigilant.
• October 21,1898 was the first major fire in Crosby's grocery store and adjoining Passey and Met's furniture store. Wood construction of stores made them unsavable, and efforts were directed to save nearby structures. A brick wall prevented the loss of all buildings on the south side of Main St.
• November 1,1898 City council spoke of fire. Proposed drawing up ordinances, plans for debris removal, and pipe system to bring water into town. They also appointed Mayor LeBaron as Fire Warden- starting the department.
• 1899 brought the organization of a volunteer fire department.
• June 26,1909 City of Mesa proposes a Fire Department and firefighters begin earning pay for their work.
• August 12,1920 a two-story fire station opens at N McDonald St with two fire engines in the lower floor and housing for the firefighters on the second floor.
• Currently Mesa Fire and Medical Department employs 495 sworn personnel and 187 civilian professional support staff with department divisions providing an expanded scope of service. Approximately 68,000 calls are currently handled annually.

Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety!

How many times in the middle of the night do we hear a smoke alarm start to beep, is it signaling a low battery? The dog is up, everyone is tossing in bed trying to ignore and we think, I just changed that battery…  I just can’t remember when? But is ignoring until morning the safe thing to do?

If there is a beep or a chirp coming out of your smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm, get up and make sure you and your family know what it means. Knowing the difference can save lives.  

SMOKE ALARMS

• A continued set of three loud beeps- beep,beep,beep- means smoke or fire. Get out, call 911, and stay out.
• A single "chirp" every 30 or 60 seconds mean the battery is low and must be changed.
• Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and must be replaced.
• All smoke alarms must be replaced after 10 years.

Fire safety begins with you. If you HEAR a BEEP, Get on your Feet!

Our Connectors can come out to check your Smoke Alarms or install new ones if needed. Fill out this form: Smoke Alarm Service Request | Mesa Fire & Medical (mesaaz.gov)

Hot Off the Press...

MFMD Fire Pre-Plans Help Save Lives!!

Fire pre-plans are documents that fire crews use on the scene of a fire to know details of a structure and the area surrounding it. The plans are managed by Robert Perez, Fire GIS technician in the Technical Services Division of the Mesa Fire and Medical Department. Over the years, our GIS Division have worked diligently to ensure that our crews have the best information available going onto a scene to aid in the saving of lives and property. 

In the old days the plans were contained in 3-ring books. These included plat maps of the city with all structures and available services including the locations of fire hydrants. They also included plans for all businesses within the city. These plans are shared with our Dispatch Partners. You can imagine, this got to be a lot of information for the crews to keep track of. To give you a better idea of what this looked like, there were a total of 7-8 large binders for each vehicle used in the field including every engine, ladder, and support vehicle. There were 3 with business preplans, 3 containing apartments/condos/town homes, 1 plat book, 1 book for schools/trailer parks/golf courses. The golf course preplans are interesting. There are few structures with golf course layout and access points throughout the course. When there is a 911 call from a golf course, the crews need to know where the closes access point is to the patient, as medical emergencies do not only happen at the clubhouse. Any additions or changes to plans needed to be created by the tech department and sent back out to updated in each set of books by the crews.

Some of this changed in the early 2000’s.  A new city ordinance was passed, Ordinance #4552, which requires a digital AutoCAD file to be submitted to Development Services along with hard copy plans. This is part of the process to receive a Certificate of Completion or Certificate of Occupancy. It was during this time that Development Services moved digitally forward as well. Everything contained in the runbooks has been and is continuously updated to the CADMap used by 911 operators. Each plan has the location, the type of construction materials used, plans of each floor, including the roof and basement, stairwells, elevators, access points at each level, sprinkler systems, shut offs for sprinklers, gas, and electrical, Knox Box location, hazardous materials on site, exterior features including pools, street access, nearest hydrants, and FD connections, any special risk factors, and owner, management company, and pertinent contact information. There is a standard symbology used for all plans.

This information is utilized by all first responders along with dispatch centers.  Police and Fire vehicles have mobile computer terminals (MCT’s) in their vehicles along with GPS technology to dispatch closest available units to an emergency. MFMD Dispatch Partners with other area cities in sharing preplans if interagency cooperation is called for. They are great tools being used by the folks who we depend on to help us in any type of emergency!

Currently MFMD are looking at new methods, software packages, etc. to expedite current Fire Preplanning procedures utilizing I Pad’s in place of pen & paper to capture the abundance of data we receive daily as we move into the future.

February is National Heart Health Month

Learn the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

• Chest discomfort- uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath. Maybe with or without chest discomfort.
• Othe possible signs include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.

If you experience any of these signs…DON'T DISCOUNT THEM AS SOMETHING ELSE… Call 911 if you experience any of these symptoms. Minutes matter!

Know your risk factors. Can they be changed?

Risk factors that can’t be changed:

Increasing Age

Male Gender

Heredity (including race)

Risk factors that you can change:

Tobacco smoking and vaping

High blood cholesterol

High blood pressure

Physical inactivity

Obesity and being overweight

Diabetes

For more information go to American Heart Association | To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives

Learn CPR with us. 

Mesa Fire and Medical Department has Medic Units to serve YOU!

The medic units will respond along with the fire crews to any medical emergency and will transport as dictated by patient needs.

Here is some information about our Medic crews:

MFMD currently operates 12 Medic units/trucks that serve the Emergency Transportation need of our 911 system.

Units are staffed with 1 Civilian Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and 1 Civilian Paramedic (ALS).

Units respond to Emergency Medical scenes (calls for service through 911) to provide additional medical assessment, treatment, and emergency transportation from the scene to the closest appropriate Emergency Room Hospital for continuing medical evaluation and treatment.

The benefits to our community for having our own medic transport service allows the patient to receive the same consistent, high level of care from the Mesa Fire and Medical Department from the beginning of the call until they are transferred over to the ER staff. All our department’s EMTs and Paramedics, whether on the medic units or our sworn firefighters (also duel trained as EMT’s and paramedics) on the fire trucks, are held to MFMD’s highest standards and expectations; units carry the same equipment and receive the same medical training as our firefighters.

On a typical 911 medical call:  the primary response crew, which includes the engine or ladder with their 4-person crew, and a medical response unit will arrive on-scene. They perform the initial assessment and start any treatments needed. If an ambulance transport is needed or requested, a Medic Unit will be dispatched and arrives on-scene to provide continued care and will transport the patient to the hospital. This allows the 4-person company on the fire truck to return to service and be available quicker for the next emergency call. 

For critical calls, MFMD will dispatch additional personnel/engines to support the more comprehensive level of medical services needed for the patient(s). Our fire crews and medical units train throughout the year and work together to provide a high level of medical service to our community. This ensures that each member understands their vital role, while ensuring a continuum level of care for the patient.

🔥🔥Burning Questions🔥🔥

What does the prevention office do within the fire department?

What does the prevention office do within the fire department?

Fire Prevention is overseen by the Fire Marshall with the support of two Asst. Fire Marshalls.  We have 13 inspectors and 4 of those are trained investigators along with 5 administrative support positions.  We are committed to preventing fires and casualties from fire both civilian and firefighter. 

Our duties include Fire Inspections, Code Education/Interpretation to the Public, Enforcement of Fire Code Violations, Emergency and Fire Drill Planning, Fire Crew Referrals, Fire Investigations, Knox Box Management, and we provide customer service to the community. When we find issues during inspections, we enforce the code and notify operations of adverse conditions.

Fire Prevention Inspectors and Investigators are integral in keeping a community, its citizens, and firefighters safe from fire.

Visit their website or call them at 480-644-2622 or send an email toFireprevention@mesaaz.gov

Send Us Your Questions!!!

MFMDFireEd@MesaAZ.gov