The Kern County Fire Department has the distinct honor of protecting and serving the citizens of Kern County, including both incorporated and numerous unincorporated communities. Our county is the third largest in California. It is also bigger than the land area of Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut combined. With an extensive response area comes a large and complex responsibility that requires us to prepare for all-hazards responses, including responses to fires, medical aids, vehicle accidents, technical rescues, hazardous materials spills and other miscellaneous incidents.
In 2021, we responded 95,000 fire engines, ladder trucks and other equipment out of 47 fire stations to assist in mitigating 63,000 emergency and non-emergency incidents. Also, in 2021, your firefighters documented approximately $411 million saved in property value and contents through their direct and immediate actions. While the demand for service increases yearly, our mission has stayed the same. Your Kern County firefighters are “dedicated to protecting life and property by providing effective public education, fire prevention and emergency services every day. We are committed to proudly serve our community in the safest, most professional and efficient manner.”
On National First Responders Day, we take a moment to recognize the hardworking men and women who make up our 500-plus firefighters and 20-plus fire dispatchers who represent our first responders on the front lines. Many who have found their way into our profession will tell you they do not do it for recognition. We do it for you. We do it because our drive for service to the community outweighs our own. We do it to support the many other first responders like us who wear their uniform with pride and drop whatever they are doing when the phone rings or the alarm bell goes off.
We appreciate the community’s trust in us and strive to earn that trust daily through our actions. We know the day you have to access 9-1-1 is stressful, but it also gives us our first opportunity to engage and identify appropriate help. Having a calm, reassuring voice providing guidance through our Emergency Communication Center (dispatch) allows us to identify the right resource (fire, rescue or medical) with the closest resource to respond and begin the stabilization process.
I am proud of our firefighters’ and dispatchers’ level of professionalism and drive toward providing outstanding customer-centered services. They show this professionalism daily through their engagement with the community and by furthering their knowledge, skills and abilities. We serve a diverse community that is growing every year. Our firefighters are up to the challenge of supporting the community’s needs and the inherent risks that threaten our citizens. We appreciate your support. We are humbled by the opportunity to be the ones to respond to your request for help and look forward to helping protect our community as part of an even larger public safety drive from the county.
— Zachary Wells is deputy chief of the Kern County Fire Department and advisor / liaison of ALERTCalifornia.
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