As a community partner, the Tribe plays a vital role in the emergency response and life safety within the Capay Valley and Yolo County. The Rumsey Rancheria Fire Department (RRFD) is a direct product of that partnership.

RRFD evolved from a 2002 agreement between the Tribe and Yolo County to provide fire suppression and emergency medical aid on the Tribe’s trust lands within the Capay Valley.  The agreement went on to stipulate that the Tribe’s fire department would enter into mutual aid agreements with other fire departments.  The Tribe’s vision, however, was to create a fire department that was considered a model for other fire departments throughout California.
 
In keeping with that vision the Tribe designed and built a state-of-the-art fire station. In 2004, they directed the fire chief and his staff to develop programs that went beyond the base requirement of providing fire suppression and emergency medical aid services.  With support from the Fire Commission and Tribal Council, a plan was implemented and successfully achieved where RRFD not only offers fire suppression services, but emergency medical services at the paramedic level, technical rescue that includes vehicle extrication, low angle rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue, swift water rescue, as well as search and rescue services. RRFD has also entered into local fire automatic aid agreements, search and rescue automatic aid agreements, as well as the county fire mutual aid agreement, thus providing services on a routine basis throughout the Capay Valley, Yolo County, and the state.  Additionally, the department offers full service fire prevention and emergency preparedness programs.  To support these programs, RRFD has designed and built a state of the art emergency operations center located at the fire station, Station 25.

RRFD is unique in terms of fire apparatus, personnel qualification/certifications and emergency response vehicle capability.  Not only does the RRFD provide basic fire suppression and emergency medical services to the Cache Creek Casino Resort, the Tribal Community, Capay Valley, and other areas of the Yolo County, RRFD is fully equipped to perform and all personnel are trained to provide technical rescue services, including; swift water rescue, trench rescue, confined space rescue, low angle rescue, vehicle extrication rescue, and specialized search and rescue.  Additionally, all personnel are trained in truck operations, a skill that is usually found with fire departments that have a ladder truck that is equipped with an aerial ladder.  However, RRFD’s rescue truck is actually, by definition, a City Service Truck and as such can serve as a ladder truck as well as specialized technical rescue emergency response vehicle.
 
The two paramedic companies are available to respond to fire, medical aid, vehicle accidents or other emergencies posing a threat to the Tribal and Capay Valley communities.
 
The minimum on-duty staffing level will increase from 7 to 9 firefighters per shift, per day in early 2009, thus providing two four person staffed engine companies and a battalion chief.  Once this staffing level is reached, probably by July 2009, daily emergency response staffing will including; one Battalion Chief, two Captains, two Engineer/Paramedics and four Firefighter/Paramedics.
 
The department uses a 48 x 96 hour staffing plan, often called a 2 x 4 schedule. Therefore three shifts of a minimum of nine personnel work 48 hours on, with the following 96 hours off.
 
The department also provides a full service fire prevention program including; plan review and construction inspections, fire/life safety building inspections, fire drills, fire investigation, and public fire/life safety education demonstrations.
 
Personnel dedicate a minimum of three hours a day to “in-service” skills maintenance training. In addition, the department supports placement of personnel in off-site training to improve individual skills on an as needed basis. Typical off-site training classes include; Swift Water Rescue, Low Angle Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Trench Rescue, Wilderness Search and Rescue and Paramedic Skill Training and Maintenance at the UCDavis Medical Center.

About the Department

The department fields two paramedic companies, staffed by four personnel each and supervised by an on duty Battalion Chief that respond to a variety of Tribal incidents most of which are medical aid emergencies. The department also provides emergency services in conjunction with the Capay Valley, Esparto, and Madison Fire Departments – our automatic aid partners.

Additionally, the department participates in The State Master Mutual Aid System by responding to emergencies throughout the state.

Current department projects include:

• Fire Department Accreditation: Our goal is to become one of the select fire departments in the nation to receive accreditation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc.
• Implement the five-year Strategic Plan goals developed by the Rumsey Indian Rancheria.
• Increase daily minimum staffing from seven to nine on-duty personnel per 24-hour shift