City of Satsuma, Alabama, Fire Department

The Satsuma Fire Rescue Department is currently seeking individuals who are 18 and older that would like to serve as a volunteer as a medical first responder, a fire fighter, or in a support role. Experience is not required, just a willingness to learn and the desire to serve your community. Contact Chief Clyde Miller at 679-1640 or stop by the fire station any time.

The City of Satsuma, through the Satsuma Fire Department, has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Mobile County Emergency Medical Services System. This agreement provides direct 911 dispatching to the Fire Department for all emergencies. In addition, the MCEMSS now stations an Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance at the Satsuma fire station. An ALS ambulance has at least one paramedic on duty at all times. The advanced care from the professional staff at MCEMSS “County 4” is a great compliment to the fire department EMTs and First Responders already serving the community.

Since switching to the direct dispatching by Mobile County, fire department personnel are responding 3 to 5 minutes faster to your calls for assistance. In addition, by having an ambulance use the fire station as their home base, our citizens are able to access transportation to a hospital much faster in most cases.

Mission

The Satsuma Fire Rescue Department is committed to providing high quality fire and rescue services to the City of Satsuma. Life safety and the protection of property are our number one goals.

Staffing

The Satsuma Fire Rescue Department is a “combination” fire department meaning it has both paid career fire fighters as well as volunteers. The fire department is managed by a fire chief and up to six other full time fire fighters. The full time fire fighters work a traditional 24 hours on and 48 hours off shift schedule, with two full time fire fighters staffing the station at most times.

The Satsuma Fire Rescue Department was originally an all volunteer fire department. Citizens of the city have a great heritage of serving in many volunteer boards and councils. The fire department is no exception. Even with the addition of full time staffing a few years ago, several city residents have continued to give their time to serve their community.

Apparatus and Equipment

The Satsuma Fire Rescue Department has a modern fleet of fire apparatus to serve the City of Satsuma.

Engine 1 – 2004 Pierce pumper, 1250 g.p.m. pump, 1000 gallon water tank

Engine 3 – 2005 Classic pumper/tanker, 1250 g.p.m. pump, 1650 gallon water tank

Engine 4 – 1999 Ferrara pumper, 1250 g.p.m. pump, 1000 gallon water tank

All three fire engines are equipped with hundreds of feet of fire hose, emergency medical equipment, and various hand tools and appliances. In addition, the department carries vehicle extrication hydraulic tools and brush fire fighting gear.

Training

The full time staff members of the fire department are all certified fire fighters as required by the State of Alabama. Some are also certified as Emergency Medical Technicians, Hazardous Materials responders, and other specialized areas.

The volunteer fire fighters and support personnel conduct meetings and participate in training twice per month. During each year, the fire fighters and support personnel train on fire fighting skills, CPR, vehicle extrication, hazardous materials response, driving and pumping trucks, safety, and incident command. Members may also attend other classes such as those offered by the Mobile County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments and the Alabama State Fire College.

Statistics

The City of Satsuma is a growing community and a crossroads to other regional development. This is creating a growing demand for services from the fire department. Just two years ago, the fire department responded to approximately 400 incidents. In 2008, the Satsuma Fire Rescue Department has responded to over 600 incidents, over 90% of which were requests for emergency medical assistance.