How many calls does the FCFA respond to every year? In 2024, FCFA responded to 4,792 calls for service, representing a 26.57% increase over 2023. 70% of the total call volume was for Rescue and Emergency Medical Incidents. 

How many fire stations does FCFA staff? FCFA staffs two stations 24 hours per day-365 days a year with three engine companies. FCFA resources are dispatched using GPS technology with the closest available engine company being dispatched to the call for service. 

Station 1 is located at 140 Traffic Way in Arroyo Grande  Station 2 is located at 701 Rockaway Ave. in Grover Beach

FCFA is an “All-Risk” Fire Department, what does that mean?
FCFA firefighters are trained, equipped, and prepared to deal with a wide variety of emergencies.  “All Risk” essentially means the Department responds to all types of Fires, Medical Emergencies, Vehicle Accidents, Technical Rescues, Hazardous Materials Incidents, Adverse Weather Events, and Hazardous Conditions. 

How does the FCFA function on a daily basis? Functions of the organization are divided into two primary areas, emergency, and non-emergency.  Emergency operations consist of various fire incidents, fire alarms, medical calls, hazardous materials incidents, natural disasters, and automatic and mutual aid responses.  Non-emergencies consist of fire prevention, training, maintenance, and public education activities.  

Does the Fire department charge a fee to respond to an emergency? No fee is charged for the Fire department to respond to an emergency.  Multiple false alarms at the same address, or expenditures incurred by the FCFA for incidents caused by gross negligence (DUI vehicle into building) can result in a citation fee.  Ambulance transport to a hospital will result in a fee to the service provider, not the Fire Department.

How do I get a copy of an incident report? Fill out a Request for Public Records form. Medical reports are confidential and can only be provided to the patient with proper ID or to a representative of the patient with a signed release. 

Where can I take household hazardous waste? We do NOT accept surplus or expired pharmaceuticals, needles/sharps, flares, fireworks, expired fire extinguishers, propane, paint, chemicals, etc.  Please contact the San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority. They provide residents of San Luis Obispo County multiple locations to properly dispose their Household Hazardous Waste for free. The San Luis Obispo location is: Cold Canyon Landfill 2268 Carpenter Canyon Road / 805.782.8530.

What is the work schedule for FCFA firefighters? Our firefighters are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Firefighters are assigned to work 48-hour shifts beginning at 8 a.m.  To ensure 24/7 coverage, there are three separate shifts each working an average of 56 hours a week.  Working less than the 56-hour schedule could require adding a 4th shift and 8 more firefighters.   

Do Firefighters work overtime? FCFA minimum staffing is 8 firefighters on duty daily plus a Battalion Chief to serve Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Oceano.  Firefighters can be mandated to work to maintain minimum staffing levels, due to other employees being on leave (sick/vacation) or out of county on mutual aid incidents. Mutual aid responses are reimbursable with operating expenses reimbursed to the FCFA.

Why do we see fire crews at the store?
Firefighters are like everyone else.  They need to eat and must supply and pay for their own food.  FCFA firefighters are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, always ready to respond to a call, even when they are at the grocery store.  Each crew of firefighters stays together throughout their entire 48-hour shift to ensure they can respond to an emergency, with the proper equipment, from any location within minutes. Being out in the community also gives us a chance to meet with residents and get to know the people in our neighborhoods, which makes us better first responders.

Who cleans the station? The Firefighters do.

How far away should you be when parking near a fire hydrant? You need to have a 15-foot distance between your vehicle and the fire hydrant.  In the event of a fire, our personnel need adequate room to operate the fire hydrant and connect hose lines.

Why does a fire engine respond with the ambulance? FCFA is committed to providing professional and compassionate care to our communities.  Initiation of patient care as quickly as possible is a vital component to patient outcomes. Ambulance response times and the limited number of ambulances in the County drives the need for fire-based EMS. In many cases, the fire engine may be closer and can initiate medical care before the arrival of the ambulance. The fire engine and ambulance crews work together to make a highly efficient team to provide you with an unsurpassed level of care and best possible outcome.

Why do so many vehicles respond to simple incidents?
FCFA units are dispatched according to information received by the 9-1-1 operator for the type of emergency occurring. Certain emergencies require a single unit response, such as a medical aid or smoke check, whereas a structure fire would require multiple units and possible additional assistance from CAL FIRE, our allied County Fire Department. The 9-1-1 dispatch center selects the nearest available FCFA resource using GPS technology.

How much water is carried on the fire engine? All FCFA fire engines have 500- gallon water tanks.

Why do you block traffic lanes at auto accidents?
We block traffic lanes for the safety of our personnel and our patients. Blocking extra lanes keeps our personnel safe and helps protect the victim(s) we are trying to stabilize.

Do FCFA employees participate on regional teams? Yes, department members participate on most county-wide teams including Hazardous Materials Response, Technical Rescue, Fire Investigation, Type III Incident Management Team, and continued participation in the Automatic/Mutual Aid system.

Why do we have a 100-foot ladder truck? The truck is a unique and vital tool for protecting the community.  The ladder truck can help with elevated rescues, overcome setbacks, elevated aerial master stream operations, exposure protection, vertical ventilation and extrication (“jaws of life”). While you may think a 100-foot ladder may be “overkill,” deployment of the ladder is often more about “reach” than height. Imagine the ladder truck responding to a multi-story apartment building that has street parking. There are five (5) ladder trucks in our county with the next nearest truck in the City of San Luis Obispo. The ladder truck is an integral part of our favorable ISO rating (Insurance Service Office). This rating is used to compute fire insurance premiums for our residents and business owners.