Department InformationEstablished in 1947, the Santa Clara County Fire Department provides ISO Class 2/5 services for Santa Clara County, California (light green in the map below) and the communities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, and Saratoga. The department also provides protection for the unincorporated areas adjacent to those cities. The department's area of coverage is shown in dark green in the map below. 
Wrapping in a 40 mile (64km) arc around the southern end of "Silicon Valley", the Santa Clara County Fire Department has grown to include 17 fire stations, an administrative headquarters, a maintenance facility, five other support facilities, 21 pieces of apparatus and 4 command vehicles, to cover 114.5 square miles (297 square km) and a population of over 252,000. The department employs over 306 fire prevention, suppression, investigation, administration, and maintenance personnel; daily emergency response consists of 71 employees. The department's suppression force is also augmented by approximately 30 volunteer firefighters. The Department's Annual Report is available for download on the 
ServicesFire prevention services were limited to land development and company inspection programs prior to 1979. The Department started the Fire Prevention Division in 1979 and took on the management roll for the Santa Clara County Fire Marshal's Office in 1987. Emergency Medical Services are described on the EMS page. The Department advocates regional fire services. Hazardous materials regulation and response is a prime example of sharing scarce resources between multiple jurisdictions. The California State Department of Health Services helped fund training and equipping the Department's Hazardous Materials Team for a regional emergency response roll in 1985. Public education programs provide opportunity to educate and involve citizens and school children in a fire safe community. The Department's program is staffed with a full-time Public Education Officer and supported by personnel trained as part of a "Speakers Bureau." The Department is one of the few fire agencies in the Bay Area to staff a full time fire investigator position augmented by on-call personnel. Investigation of fires provides important information on the cause and origin of the local fire problem. The Fire Chief of the Santa Clara County Fire Department has traditionally served as the Local Mutual Aid Fire and Rescue Coordinator. This position has become increasingly pivotal in promoting and coordinating local government fire resources. Staffing levels, equipment, and water supplies have improved dramatically over the past decade, resulting in an improved ISO rating. In most communities served by the Department, business owners and residents enjoy a Class 2/5 (40% Suburban area with an ISO rating of 2, and 60% Wildland Urban Interface wih an ISO rating of 5) fire insurance rating that was awarded in 1996. 
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