Mission, Vision & Objectives

Mission

The Department's mission is: "To provide protection and life safety to our community in order to prevent emergencies when possible, to respond quickly and to minimize pain, suffering, and loss when emergencies do occur."

Vision

The Department's vision is: "To effectively deal with existing and future threats to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens and visitors of the County, and thus preserve and enhance the quality of their lives, health and property."

The Department's strong values permeate all of the department's operations and activities. Emergency response and citizen service are the highest priority and overriding concern of the department's members and are reflected in the goals of every emergency response (life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation). Department members have a strong belief in and commitment to the mission of the department and are committed to the teamwork required to accomplish that mission. They believe in the values of personal integrity, ethical conduct, and personal accountability for their actions. They also believe in exhibiting in them and promoting within their co-workers the highest standards of service professionalism, identified as the "3 As" (attitude, appearance and actions).

As a department and as individuals, they are committed to maintaining an attitude of professional respect for the value of life and the dignity of others, the worth of caring and the importance of helping others. They strive to present the best possible professional appearance in themselves, their apparatus, equipment and workplaces. And, they work hard to demonstrate professional knowledge, skills and abilities, to ensure their actions are deliberate and appropriate for the situation at hand, carried out with expedience, efficiency, courtesy, kindness and respect for others.

Objectives

The department's objectives are:

• To ensure that the public has a mechanism in which to report an emergency, receive a quick and effective fire and rescue response and are aided to the extent necessary to cope with and/or overcome their emergency crisis; To continue to evaluate community risks and the department's capabilities/service delivery to insure optimum emergency prevention, response and recovery.
• To educate the public in the means to access the emergency response system, minimize exposure to hazardous situations, prepare for a personal/individual emergency and or community disaster, and prevent fires and injuries.
• To enforce applicable codes and ordinances necessary for the health and safety of citizens and visitors, such as the Building Code, the Fire Prevention Code, and Animal Control codes and ordinances; to investigate of violations of these codes and ordinances as well as other issues that may be of public concern or involve public safety.
• To coordinate, develop, exercise, and implement as required a comprehensive emergency management system that includes mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.