Apparatus   2 Engines 1 Trucks 1 Rescue 1 Chief 's 'vehicle Number of alarms:   2700 annually

 

About the Elmira Fire Department 

The Elmira Fire Department services the City of Elmira, the county seat of Chemung County. Located in South Central New York State in an area known as the Finger Lakes Region, the city is approximately 7 1/2 sq. miles with a population of about 34,700 people. 

The department staffing is 74 uniformed fire fighters and seven civilian support personnel. Four shifts of 15-17 firefighters cover the city at all times with the ability to page more off-duty firefighters as emergencies warrant. The vehicle fleet consists of two front-line class A pumpers, one 95' tower-ladder truck, a light duty rescue truck, the deputy chief's truck and a number of utility and reserve vehicles. 

Uniformed personnel are represented professionally by the International Association of Fire Fighters or I.A.F.F.  The local is number 709 with our sister local in neighboring Corning, NY number 936.  The union is an international labor union representing over 3,000 departments and companies in North America and is AFL-CIO accredited. 

The department is dispatched via the County wide 911 phone system over a dedicated fire frequency from the Communications Center at City Hall. 

Elmira is department number six of twenty-one departments in Chemung County. The response time to most of our 2700 calls a year is under three minutes.  We provide not only fire protection for the city but also respond to emergency medical calls, rescue calls, hazardous material emergencies and several other emergencies that we might be equipped to handle. 

We are also responsible, through our Fire Prevention Bureau, for things like State Building Code Enforcement, arson investigations, building safety inspections, in-school fire prevention education and Operation EDITH and a juvenile fire starters deterrent program.