Operations

The McLane - Black Lake Fire Department Operations Division is comprised of six fire stations with four first line fire companies and an on duty Battalion Chief. Fire suppression personnel perform a variety of tasks including fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical services, handling incidents involving hazardous materials as well as public education and fire prevention duties.  The Operations Division oversees the provision of fire suppression and EMS. The fire department has six fire station locations strategically placed throughout the combined districts. This enables the fire department to maintain an average response time of approximately six minutes to emergencies within the district. At each fire station there is an engine company. Firefighters perform a wide range of duties and are required to be well trained and physically fit to ensure that whatever the task, it will be handled safely and professionally.  Calls for service are handled by the operations division and most calls come through an emergency 911 communication center and are routed quickly to the most appropriate unit. The fire department is dispatched under a cooperative agreement by the Thurston County Fire Departments and CAPCOM, who operates the regional Fire Communication Center. In 2007 the fire department handled approximately 2500 calls for service ranging from controlling large scale fires to providing emergency medical aid to handling minor public assistance calls.  (EMT's) participate in weekly drills and scheduled OTEP training to ensure competency, and to meet state certification requirements