City of Healdsburg Fire Department

Healdsburg Fire Chief Steve Adams, who took over the top slot on July 1, 2010 after former Fire Chief Randy Collins retired, oversees a staff of six full-time firefighters plus a division fire marshal and a fire prevention engineer. Adams' 2010-11 budget, which comes out of the city's general fund, is $2.1 million, down from about $3 million in 2009-10. The fire equipment includes six pieces of apparatus, including three engine trucks, a water tender, a wildland fire truck and a ladder truck. Full-time firefighters rotate on 48-hour shifts and staff firehouse 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Healdsburg's department also contracts with Sonoma County Fire Department to cover unincorporated areas such as Fitch Mountain, Dry Creek Valley and Mill Creek. Firefighters undergo extensive training, including the use of a stone training tower and instruction in  "jaws of life" rescues from simulated auto wrecks.