Emergency Services

CURRENT SERVICES PROVIDED

The North Kingstown Fire Department responds to a broad range of emergency incidents as well as provides a number of specialized services — e.g., fire prevention, emergency preparedness — for the North Kingstown community. Services that the Fire Department provides to the North Kingstown community are outlined below.

  1. Fire Suppression
  2. Emergency Medical Services
  3. Hazardous Materials
  4. Technical Rescue

Fire suppression personnel provide emergency response to a range of fire suppression-related incidents involving structures, wildland areas, vehicles and dumpsters/trash. The Department staffs five engine companies, two Advanced Life Support rescue units, a fire alarm operator, and a Deputy Chief Command vehicle to protect the Town. The Ladder Truck, Special Hazards, Marine units, Truck 4 and the DECON Trailer, and Brush Trucks are unstaffed apparatus.  These apparatus are manned by the engine companies when they are available.  A three-platoon/shift configuration with 17 personnel assigned to each shift is utilized in order to provide the community with around-the-clock service.

Coverage and Response Structure

The  Town is  divided  into  five  fire  districts  and  two  rescue/emergency  medical  services (EMS) districts.  There  are  four fire  stations,  a  maintenance facility, Fire Department Headquarters which houses  Fire Alarm Operations, Fire Administration and Fire Prevention.  The Department utilizes a three-shift schedule, staffing each shift for a 24- hour period, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. A minimum on-duty staffing level of 17 personnel has been established for around-the-clock delivery of emergency services. During business hours, administrativepersonnel are available to the public for fire prevention services.

 



  1. Engine Companies
  2. ALS Rescue Companies
  3. Ladder Company
  4. Special Hazards
  5. Deputy Chief Command Vehicle
  6. Other Vehicles

The primary emergency response unit for the North Kingstown Fire Department is the engine company. There is oneengine company at each of the four stations with the exception of station 3 which houses two Engine companies.Engine companies are staffed with a minimum of two personnel:  a  supervising officer, and a firefighter. All fire personnel are required to be certified at the emergency medicaltechnician (EMT-C) Cardiac level. However, approximately 6 percent of all personnel maintain a paramedic ALScertification. The role of the engine company is vital to our emergency medical service delivery, engine companies arrive first in many cases and provide additional staffing to support the rescue’s mission.

North Kingstown Engine 3 2015The primary purpose of an engine company is to provide personnel with equipment and water to sustain an initialattack on a structure, wildland or other fire.  Each engine company is also equipped with a variety of emergency equipment such as:  basic life support medical equipment, emergency scene lighting, basic tools for defensivehazardous materials mitigation, basic water rescue equipment and supplies for firefighter rehabilitation (Rehab).Each engine company is also equipped with 50 feet of ground ladders, specialized wildland firefighting equipment,forcible entry tools, and auto extrication equipment.