Contact Information
Fire Department
The Rockford Fire Department is under the direction of Fire Chief Derek Bergsten who heads a staff of more than 282 uniformed and administrative personnel. Additionally, there are 53 employees associated directly with the 911 Telecommunications Center.
The Rockford Fire Department provides firefighting, emergency medical service, hazardous materials mitigation, extrication, and technical rescue services to the 150,000 city residents. Annually, the department responds to over 23,000 emergency incidents and maintains an ISO Class 2 rating. The city is protected by eight engine companies, three quint companies, two ladder companies, and five ALS ambulances housed at fire stations strategically located throughout Rockford.
Department News
Come down to Davis Park on Saturday June 1st for the 9th Annual 911 3K Race. Registration fee of $20 includes race shirt, family fun walk, and free breakfast. Procedes benefit the Fire & Police Chaplains Division and the Rockford Fire Department Division of Fire Prevention Public Education Programs. Print out the registration form below or visit www.signmeup.com/911run for online registration.
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It is the mission of the Rockford Fire Department to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Rockford from fire, disasters (natural or manmade), hazardous materials and other emergencies including emergency medical care. Our mission is accomplished by providing "Excellence Everywhere" in the areas of prevention, education, suppression, advanced life support care, and other public safety emergency services to all areas and citizens of our community.
The Rockford Fire Department is under the direction of Fire Chief Derek Bergsten who reports to the Mayor, the City Council, and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Previously, the department had operated under four distinct divisions: Administration, Operations and Training, Fire Prevention, and the 911 Center, each under the direction of a Division Chief or Administrator. However, with increasing emphasis in the training arena to meet the many new challenges resulting from the terrorist attack of 9/11, changes in personnel status and other issues, especially in the EMS arena regarding both paramedic training and delivery of EMS services, the department began the transition process to a five division configuration splitting training off from operations as a separate division with separate training coordinators for EMS and Fire. The complete changeover to this configuration took place in 2003.
The department is budgeted for 282 people including secretarial staff, mechanics, inspectors, trainers, administrative staff, and 258 company personnel (firefighters and paramedics). Additionally, there are 53 employees associated directly with the 911 Center, which falls under the authority of the Fire Department per intergovernmental agreements. Chief Bergsten serves as the Winnebago County E-911 system Board President, and the department also directs and takes charge of this operation.
The Rockford Fire Department is a "full service" department in that it does everything from firefighting to emergency medical services, hazardous materials mitigations and extrications to inspections and pre-plans of buildings, hydrant testing to confined space rescue and high angle rescue. With the operation of the 911 Center, we also take responsibility for dispatching the department's fire and ambulance calls, as well as incidents for the Rockford Police Department, and volunteer fire departments in the county.
Operating in a city of over 150,000 residents, we are rated by ISO as a Class 2 City. In 2010, we responded to nearly 23,000 calls for assistance. The city is served by 11 fire stations with a total of 13 pieces of fire apparatus including 8 engines, 3 quints, and 2 ladder companies, as well as 5 paramedic ambulances. We divide the city into two districts for management and response purposes with a District Chief in charge of each side of the city.