ORGANIZATION: The department has 52 full-time, 15 part-time employees. Full-time personnel are divided into four divisions: Administration (fire chief and 2 administrative secretaries), Suppression (division chief, 2 battalion chiefs and 24 firefighters), Emergency Medical Services (1 battalion chief and 18 firefighters) and Prevention (division chief and 2 inspectors). There are 15 personnel on
duty 24 hours each day serving the public from 4 fire stations; 3 in Lewiston and the Asotin County Fire Protection District 1 station: Station 1 (1 battalion chief, 1 captain, and 4 firefighters) serves downtown, North Lewiston and East Lewiston; Station 2 (1 captain and 3 firefighters) serves the East Orchards; Station 4 (1 captain and 2 firefighters) serves the airport area, West Orchards and Elks area; and the AC Station (2 firefighters) serves Asotin, Asotin County, Elks Addition, Hells Gate area and parts of downtown Lewiston. CROSS-TRAIN AND CROSS-STAFF: Firefighters are cross-trained to meet the various department missions; all department vehicles are cross-staffed. The on-duty crew takes the vehicles and tools it needs to perform the mission. Suppression and EMS Division duties include fire suppression; emergency and nonemergency ambulance service; aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF) at the airport; hazardous materials response; rescue and extrication; disaster response; and public education. LFD is a multi-dimension, multi-function organization. By training and equipping the same personnel to perform numerous missions, the City receives greater return on its investment in personnel. All firefighters are certified EMS providers; all Paramedics and EMTs are firefighters. Reserve Firefighters are part-time employees who fill in for full-time personnel absent for vacation, illness, injury, training, union business, jury duty, subpoena leave, leaves of absence less than 60 days, public education, awaiting new hires, and special assignments as agreed by both parties of the Collective Labor Agreement. Their activity is limited to either firefighter or ambulance attendant positions (FF/E71, AA/M71, M72, M73). Utilizing Reserve Firefighters greatly reduces overtime costs. OPERATIONAL CONCEPT: Firefighters operate in teams carrying the tools and equipment needed to perform the various missions on board self-contained fire engines, ambulances and support vehicles. Firefighters function as risk managers, moving people, tools and equipment around to complete the multiple missions of the department.
