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Operations Overview
Prince William County is located in Northern Virginia and nearly half a million people call it home. Protecting the community within its 370 square miles is a daunting task and requires more than 600 career fire fighters to do so. "The mission of the Department of Fire and Rescue is to protect lives, property and the environment through timely, professional, humanitarian services essential to the health, safety and well-being of the community (McGee, 2015). The department is responsible for responding to all emergency incidents that include, but are not limited to structure fires, fire alarms, medical emergencies gas leaks, investigations, drownings, motor vehicle accidents, water rescues and all hazards. During Fiscal Year 2017 over 37,600 emergency incidents were recorded for Prince William County.
The county is divided into four battalions, which are responsible for 22 fire stations. Each station is uniquely equipped to serve the population with a combination of Engines, Medic Units, Trucks, Rescue Squads, Haz Mat Units and/or boats. Each station is comprised of at least one captain as the Station Commander who is assigned to the engine. All other apparatus have lieutenants assigned to them.
While assigned to the Operations Division, one can expect to be assigned to one of two shifts; "day work" or "shift work."
- Day work consists of 4 twelve hour days, from 0600 thru 1800, with one rotating day off during the week. This shift also benefits from having all weekends and Federal Holidays off.
- Shift work consists of working one 24 hour shift, from 0600 thru 0600. This is followed by 48 hours off. Once a month there is a Regular Day Off (RDO) which give the employee a 5 day break. This assignment will work nights, weekends and holidays.