City of College Station

The College Station Fire Department (CSFD) is a internationally accredited agency with a class 1 ISO rating comprised of 174 professionals who protect and serve one of the most unique communities in America.

The department not only provides fire, EMS and HAZMAT response to College Station’s more than 129,000 residents, but also to Texas A&M University (69,000 students), Easterwood Airport, and partners with the neighboring City of Bryan and surrounding communities when needed.

The CSFD has an annual budget of $28 million and staffs six fire stations. College Station has the world's finest collection of emergency response training facilities in its backyard: Brayton Fire Training Field, Disaster City®, and the Emergency Operations Training Center — all operated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).

The College Station Fire Department got its official start in 1970 when the city hired its first fire chief and full-time paid firefighter. Up until this point, Texas A&M University had provided Fire Suppression services to the city and campus. Cadets attending the university were tasked with not only attending college, but also being the city’s fire department. Due to several costly fires in 1930, Texas A&M began offering classes providing up-to-date firefighting techniques called the “Training School for Texas Firemen.” The class was a huge success and the college was authorized to offer the fire school annually. Thus began the long, prestigious operation of the Texas A&M Fire Protection Training Division. This new group of volunteer graduates was labeled Texas A&M College Fire Department. These volunteers provided emergency operations services to the city and campus until 1970, when the city decided to form their own department. Thus began, The City of College Station Fire Department. The first paid firefighter in the department’s history was Harry L. Davis. The city fire station and Davis’s residence were connected to the TAMU Fire department party line. Davis would respond to the emergency call with one of the city’s LaFrance pumpers. Often alone, Davis would handle the situation until the university’s fire department could arrive with additional equipment and manpower.

In 1969, Mayor D. A. “Andy” Anderson proposed to the city council that College Station obtain the new National Emergency phone number, 911, for the community. Upon Council’s adoption of Mayor Anderson’s proposal in January 1970, the City of College Station became one of the first cities in Texas to implement the use of the 911 Emergency Call System.

Prior to the spring of 1977, emergency medical services was provided to the city and community by private ambulance companies. In the first week of March, one of the ambulance services announced it would cease operations by March 8 and leave two community-purchased Southern box-type ambulances with CSFD. This resulted in perhaps the single most influential and significant development in the history of the College Station Fire Department. CSFD became responsible for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in the city and southern Brazos County with only one certified EMT on staff. This new responsibility allowed for an immediate expansion of nine CSFD personnel with Emergency Medical Training (EMT).

In 1995, College Station Fire Department and the Bryan Fire Department agreed to begin an Automatic Aid program in which each city’s nearest or readily available fire or ambulance emergency unit would be dispatched to shared border areas. In the fall of 1995, CSFD celebrated 25 years of service to the citizens of College Station and surrounding communities.

College Station Fire Department obtained accreditation through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International in March 2016. A new computer aided dispatch system was installed in 2017 which upgraded the handling capacity of the dispatch center, allowed for fire apparatus to be monitored and dispatched using location data, and ensured that the department would have a system in place to allow for the future growth of the community.

In 2019, the City of College Station was issued an ISO Class 1 rating by the Insurance Service Office. This highest rating, paired with Accreditation, makes College Station Fire Department only 1 of 3 departments in Texas to achieve these awards.

As of 2021 the College Station Fire Department celebrates 50 years of service to the citizens. The department answers more than 10,000 calls for service annually and provides fire suppression, fire prevention, and emergency medical service to more than 125,000 residents. Operating out of 6 fire stations, the department staffs 5 fire engines, 2 platform ladder trucks, 1 quint, 4 ambulances, 1 water tender, 1 airport truck, 1 safety officer, and 1 battalion chief. Additionally, the department operates special teams that includes: hazardous materials, wildland, swift water, bicycle response team, medical task force, and search and rescue.  


College Station Fire Department 25 Anniversary Book (PDF)

One of the goals of the City of College Station Fire Department is to provide an advanced level of emergency medical care to patients as soon as possible. This level of care begins with the first unit on scene. Department vehicles, including ambulances, fire engines, and ladder trucks have the capability to perform advanced-level medical care up to the Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) level. The capabilities of these units include:

• Defibrillation
• Cardioversion
• Pacing
• ECG/EKG Interpretation
• IV Therapy
• IO (Intraosseous) Access
• Medication Administration
• Advanced Airway Management (Intubation)
• Chest Decompression
• Other advanced skills

Medical Standby
College Station Fire Department provides Medical Standby for events such as Special Olympics, high school football games, athletic events, and other events. Fees may be required based on the event and profit status of the host. The rates for these events are set by the fee schedule adopted by the City Council. To request a medical standby, please contact the department.

EMS Transport
College Station Fire Department transports patients to a range of hospitals designed to provide rapid treatment. The decision of which hospital to transport a patient is based on patient preference, patient condition, and the distance to the facility. 

Billing Information
For questions regarding an EMS bill, contact Emergicon at 877.602.2060. Rates and fees are established by College Station and are updated annually. View rates and fees.

Mission

Excellence through Service.

Vision

CSFD will create a community free from preventable harm;
        we will create order anywhere there is chaos.

Values

Compassion. Service. Focus. Dedication.

Emergency Operations is CSFD’s largest division, comprised of personnel who respond to emergency incidents from fire stations strategically located throughout the city.

An assistant chief oversees this division along with the help of three battalion chiefs. Each battalion chief is responsible for a specific 48-hour shift ("A", "B" or "C"). Battalion chiefs on each shift supervise all of the personnel, stations, and incidents within their battalion (geographic division). Firefighters work 48 hours on-duty, 96 hours off-duty, and shift change occurs at 7 a.m. The team assigned to a particular apparatus (engine, truck, or ambulance unit), and the apparatus itself, is known as "company."

In addition to responding to fires, medical calls, hazardous materials incidents, rescues, and other emergencies, fire station personnel are responsible for conducting pre-fire evaluations of businesses and apartment complexes, participating in continuing education and training, maintaining their equipment and station, presenting public education messages at schools, community events, station tours, and installing smoke detectors in homes.

Other emergency services provided by College Station Fire Department include:

• Fire suppression
• Emergency Medical Services
• Hazardous Materials
• Airport Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF)
• Wildland Firefighting
• Technical Rescue

Professional Standards

International Accreditation
College Station Fire Department is an accredited agency by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). What that means is we take extra steps to ensure that we are providing high-quality fire and life safety services in the most effective and cost-efficient manner. Accreditation is a comprehensive and rigorous self-assessment and evaluation process that requires us to look at our past, current, and future service levels and internal performance and compare them to industry best practices. Accreditation is awarded only after CFAI determines our agency meets or exceeds the highest standards of performance and safety, and reaccreditation is required every five years. We are committed to giving you top-of-the-line service, earning your respect, and caring for your family and business as we would our own.

Learn more about Accreditation
Strategic Plan
Standards of Cover

ISO Rating

View the ISO document for homeowners and business owners.
College Station Fire Department (CSFD) proudly holds an Insurance Service Office (ISO) Class 1/8Y Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating. Effective April 1, 2019, an ISO Class 1 Rating places CSFD in the top-tier of agencies in the United States that provide fire protection. The enhanced rating validates that fire protection, water service, and communications are in the top-tier.

ISO collects and evaluates fire suppression capabilities in over 48,000 communities in the United States. ISO notes that most insurers use the PPC classification for underwriting and calculating premiums on residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The PPC score is a measure of the community’s overall ability to reduce property losses due to fires.

The scale of a PPC rating ranges from 1-10, with Class 1 being the highest rating. College Station Fire Departments community Class 1 rating comes on the heels of a recent and extensive analysis performed by ISO on the College Station community's fire prevention and suppression systems.

ISO a third-party entity that assesses College Station Fire Department on a regular basis. The Commission on Fire Accreditation International also evaluates College Station Fire Department to ensure that we are providing high-quality fire and life safety services.

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