Operations Department

The operations department is made up of both paid and volunteers. The paid staff works directly for Smith County ESD2 and the volunteers belong to one of the 11 contracted VFDs. Currently, ESD2 staffs 5 stations 24/7 with 3 personnel each, and, 5 stations Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm with 3 personnel each. Our volunteers are an integral part of our response plan regardless of the staffing status and time of day.

The operations paid staff consist of the following positions:

The battalion chiefs are responsible for scheduling, QA of incident reports, incident command on multiple company responses, and management of operations staff on their shift. 

The positions are 48 hours on duty and 96 hours off duty. The two positions require a total of 6 people.

Captains have different assignments such as issuing and inspecting gear, training, logistics, etc. They also respond to multi company incidents to act as incident commander or safety officer.

The position is 48 hours on duty and 96 hours off duty. The position requires a total of 3 people.   

A Lieutenant is assigned to a station and is responsible for the station, it’s apparatus, the paid staff at that station during their shift. The shift of the lieutenant varies by station assignment some are 48/96 and some are 8-5.

Although all our staff can drive and operate our equipment, Drivers have special training and certifications to allow them to better operate the advanced fire engines both on the road and pumping on scene. They are responsible for inspecting the apparatus and the equipment on them each day to ensure they are mission ready.  The shift of the driver varies by station assignment some are 48/96 and some are 8-5.

Our paid firefighters are TCFP (Texas Commission on Fire Protection) and TDSHS (Texas Department of State Health Services) certified and undergo constant training to improve and maintain their skills. The shift of the firefighters are 48/96.

Our paid firefighters are TCFP (Texas Commission on Fire Protection) and TDSHS (Texas Department of State Health Services) certified and undergo constant training to improve and maintain their skills. The shift of the additional firefighters varies are 8-5 M-F.

Over 100 apparatus in our fleet

Our fleet of over 100 apparatus responds to over 6,500 incidents a year

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Services Provided:

Fire Suppression

Fire Suppression is our main goal and we respond to all types of fires including Structure, Wildland, Vehicle, Boat, Plane, and HazMat fires.

Rescue

The operations department responds to incidents such as vehicle extrication, confined space, high angle, trench, and water rescues, missing and lost persons and much more.

Emergency Medical Services

The operations department responds to medical incidents to assist UT Health and Champion EMS crews for priority 1 calls such as heart attacks and strokes or if requested by EMS crews on scene.

Service

The operations department responds to calls such as fire alarms, welfare checks, agency assists, gas leaks, and much more.

Organization

On the operations side, Smith County ESD2 is broken into 2 battalions with 6 fire districts in battalion 1 and 5 fire districts in battalion 2. The ESD contracts with a VFD in each district. The VFDs each provide volunteers to serve their district. Each VFD has its own positions including Chief, Asst. Chief, etc. to manage their volunteers and district. Although the ESD is broken up for organizational purposes, all districts operate as one team on incidents. 

Management Structure:

The Operations Department of Smith County ESD2 both paid and volunteer operates as one department on an incident but from an administration standpoint, the paid operations staff operates under the Smith County ESD2 Board of Commissioners and serves as an agent of the District offices led by elected officials and appointed department heads. All 11 contracting volunteer departments report to the Smith County ESD2 Board of Commissioners.

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