Fire Operations consists of 150 professional firefighters staffing the fire stations 24/7, prepared and ready to respond to calls for service. Firefighters’ shift structure includes working 24 hours, followed by 48 hours off-duty. Each fire station has a different complement of personnel and apparatus. FSFD staffs nine pumpers, one quint, three ladder companies, one heavy rescue, water rescue boats, Haz-Mat team, and Bomb Squad 24 hours a day. Additional apparatus may be staffed with off-duty personnel during high call volumes or major events.

Chief Ethan Millard directs the Operations Division. Two Battalion Chiefs supervise each shift.

EMS

FSFD currently works in conjunction with Fort Smith EMS to provide care for our residents. All fire apparatus are BLS (Basic Life Support) equipped and carry at least one EMT to respond to medical emergencies. At times, all ambulances may be busy with other medical calls or may be farther away, therefore a fire truck is also dispatched to get there faster and begin patient care. With eleven fire stations strategically located throughout Fort Smith, our response times can have a positive effect on medical emergencies.  We respond to over 14,000 calls for service annually.

Bomb Squad

The Fort Smith Fire Department Bomb Squad is an accredited Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Team as defined by the FBI Hazardous Devices School and the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board. The Bomb Squad was formed in 2004, and currently has six certified FBI Bomb Technicians, who are also part of the HAZMAT Team.

Swift Water / Dive Team

The Fort Smith Fire Department Swift Water team, established in 2008, has two water rescue boats and two motorized inflatable rescue crafts. Currently, 44 members have logged over 1000 combined hours of training. These members have deployed to hurricanes and major flood events in Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. The Fort Smith Fire Department Dive Team currently has 10 Certified Public Safety Divers.

Honor Guard

The Fort Smith Fire Department Honor Guard, established on May 17, 2004, performs at funerals, memorials, dedications and parades. Since inception, it has grown from 10 to over 30 dedicated individuals who reflect a positive commitment to the Fort Smith Fire Department.

HAZMAT

The Fort Smith Fire Department HAZMAT team is recognized by The Office of Homeland Security as the Western Arkansas Regional WMD/HAZMAT team. Primarily funded by the Homeland Security Grant Program, we currently have 46 team members that are all trained and certified to the Hazardous Materials Technician Level. Our region consists of 15 counties in the Western Arkansas area.

Those counties are:

• Sebastian
• Crawford
• Franklin
• Johnson
• Pope
• Logan
• Scott
• Yell
• Polk
• Montgomery
• Sevier
• Howard
• Pike
• Little River
• Hempstead

Training

The Training Division operates under the direction of Division Chief Scott Evans and Training Chief Evan Mallard.

• Scott Evans, Division Chief of Training
  sevans@fortsmithar.gov
• Evan Mallard, Battalion Chief of Training
  Emallard@fortsmithar.gov

FSFD conducts training at the Fort Smith Training Facility located at 5900 Commerce Road. The 20-acre Training Center was completed in 2012 and contains a live burn facility with a four-story tower.