The City of Stafford, Texas is located in East Fort Bend County adjacent to the southwest side of Houston. Founded as a agricultural community, the City of Stafford has evolved into a city with all the modern conveniences, attractions and amenities of a modern community.

Charged with protecting this community and surrounding areas from fire, the Stafford Fire Department was created by the City of Stafford. From a 1 station department located in the center of the city, the Stafford Fire Department has evolved, like the city, into a modern fire and rescue department providing many services for our community.

Operating from 3 fire stations throughout our response area, the department fields modern apparatus and equipment for incident responses of any nature. Currently 2 Engine Co.'s, 1 Rescue/Quint Co., 1 Ladder Tower Quint Co., 1 Light-Duty Rescue, 1 Mini-Pumper/Squad Unit, 3 EMS 1st Responder Units, 1 Duty Officer Command Vehicle and 2 Chief's Vehicles respond to calls in our community.

Composed of both Volunteer and Duty Crew personnel, our department responds to almost 3000 calls per year covering a wide range of incident types. Services provided by the department include Fire Suppression, Fire Inspection and Plan Review, Paramedic Level 1st Responder, Vehicle and Machinery Extrication and Operations Level Hazardous Materials Response.

Covering 10.2 square miles, our department response area offers many challenges. Included in this response area are traditional residential neighborhoods, apartment complexes, hotels, shopping centers, large industrial and commercial warehouse developments as well as major roadways, freeways, railroads and soon, 2 below grade roadways.

Part of the normal coverage area includes 3 areas outside of the City of Stafford. Neighboring City of Meadows Place, unincorporated areas of Fort Bend County and unincorporated areas of Harris County are also covered by our department by written agreement as part of our 1st due area.

In addition to the normal response area, our department is also part of numerous mutual-aid and automatic-aid agreements with surrounding departments and agencies, In particular, the automatic-aid agreements with neighboring Missouri City and Sugar Land have garnered a great deal of attention from other area departments. Because of the efficiencies and benefits automatic-aid agreements bring, these are often replicated by other departments. The 3 fire departments respond either together, or for each other, to a variety of incidents types. From Box Alarms for structural fires and hazardous materials incidents, to EMS responses and station relocations, the 3 departments assist each other on almost a daily basis in a near seemless fashion.

Our department, in conjunction with Missouri City and Sugar Land, also comprise the East Fort Bend County Hazardous Materials Team. This team, formed by a UASI grant awarded to the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management after the events of 9/11, allow a stand alone capability for our communities should hazardous materials response and mitigation services be needed. Funded yearly by the 3 cities, this team allows extraordinary capabilities to our communities. Along with a similarly created West Fort Bend County Hazardous Materials Team, the ability to respond to incidents of this nature is in place for our communities. Additionally, as part of the Houston Galveston Area Council, these teams can provide response and mitigation capabilities and support to other neighboring counties and communities should these services be needed.

Goals of the department in the coming year include increasing our Fire Inspector corps with additional certification training for personnel as well as initiating departmental training in the technical rescue disciplines, specifically collapse rescue.

Through the years the Stafford Fire Department has evolved to keep pace with the needs of our community. Through the dedicated service of the members of the department and the unwaivering support of our city government, the future for the department is one filled with excitement and constant development to better serve our communities.

Our department is always looking for individuals wishing to volunteer their time and effort in service to the community by becoming members of the department. Individuals interested in becoming a member of our department need only come by any Stafford Fire Department station, visit our weekly Tuesday training sessions to pick up an application or call (281) 879-7397 for more information. All necessary training and equipment is provided by the department. All that is asked of those interested is to posses a desire to help others and the committment to serve the community.