Houston Fire Department

The Houston Fire Department protects the City of Houston, an incorporated community in Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Borough north of Anchorage. It has served the community since the city's incorporation and has been registered with the State of Alaska as a municipal fire department since 1974.

It is a combination, all-hazards department staffed by one full-time fire chief, one part-time operations assistant, and up to eighteen paid-on-call personnel (a normal staffing target of twenty). The department operates out of two stations plus three powered water-fill sites strategically placed across the city; its headquarters, Station 9-2, opened in April 2016 in the southern built-up area.

Roughly 40% of responses are for medical emergencies, and the department has grown steadily over the past decade as call volume rose from 191 calls in 2015 to 248 in 2021. Its stated priorities include community risk reduction, training, and sustainable staffing.

Houston works closely with the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services on training, fleet maintenance, and EMS support, and describes itself as a leader in the local and statewide fire service.

Houston is a combination department that recruits paid-on-call Firefighter/EMTs on a continuous basis. Because the department promotes from within, most external openings are at the entry Firefighter/EMT level, and the department hires both entry-level and lateral responders. At the time of its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan the department was carrying thirteen members against a normal staffing target of twenty, and identified recruitment and retention as a top priority.

Responders are qualified at the Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) or EMT level and train through Tuesday-night drills, in-house training, and a partnership with the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services. Prospective members should contact the department directly; the fire chief oversees hiring.