Orange Fire Department

Orange City Fire Department traces its roots to December 14, 1905, when the City's Fire and Water Committee organized a volunteer department; twenty-nine men bought $100 shares to join the rolls of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department, answering calls with horse-drawn hook-and-ladder and hand-drawn hose carts out of a Fire Hall on South Olive Street. The department motorized in 1912, hired its first paid fireman in 1914, and became a fully paid, career department by 1966; in 1973 it became one of the first Orange County agencies to add paramedic rescue service. Today's headquarters, on Grand Avenue between Almond and Chapman, has served as Fire Administration since its 1969 dedication.

Under Fire Chief Sean deMetropolis, the department is organized into an Operations Division and a Services Division. Operations runs day-to-day emergency response through three shift Battalion Chiefs, an EMS Manager, and a Training Captain overseeing eight engine companies and three rescue ambulance crews that cover the city around the clock. Services houses Fire Administration and the Fire Prevention Bureau/Fire Marshal's office, the Fire/Arson Investigation Unit, and hazardous-materials programs run in partnership with Orange County's Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA); Services also administers the department's roughly $36 million annual budget and reviews plans and conducts annual inspections for the city's 29 high-rise buildings.

The department also runs community-facing programs, including a Fire Cadet Program for ages 14-24 exploring fire-service careers, a Fire Reserve Inspector volunteer program for fire-prevention experience, wildfire and Ready-Set-Go preparedness education, and a Paramedic Membership Program that shields residents from unexpected ambulance-transport costs.

Firefighter recruitments are posted through the City of Orange's governmentjobs.com career portal. When a recruitment is open, applicants complete an entry-level written/job-simulation exam through the National Testing Network (NTN), submit a valid California CPAT or Biddle physical-ability certification, and pass a structured oral interview to be placed on a ranked hiring eligibility list from which the Fire Chief selects candidates for background investigation. No Fire Department positions are posted on the City's career portal at this time.