Vallejo Fire Department

Vallejo Fire Department (VFD) provides fire suppression, emergency medical, and fire-prevention services to the City of Vallejo in Solano County, on the north shore of San Pablo Bay. The department is organized into Administration, Suppression, Training, and Prevention divisions, with 108 total employees. The Suppression Division — 99 firefighters, firefighter-paramedics, engineers, captains, and battalion chiefs — works a three-shift schedule out of stations numbered 21 through 27, each shift led by a battalion chief, to keep engines and a ladder truck in service citywide around the clock.

The Training Division runs VFD's recruit academy and a three-year firefighter apprenticeship program, oversees continuing education, and manages the department's EMS program. The Prevention Division, led by a prevention manager with two inspectors and a secretary, handles inspections, plan checks and permitting, fire investigations, weed abatement, and public fire-safety education, including wildfire-preparedness outreach for residents living near Vallejo's open space and wildland-urban interface areas.

Vallejo carries an ISO Public Protection Classification of 2, reflecting an above-average level of fire-suppression capability for a department of its size, and VFD firefighter-paramedics respond to well over 16,000 calls a year across the city.

Vallejo Fire Department hires firefighter/paramedics directly onto the line — candidates must already hold a California EMT-Paramedic license (with ACLS, PALS or PEPP, and PHTLS or BTLS/ITLS) plus a California driver's license before applying. New (non-lateral) candidates also need a passing score on the Fire Candidate Testing Center (FCTC) written exam and a current CPAT card; lateral applicants with prior firefighting/paramedic experience are exempt from both. From there, candidates move through an oral board interview, a VFD-proctored paramedic assessment center, a chief's interview, and a background investigation before a conditional offer.