Frequently Asked Questions

To request a fire incident report, complete the Incident Request Form or call the Fire Department Administration Office at 530-661-5860. Please be prepared to provide the following information: date and approximate time, address, and type of incident (e.g. fire, vehicle accident, etc.). A $0.30 per page charge may apply depending on the request.

To schedule an inspection with Fire Prevention, complete the applicable form: New Business Fire Safety Inspection or Construction Inspection.

The Administration Office can schedule these events; a minimum of two week's notice is required. We make every attempt to accommodate requests for specific days and times but this is not always possible due to training, maintenance, and inspection activities. We discourage weekend or evening events as the Firefighters have specific duties required during those times.

To request the Fire Department, complete the applicable online form: Static Engine Display, Fire Safety Presentation, Fire Station Tour, Special Event.

For information on burn days, call Yolo Air Quality Management at 530-757-3650 or Dispatch at 530-666-8920. To report agricultural burns, contact Dispatch at 530-666-8920.

Burning is not allowed within the City limits. Agricultural burning outside of the city limits is allowed only on designated burn days. You must contact Yolo Air Quality Management at 530-757-3650 or Dispatch at 530-666-8920 to determine if it is a burn day. You must also provide Dispatch with the time and location of the burn.

The Community Risk Reduction Division has staff who can answer questions about smoke detectors. Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and you may contact them at 530-661-5857 or visit The American Red Cross Sound the Alarm Campaign for fire alarm assistance and information.

The City has a weed abatement ordinance which mandates that dry weeds and grass be abated to prevent fires. The Woodland Fire Department oversees vacant parcels and business properties. City of Woodland Code Enforcement handles residential properties within the city limits: https://www.cityofwoodland.gov/392/Report-a-Problem. Visit our website to learn more or to file a nuisance report regarding a vacant parcel or business: https://www.cityofwoodland.gov/230/Weed-Abatement. 

The WFD, as in many fire departments, is divided into two primary service divisions. The Operations Division responds to fire, medical, hazardous materials, and rescue emergencies to protect life and property. The WFD also responds to natural and man-made disasters to protect life and property. In essence, the WFD responds to any and all 911 emergency calls that do not require law enforcement action. Firefighters also provide public education and conduct business and mercantile inspections for fire and life safety issues.

If a large incident occurs, or several small incidents, and more firefighters are needed to protect the City, we can recall off-duty firefighters requesting that they report to work.

Automatic Aid

If we have a large incident beyond our staffing capabilities, our communications center automatically requests units from other agencies throughout Yolo County to help us, starting with the units closest to Woodland. This is referred to as "automatic aid" and the Woodland Fire Department (WFD) maintains automatic aid agreements with fire departments of: 

• Davis
• Dixon
• Ocha Dehe Wintun Nation
• UC Davis
• West Plainfield
• West Sacramento
• Willow Oak
• Yolo

The Willow Oak and Davis Fire Departments are closest in proximity and are typically able to respond to incidents in Woodland within 15 minutes.

Mutual - Aid Agreement

The WFD also has agreements with all fire departments in Yolo County whereby we can ask for help from them when we need it, and they can ask for help from us when they need it. This is referred to as a "mutual-aid agreement." If we have one or more incidents beyond the capabilities of our department and adjoining departments, we can request fire resources from throughout the County to assist us.

Firefighters work together as a team called a company. Everything they do during their shift must be done together so they are always near their fire engine, and always ready to respond to an emergency. It is very common for a company to receive an alarm while away from the fire station or while returning from an incident. All units are equipped with GPS tracking capabilities which ensure that the closest unit is dispatched to an incident.

Fire Engine

The fire engine serves several purposes to the fire company. First, it is their form of transportation around town on errands and to any emergency. Secondly, the fire engine is much like a businessperson's office or a plumber's service truck. Everything the firefighter needs to do their job is carried on that fire engine and the firefighters never know when they might need equipment off of the fire engine for an emergency medical call, a rescue, or a fire. For this reason, the engine company must have all of their tools with them at all times and those tools are carried on the fire engine.

Attempts to Cut Costs

Some fire departments have tried assigning firefighters to pickup trucks or SUVs for medical responses to cut costs, and found themselves on a medical call without their fire engine when a fire call came in. These departments found they were losing valuable time driving back to the fire station to get the fire engine to complete their fire response. In the meantime, the fire grows and crews are unable to make an aggressive interior attack or rescue by the time they arrive resulting in additional property loss and perhaps even life loss. An experiment in saving money like this one usually comes at the expense of someone's property, and perhaps even a life. It's not worth it.

The Woodland Fire Department responds to calls within the City of Woodland, which is approximately 16 square miles. Additionally, the WFD provides contract fire protection to 40 square miles within the Spring Lake Fire Protection District for a total response area of almost 56 square miles.

In California today, most, if not all, fire departments respond to medical emergencies as a standard of care. Fire Department response to medical emergencies is part of a strategic countywide emergency medical response system. Fire engines are geographically located to arrive to emergency medical incidents within 4 minutes of travel time from the station. The goal is 4 minutes 90% of the time. 

Medical transport ambulances are operated by American Medical Response (AMR) as part of their exclusive operating agreement within Yolo County. AMR provides advanced life support (ALS) and transport services, and are required to arrive within 8 minutes, 90% of the time. This standard means the WFD will arrive on-scene quicker than AMR in most cases to provide patient assessment, and begin basic life support services including CPR and early defibrillation, if needed, until the ambulance arrives.

All Firefighters are trained and certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) to provide basic life support (BLS) services. American Medical Response (AMR) is contracted to provide advanced life support (ALS) and ambulance transportation services throughout Yolo County.

The Woodland Fire Department (WFD) has a daily minimum staffing of 13 firefighters per day deployed on 3 fire engines, 1 ladder truck and the Battalion Chief's vehicle. Three Engine Companies operate with 3 fire personnel and 1 Truck Company operates with 3 fire personnel. The four Companies are deployed as follows:

• Station 1: Engine 1
• Station 2: Engine 2
• Station 3: 
  • Engine 3
  • Truck 3

The Fire Prevention Bureau is staffed with an interim Fire Marshal and 2 fire inspectors.

Woodland Fire Department (WFD) firefighters start their shift at 7 a.m. Every morning firefighters clean the stations and make sure their apparatus and equipment are operating properly. They typically start their daily training at 8 a.m. and that may last from 2 hours, to all morning, to all day. Other duties include: 

• Business fire safety inspections
• Equipment maintenance
• Physical conditioning
• Public education
• Special projects
• Station and landscape maintenance

All of which is completed in between responding to emergency calls. Most firefighters also have collateral duties, or additional assignment they manage and oversee, such as: 

• Creating and updating city maps
• Managing apparatus issues
• Managing equipment issues
• Managing hazardous materials response equipment and training
• Managing our radios and communication system
• Managing our records management system
• Managing rescue equipment and training

These tasks keep the firefighters busy everyday including weekends and holidays.

Woodland Fire Department (WFD) firefighters work 48-hour shifts and they go to bed each night like everyone else. While occasionally they may get a full night's sleep, most of the time they are awakened multiple times to respond to emergency calls. Lights and radio tones activate inside the stations at night to awaken the firefighters so they can get up, put on the appropriate safety gear, and get on the fire engine. They do all this with a goal of 1 minute (called "Turnout Time") to start their emergency response.

There are many components of the 911 response system contributing to the "Total Response Time" to an incident and they are:

• Call Processing Time - The Yolo Emergency Communications Agency (YECA) handles the dispatch of all emergency resources within the City of Woodland and most of Yolo County. YECA has up to 60 seconds to receive the 911 call, gather the information, and begin the dispatch process.
• Dispatch Time - YECA has an additional 60 seconds to complete the dispatch process so that the emergency call is received by the responding fire units.
• Turnout Time - Firefighters have up to 80 seconds to receive the emergency dispatch, don the appropriate safety gear, get onto the fire engine, and begin their response to the call. Firefighters may be in their station, involved in training, conducting a business inspection, committed to another incident, or if the call occurs at night, they may be asleep when the emergency dispatch is received.
• Travel Time - The WFD strives to have the first arriving fire engine arrive at the emergency call within 4 minutes, 90% of the time. Our goal is to have the balance of the fire engines responding to the incident arrive within 8 minutes, 90% of the time when multiple units are required.