Public Outreach

There is, and has always existed, a desire by the persons of the community to be informed of the public safety effort of their local fire department. This is reciprocated by the fire department’s desire to provide education to assist in prevention of fire and injuries of our citizens. In general, a window for the public to see the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department is provided by its Public Outreach Program, which covers the following:
Is Your Apartment Safe?

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Perhaps nothing is as devastating as fire out of control.  Fire can spread to a deadly level in a matter of seconds.  Fire can kill, disable, destroy property and completely disrupt lives.  Your chances of survival are greatly dependant upon your level of fire safety awareness, having a working smoke detector, having an emergency exit plan and being prepared for any emergency.

According to the US Fire Administration, 20 percent of fires in the United States occur in apartments.  This information is provided by the San Luis Obispo Fire Department to educate apartment owners, managers and residents in an effort to not only prevent fires from occurring but also to increase your chances of survival in the event a fire does occur.

If you have any questions regarding any information provided herein, please call the Fire Prevention Bureau at (805) 781-7380.   We're more than happy to help. 

Juvenile Firesetters

• School Visits by Fire Crews and Their Engines
• Tours of the Fire Stations
• Appearance in Parades
• Appearance at Public Events
• Demonstrations for Groups
• Safety Commercials-Television, Radio and Newspaper
• Annual Fire Prevention Day and Open House at the Headquarters Fire Station
• Opportunities in the Fire Service
• And, Other Special Events

By doing these events, persons of all ages receive insight and education into the many programs delivered by their fire department public safety personnel.

As most citizens of any community would assume, the fire department responds to fires of any kind within their community to protect both life and property. Along with this primary historical function, many citizens are amazed to learn of the other responsibilities of a modern fire department such as San Luis Obispo City provides.

• Did you know that our fire department provides Advanced Life Support fire engines with Paramedics on board responding to all medical calls within the city? Patients are transported to local hospitals by private ambulance with the fire department’s Paramedic on board to continue care. This system has been in place for years and with the opening of the new Fire Station One Headquarters, one of the two private ambulances in the city works right out of this station. Yearly, approximately 70% of the department’s calls for service is some type of medical emergency.

• Did you know that San Luis Obispo City Fire Department has specially trained Hazardous Materials Firefighters that are members of a county-wide team responding to incidents in all parts of the county?

• Are you aware of the Fire Prevention Bureau whose mission is to keep the community safe from fires through enforcement of fire codes? Highly trained fire inspectors along with fire inspection from the fire crews on the engines perform building inspections. These inspections are typically well received and provide Firefighters with invaluable building knowledge that they are then able to use in the event of a fire.

• Did you know your fire department trains their personnel in heavy rescue, confined space entry, high angle rescue, aircraft rescue providing automatic aid response to our local airport, wildland firefighting tactics, vehicle rescue techniques and many others? We have our training division that keeps Firefighters competent in these various skills along with the fire mechanic that keeps are equipment ready to respond.

• Did you know that Fire/Police Dispatchers are an integral component of emergency response and they monitor Firefighter safety while on calls? 

These are just some of the programs shared and explained to groups that request a visit by Firefighters.

For more information on these programs, click here.