Fire Department
Fire Station No. 1
402 S. Scales Street
Reidsville, NC 27320
(336) 349-1024 (Non-Emergency Dispatch)
911 (Emergency Calls Only)
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Our Mission
Providing the highest professional level of life and property safety through public fire education, inspection, code enforcement services and fire-incident control.
The Reidsville Fire Department operates three fire stations within the City. The headquarters, Fire Station #1, is located at 402 South Scales Street while Fire Station #2 is at 1826 Barnes Street (336-634-3056) and Fire Station #3 is at 2800 Reid School Road (336) 634-3200.
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The stations and 27 fire personnel are under the supervision of Fire Chief Joshua Farmer. Working with the Fire Chief are the Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal, Administrative Captain, one daytime training position, and 24 shift personnel. Shift personnel work on a schedule of 24 hours on duty and 48 hours off. The three shifts (A, B, and C) include eight personnel per shift. We have 3 stations with 2 personnel at each station and a shift Battalion Chief at our main Station One.
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In addition to full-time personnel, the Fire Department has “call” firefighters. These individuals are certified firemen who only respond to calls when additional manpower is needed. At this time the City has 15 Call Firefighters.
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In addition to fire-related and medical calls, the department conducts inspections as specified by the State Fire Prevention Code. Firefighters also provide fire education, including station tours, to the local schools and community groups, such as Scouts, Church Schools, Daycares, etc.
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In 2022, City firefighters responded to a total of 1,826 calls for service. The average response time was less than five (5) minutes.
In addition to a rich departmental history, the Reidsville Fire Department also offers several services, such as blood pressure checks, child safety seat checks, etc. Firefighters can often be found in the schools teaching fire safety. A popular piece of their fire equipment is a fire safety trailer, which simulates smoke and serves as a teaching tool to teach young people how to safely exit a home or building.
Fire Station No. 1
402 S. Scales Street
Fire Station No. 2
1826 Barnes Street
Fire Station No. 3
2800 Reid School Road
Fire Services
The Reidsville Fire Department's primary purpose is to fight fires, but that isn't all our firefighters do. They also respond to emergency situations and medical calls. Education is a key role in their duties as they provide fire station tours to school groups, Scouts and other organizations while they can also be found in the schools teaching fire prevention. Education extends to helping citizens know how to correctly install child safety seats in their vehicles. The firefighter's daily duties are very extensive.
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Fire Suppression
Fire suppression remains our primary service for the citizens of Reidsville. “Fighting fire” as it is called takes an enormous amount of training and specialized equipment in order to save lives and property. Over the years, our design of structures and the materials used have changed dramatically. Some of the structure fires on more modern building can create additional challenges for firefighting personnel. One of our big advantages here in the City of Reidsville is our water system. With a good hydrant system in place, we can have one of the best firefighting tools used in the fire service - WATER!
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Fire is made up of three (3) major components: 1) A fuel source; 2) the oxygen in the air that we breathe; and 3) heat! Take any one of these three elements away, and the fire will go out. Our most useful and abundant resource is water, which takes the heat away and extinguishes the fire.
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Fortunately through fire prevention programs and increasing fire codes being developed, the numbers of fires have drastically been reduced over the years.
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Emergency Medical/Rescue Services
As the fire service evolved, we realized there was also a need for more medical services to be provided to our citizens. As a full-time paid department, we maintain a state of readiness at all times. This allows us to respond quickly to emergency calls. In 1994, in conjunction with Rockingham County, we started a first responder program to assist our citizens with life threatening medical needs. As a result, we now require all our personnel to be Emergency Medical Technicians. Our primary goal is to assist our citizens with their medical needs until Emergency Medical Service (EMS) arrives with their transport unit. This has become a major asset for the City of Reidsville.
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Inspections
Fire inspections of businesses are an essential part of the Life Safety Fire Prevention Program that the City of Reidsville Fire Department provides to its citizens. Sometimes we are approached as to why we have to enforce the fire codes established by the State of North Carolina. The answers are relatively simple and straightforward. Our goal is to provide as safe of an environment for our citizens as possible in all of the businesses in the City of Reidsville.
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Inspections are done on a one-year, two-year or three-year basis, depending on the type of business involved. We have 18 of our personnel certified as North Carolina State Fire Inspectors with either a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 certification.
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Fire Prevention
The City of Reidsville Fire Department conducts fire prevention and safety programs in all our schools inside the City limits. While we are able to give a program to any age group, we target the second grade. We teach fire prevention programs and safety programs each month to our second graders.
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We also have a Smoke Trailer that we use to simulate the children sleeping in bed and being awakened with the sound of a smoke detector that we activate. To add to the realism, we have a smoke machine that emits non-toxic smoke. It has proven to be a great learning experience for the children. We usually operate the Smoke Trailer during National Fire Prevention Week in October of each year and for special events.
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Smoke Detectors
One of the most important life safety devices we can have inside our homes or in any enclosed building is a smoke detector. These devices can play a tremendous lifesaving role in giving us early warning of a possible fire/smoke situation and allowing us that few minutes of extra time needed to safety exit our homes or businesses to keep from being overcome by smoke and/or fire.
However, a detector is only as good as the battery that is powering the device. That is why we teach a good rule of thumb at all the schools and with all our fire prevention programs. “Change the time, change your batteries.” Twice a year we change our clocks from Eastern Standard Time to Eastern Daylight Time and back. We try to correlate that time with the same time to change your batteries in all your smoke detectors. That way your smoke detectors will always have fresh batteries and should operate properly when needed.
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We also provide another service here at the City of Reidsville Fire Department. For the elderly and/or disabled citizens in our city, we will come out and either replace the battery in your detector or we will install a new detector in your home. We feel very strongly about everyone having an operating smoke detector. In 2022, Reidsville Firefighters installed 56 new smoke detectors and replaced 36 batteries in existing smoke detectors for residents in Reidsville.
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Aluminum Can Trailer
In order to save our natural resources, there is a nationwide recommendation to recycle as much as possible. We at the Reidsville Fire Department provide a trailer on the side of Williams Street at Fire Station No. 1 for anyone to deposit aluminum cans. Not only are we helping to recycle but we also use the monies collected to donate to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center and to purchase smoke detectors for our citizens that need detectors in their homes.
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We would like to take this opportunity to say “Thank You” for your contribution of cans in order that we may contribute back to our community.
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To learn more about any of these programs or classes, contact Fire Station No. 1 at (336) 349-1024.
Fire Statistics
FIRE/RESCUE DIVISION
In 2022, the Reidsville Fire Department responded to 1,092 Medical Calls and 734 Fire/Service Calls for a total of 1,826 Calls for the year.
The following list reflects the situations found when we arrived on the fire call scenes:
CALL ANALYSIS
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Fires: 76
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Medical Calls (including vehicle accidents): 1,092
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Overpressure Rupture, Explosion (No Fire): 4
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Hazardous Conditions (No Fire): 97
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Service Calls: 209
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Good Intent Calls: 121
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False Fire Alarms (malfunction or Accidental): 227
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Special Incident Type (Child Safety Seats) 181
PROPERTY VALUE & DAMAGE ESTIMATES
Total Value of Property Saved: $15,826,465
Total Value of Contents Saved: $5,592,450
Percent Fire Loss -- 1.9%
RESPONSE TIMES
In 2022, average response time was less than 5 minutes.
Our History
The City of Reidsville Fire Department was established in 1886. The first fire station was on West Morehead Street between South Scales and Market streets. Later on the department moved across the street into another building housing only the fire department. In 1970 a new station was built at 402 South Scales Street, which remains departmental headquarters.
Fire Station No. 1 still houses the first motorized truck, a 1919 American LaFrance. This truck did not have a tank but instead relied solely on the City’s hydrant water system. Once hooked to the hydrant, this truck had the capability to pump 750 gallons of water per minute.
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The department has now expanded to three stations, adding Fire Station No. 2 at 1826 Barnes Street and Fire Station No. 3 at 2800 Reid School Road.
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In the beginning, the Fire Department's only service for our citizens was extinguishing the many fires that may happen on a daily basis. Over the years we have learned more about fires and how to prevent them from occurring. Through fire prevention programs and the development of national fire codes, the number of fires has drastically been reduced over the years.
The Reidsville Fire Department now provides a wider range of services, including emergency medical services, rescue services and non-emergency services.
Public Services
The Reidsville Fire Department offers several public services other than fire response. Here are other programs our department provides:
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CHILD SAFETY SEAT PROGRAM
The Reidsville Fire Department continues be a Permanent Checking Station for Child Passenger Safety seats at Fire Station #1 located at 402 S. Scales Street. Several Fire Department members are Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians and provide educational opportunities to parents and caregivers on the proper use of car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. Please stop by or call 336-349-1024 to schedule an appointment.
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EXPLORER PROGRAM
The Explorer program is designed to give young men and women an opportunity to explore the fire career. This program provides a hands on experience to individuals with an interest in learning more about careers in the fire service. Participants are allowed to ride on fire apparatus, observe real emergency calls and participate in a variety of training exercises. (We are in the process of restructuring this program and will announce when registration is available.)
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BLOOD PRESSURE CLINICS
Blood Pressure Clinics are available upon request and can be taken daily at the Fire Department, free of charge to our citizens.
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HOME INSPECTION PROGRAM
A fire and life safety inspection will be made of residential property for hazards, along with recommendations on home fire escape planning for the entire family, upon the request of a City resident.
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INTERNSHIP/MENTORING PROGRAM
The Fire Department has been participating in the Rockingham County School System's Internship program for several years. Students participate in this program to gain firsthand knowledge of and to experience the daily aspects of Fire Service operations, Fire inspections and daily administrative operations. This experience enables them to decide if this is a career choice that they would like to pursue. The students are required to maintain a daily log, conduct interviews of personnel, write a report of their study and prepare a class presentation for their grade.
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To learn more about any of these programs or classes, contact Fire Station No. 1 at (336) 349-1024.