The Paterson Fire Department, under the command of Chief Michael Postorino, operates with a 400 person work force to prevent and combat the destructive forces of fire. Fire destroys not only property but lives as well, and the Department, subscribing to the philosophy that prevention is the best line of defense, maintains a forceful program of public safety education with the use of our mobile fire safety smokehouse during school functions and community gatherings throughout the year. Fire prevention inspections are also a daily function of the Combustible Bureau along with the fire investigation duties after a fire has been abated. These investigations help determine the causes of fire as well as ways to avoid certain types of fires in the future. The bureau is responsible for over 4000 inspections of businesses and industries in the City of Paterson throughout the year.

The Department has a fleet of 85 vehicles which include 7 pumper companies, 3 aerial ladder companies, 1 rescue company, 1 UASI (Urban Area Security Initiative) rescue company, a self contained breathing apparatus mobile cascade vehicle, and various support vehicles, all of which are maintained by our mechanic shop. The Department operates out of 7 Fire stations that are manned 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Last year the Communications Bureau of the Fire Department dispatched apparatus over 45,223 times. This equates to a piece of fire equipment on Paterson’s streets 124 times per day. Firefighters have responded to 330 major structure fires, 217 vehicle fires and 346 fires comprising of trash, vegetation, explosions or other burning material. Additionally, the Department has responded to 1817 false or malfunctioning alarms, 536 gas or electric incidents, 1205 smoke investigation/non-fires and 858 rescue or assist calls.

Training is an important and continual function of the Fire Department and has become all the more strategic due to recent Federal and State mandates. Hazardous materials and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (O.S.H.A.) regulations have made continuous education a safety requirement for all firefighters.

Since 1970, the Paterson Fire Department has operated the Emergency Medical Service for the City of Paterson. We have 5 ambulances staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by New Jersey Certified Emergency Medical Technicians. We have been one of the few Fire Departments who have maintained a Basic Life Support Ambulance service for almost thirty years. Chief Postorino has now taken the next step by beginning the First Responder program. New recruits along with a large number of veteran firefighters have been certified as E.M. T:s. This will allow us to expand the services that the Department provides and increase the productivity of the Department. We have recently added Automatic Defibrillators to the Department’s arsenal against heart attacks. At present our E.M.S. responds to over 25,000 incidents per year.