The Des Plaines Fire Department became an organized fire department in 1891. We have 94 sworn in active members and 3 support personnel. Including our part-time fire bureau inspectors, we have a staffing of 107. Our members serve over 60,000 residents and cover 14.6 square miles. We have over 1000 multi-dwelling structures, 6 lakes, the Des Plaines River, and cover parts of I294/I90 in both directions. We have 32 at grade railroad crossings, which is the most in the midwest. We are in 2 Mutual Aid Box Alarm System divisions (MABAS) 1 & 3, as well as respond to automatic aid to multiple surrounding communities. When at full staffing, we have 87 shift personnel, meaning 29 personnel per shift. Currently, we have 82 members with IAFF local 4211. Des Plaines firefighter local 4211 was inducted into the International Association of Firefighters in 1987. The Des Plaines Fire Department celebrated our 125th year in 2016. Des Plaines has an Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating of 1, which is the highest possible rating. The ISO rating is a measure of how well equipped your fire department is at handling fire suppression emergencies.
Today we provide fire suppression, emergency medical services, hazmat mitigation, technical rescue, and water emergency mitigation for the city of Des Plaines. Our department members are certified as firefighters from the Office of the State Fire Marshall as well as licensed Paramedics/EMTs from the Illinois Department of Public Health. We train on fire suppression tactics, pre- hospital medical care, and specialty team operations daily.
We have three fire stations which house 2 Engines, 1 Tower Ladder, 1 Squad, 1 Rescue, 4 ALS Ambulances, 1 Dive Squad, 1 Hazmat trailer, and 1 Command Vehicle. While these are our front line vehicles, we also have several others in reserve. In 2022, we responded to over 92 structure fires in and out of town. Des Plaines responded to 10,344 incidents in 2022, which means on average we respond to more than 28 calls per day.
Trained- Equipped- Prepared
