Personnel

We are currently staffed by 29 highly trained and state certified personnel. The Ottawa Fire Department has the distinction of being the only full time paid fire department providing emergency medical services in the Interstate 39 corridor between Rockford and Bloomington (135 mi.), and the Interstate 80 corridor between Joliet and the Quad Cities (130 mi.). Our current staffing is set at 1 Chief of the Department,1 Deputy Chief, 3 Shift Commanders (Captains), 6 company officers (Lieutenants) and 19 firefighters. This staff is divided into three shifts, shift 1 (Black), shift 2 (Red) and shift 3 (Gold).

Our firefighters are all certified in accordance with the Illinois State Fire Marshal Certification Program (pdf) at the Illinois Certified Firefighter II level or above. We currently have 29 firefighters at the Certified Firefighter II level, 23 firefighters at the Certified Firefighter III level, 13 firefighters at the Certified Fire Officer I level and 16 firefighters at the Certified Fire Officer II level. 24 firefighters are certified in Hazardous Materials at the Operations level or above. Several of our firefighters also have certifications in Specialized Skills Areas such as Technical Rescue and Auto Extrication, vetical rescue, trench and confined space. We have several firefighters with Associate, and Bachelor Degrees in Fire Science.

Currently 23 firefighters are licensed as Intermediate Advanced Life Support Medics, 3 are licensed as EMT-B Level Medic and 1 Paramedic. An agreement between the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Regional Hospital provides up to date training for our Personnel by Hospital EMS personnel and physicians on a weekly basis that meets and exceeds Illinois Department of Public Health requirements.