Rodeo-Hercules Fire District

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District  (CCCFPD) have for many decades have wanted to consolidate Fire Protection Districts within the county. In Fact of the 625 Square Miles of Territory, that make up the county the CCCFPD has direct control of 305 Square Miles. Annexation of the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District (RHFD) and East County Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) represent 24.612 total square miles and 105 square miles respectively. For as long as the CCCFPD have been formed they have wanted to annex the counties independent fire districts. More territory = more control and more $$$ through Taxes.

​

The RHFD was born out of a 1978 consolidation of the Hercules City Fire Department and The Rodeo Fire Protection District founded in 1937. The RHFD is governed by a five-member elected Board of Directors responsible for budget approval and general policies. The Fire Chief is the district fire marshal, and supervises an assistant fire marshal along with managing the administration and daily operations of the District and answers directly to the Board. RHFD employs 21 full-time and two part-time uniformed and non-uniformed personnelThe RHFD is an all hazards fire district providing traditional structural , wildland firefighting, ALS-Level medical first-response (MFR), Technical rescue (auto extraction), high and low angle rescue, water rescue and hazardous material response. The District deploys its apparatus and personnel from two fire stations and has an ISO PPC rating of 2/2. (The best rating is 1/1, the worst is a 9/9) Insurance underwriters use this number to assess community risk when underwriting your insurance and or fire policy for your home or business. 

​

​

This is how the fire district current operates. Since September 2000, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (CCCFPD), Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District (RHFPD), and City of Pinole Fire Department (PFD) have operated as a functional Battalion, known as "Battalion 7". This concept has been highly successful for all three agencies in the areas of improved response, communications, and training.
The City of Pinole provides Fire and Emergency Medical Response service as an independent department, partnering with the surrounding RHFPD and CCCFPD. This regional approach is coordinated through the automatic aid response managed by CCCFPD Dispatch, located in Concord, CA. Each participating agency provides resources to respond to calls for service, and each provides Battalion Chief coverage for 9-11 duty shifts per month. RHFPD and CCCFPD provide two (2) fire stations, which house one responding engine with three (3) fire suppression staff, including at least one Paramedic. PFD has one station providing one engine with three (3) fire suppression staff, including at least one Paramedic, and another station for staffing the Battalion Chiefs (PFD has one (1) Battalion Chief on B-Shift; the other 2 Battalion Chiefs for A-Shift and C-Shift are from RHFPD and CCCFPD, respectively). This brings the total station count for the region to five (5). 

For many years these jurisdictions have agreed to automatically provide each other with assistance. Using an “automatic aid” system, no departments need call for assistance. Instead, departments automatically respond to the needs of neighboring departments without being asked via the combined Dispatch. The user of emergency services, often a resident who dials 911, usually does not notice the differences among the jurisdictions. That means that the cooperation among these agencies is working, each department dedicated to providing prompt and professional response to any emergency in West County.

​

​

Maintaining our independence from the county is essential. Having control of our own fire protection district and police force assets makes for a safer and more vibrant community. We are only 25 square miles, but that nexus of waterfront, major highways, industry and shopping keeps our public dsafety partners busy. It is a luxury to have 2 public safety personnel for every square mile. It is good for us and good for our neighboring cities who have come to rely on our partnership. If we lose control of those assets we will have no control over where they will be deployed on any given day, and they will be directed to the areas of greatest need in the county. This is a dangerous outcome. Already we see the issues with our dear partners in the Rodeo community who are underserved by a county sheriff apparatus that has to cover 625 sq miles every single day, they know the challenges of widespread resources. We as a community of only 36,600 men, women and children and their pets, cannot articulate our wishes throughs he county apparatus of 1,100,000 county residents represent more votes than our little enclaves which is why we've ad to fight scratch and claw for every bit of independence and success we have now. It is so important for you to take the time to educate yourself, your family about this very important issue. Know this we love our Firefighters, we love them so much we are willing to fight hard for them and fight we will. Remember the incentive for these activities is always money, so do yourself the favor of digging in and getting smart on the Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District and that annexation is not a good thing for maintaining our safety and independence.

​

​