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Firefighter/Medics staff all types of Fire/Rescue vehicles. We want to arrive at your emergency quickly. We also want to have all the help we might need. Experience shows that this extra help is often needed. If an additional call comes in, the crews are all ready to go, wherever they happen to be. The Fire/Rescue vehicles are our offices, our tool boxes and our cars.

In our suburban and industrial area we are on scene in an average of less than 3 minutes.

In the rural and outlaying area, the first unit on scene may be one of our Emergency Responders that lives close by. They are well equipped, with emergency medical and communications equipment. They will start helping with your emergency right away. More help is close behind from one of our four Fire/Rescue stations.

Our fire response is pre-determined. We base this response on our local experience and professional standards. The 911 call center gives us much of the information we need to size-up an emergency before we even arrive. We always plan for the worst and hope for the best. Every minute counts. Units not needed on scene are ready for immediate response to other emergency calls.

Every fire call gets a response from more than one station. Jobs like search and rescue, forcible entry, ventilation, protecting additional property, fire attack, and backup protection of our crews all need to happen at the same time to be effective. The first several minutes of a fire emergency are very busy.

For those who have asked for our help, it is far better to send extra crews and equipment back, than to not have them available when they are most needed.

This is a standard firefighting practice referred to as ventilation, which is performed for several reasons.

In a free-burning fire, thick, heavy smoke accumulates throughout the structure. This smoke is composed of both unburned carbon particles and several flammable and toxic gases. This smoke can make a bad situation even worse. The smoke can be extremely deadly to anyone still in the building. 

The gases contained in the smoke are usually highly flammable, causing not only an additional fire load, but also an explosive hazard as well! Smoke makes it even more difficult for victims to escape. It is also more difficult and more dangerous for firefighters to do their jobs. Unlike the movies, visibility in a real fire is almost always non-existent. Without a way out of the building, all of the heat that is generated by the fire will continue to build-up, bringing temperatures to over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Wood paper and plastic all start to burn and give off gases at between 400 and 500 degrees. 

For these reasons, we often need to move quickly to cut a large holes in parts of a building that are on fire. These vent holes help allow the smoke, gases and heat to escape from the structure. This ventilation, performed correctly, saves lives and property by making firefighting safer and more effective. We always strive to treat property like it was our own and we had no insurance. Protecting your and property is our #1 job!

This is a deadly fireground phenomenon sometime referred to as a "smoke explosion", which can occur in a confined fires during the late stages of the free-burning phase or in the smoldering phase. During this period, burning becomes incomplete because of the relative lack of oxygen (the fire has used it up) will no longer sustain open burning. However, the heat which built-up during the free-burning phase remains in the closed structure and the unburned carbon particles and other flammable products of combustion are contained and waiting to burst into rapid, almost instantaneous combustion when a fresh supply of oxygen is introduced into the atmosphere. If a door, window, or improperly placed ventilation hole is opened, the needed oxygen can rush in and the stalled combustion process will immediately resume with the incredible force and devastating speed of an explosion, accompanied by the renewal of intense burning.

Along with backdraft the other dangerous condition that firefighters are constantly on the look-out for is "flashover". This situation can occur when a room or other confined area becomes heated to the point where flames flash over the entire surface of area. Originally, it was believed that flashover was caused by combustible gases being released during the early phases of a fire. It is now believed that while this condition may occur, it usually precedes an actual flashover. Whose cause is now attributed to the excessive heat build up from the fire itself. As it continues to burn and grow, all of the contents of the room (building materials, furnishings) reach their ignition temperatures. At which point, simultaneous ignition of the entire area occurs with great force.

All of our units are in constant radio communication with each other, as well as with the 911 dispatch center. During a response, units may, at any time, receive a radio call from another crew who is already on scene, or from a dispatcher relaying new information, that they can either slow their response down to Code-1 (no lights and siren) or, that they may be disregarded from the call altogether. When this occurs, our crews quickly assess the traffic situation, and choose a location to shut off their warning devices, which present the least danger to the other users of the roadway. Usually this means getting through the intersection first, so that any traffic which may be approaching from the opposite direction will not suddenly be faced with an emergency vehicle in their path, which is not sounding warning signals.

Many traffic signals are now set to turn from red to green when Fire/Rescue vehicles approach with emergency their lights activated. This allows traffic to grant them the right-of-way by safely moving out of the way. Emergency driver training is a very high priority for us. State laws and our policies state that we will not travel with emergency warning devices activated, except when responding to a reported emergency, or transporting a priority patient to the hospital. Our drivers will never abuse this special lifesaving privilege of right-of-way.

As a reminder: Oregon law requires the public drivers to pull as far to the right as possible and stop, when approached by an emergency vehicle using emergency lights and /or siren. Many drivers tend to ignore this or misunderstand this law. Your cooperation helps us help everyone.

If you wish to report an immediate situation, of a non-emergency nature, call (541) 682-5121 and choose the first option. This will put you in contact with a 911 call-taker.

If you have regular business with Lane Rural Fire/Rescue, call (541) 688-1770 and listen for the options. Our business office is normally staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. If the phone is not answered when you select your option, please leave a message. We will call you back as soon as possible.

Every person that works in our administrative office is an on-duty emergency responder. If we are away from the phone when you call, it is because of emergency calls or training. That is our primary job.

LANE RURAL FIRE/RESCUE designates its primary fire apparatus into two distinct categories; 1) Engines Companies (also commonly referred to as Pumpers), 2) Truck Companies (sometimes called Ladders or Aerials). These two types of vehicles, along with other support vehicles make up the backbone of our structural firefighting response forces.

Engine Companies have three primary features; 1) a water tank integrated into the body of the vehicle, which allows the unit to operate, at least initially, independent of a water supply. All of our structural fire engines carry at least 1,000 gallons of water, 2) a water pump which boosts the hydraulic pressures to a level that allows us to provide water to elevated locations, with good stream formation. Our structural engines are rated at at least 1,250 gallons per minute, they are able to go well above this with a good water supply system in place, 3) a supply of hose, both for water supply and firefighting lines. The primary supply line we carry is 5" in diameter in the hydranted area and 4" in diameter in the rural area. We carry at least 1,000 feet of supply hose on each engine. Our firefighting lines range in size from 1 inch to 3 inches in diameter, and can be deployed in many configurations to meet the specific need. An engine crew’s primary jobs at a fire is to provide for rescue and evacuation and then fight, confine and extinguish the fire, as well as protect all threatened exposures.

Truck Companies are units which feature large hydraulic ladder, or boom and platform system, which can reach to considerable heights. They also carry a large selection of various ground ladders, designed for use on roofs, in attics and to reach different heights. These units also hold a wide-variety of specialized rescue and extrication equipment, and ventilation tools. The truck crew’s primary jobs at a fire are to provide for search and rescue, forcible entry, ventilation, laddering the building, elevated water streams, extrication, salvage and overhaul. Our Truck Company is a 85' American LaFrance Snorkel, articulating boom apparatus.

In addition we a many other types of specialized emergency vehicles.

A multi-purpose extinguisher is usually best for the home. Fire extinguishers are given a rating based upon the both the type(s) and size of fire they are designed to put out. Fire is classified into four basic classes, depending upon the nature of the fuel which is burning. These classes are identified the following letter designation:

Class A: fires in ordinary combustibles (paper, wood, cloth, rubber, etc.).

Class B: fires involving flammable liquids, greases and gases.

Class C: fires in energized electrical equipment.

Class D: fires in combustible metals.

The letter ratings are combined with a numerical measure of capacity when rating a particular extinguishers performance. For instance, a unit rated 1-A has been determined to be capable of extinguishing a fire in ordinary materials, that is equivalent to what the average person could put out with one and a quarter gallons (5 liters) of water. An extinguisher that bears a 2-A rating can then be expected to put out twice as much fire, or the equivalent of 2 ½ gallons of water. The multiplication factor is the same for each letter designation (a 10-B can handle ten times the volume of a 1-B extinguisher).

It is also important to realize that the cost of an individual extinguisher is base upon its capacity. So that the higher the number(s) and the more letters you find listed on an individual extinguisher, the higher the price of that unit. By far the most common unit purchased for household use is the 2-A 10-B:C fire extinguisher.

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage you to stop by station 51 during weekday business hours. This is a great way to meet your local firefighter/medics. Each of our crew members are trained and able to assess your overall condition, at any time that you feel you may need pre-hospital care and/or assistance.

The outlaying stations are not staffed on a continuous bases. Responders come from their homes, nearby. If you see crew at the station, feel free to stop by. You don't even need to want you blood pressure checked. We love to meet our local folks.

*In the event that you have an emergency, and the crew is not at the station, use the emergency telephone, in the red phone box that is located near the front of each station. Just pick up the receiver and a 911 call-taker will come on the line.