Anderson Valley Fire Department

We have 10 smoke alarms from First 5 Mendocino to give to households with small children in Anderson Valley. First come first served. Stop by during business hours and we'll bring one out to you.

Interested in learning more about prescribed fire as a tool for land management and fire hazard reduction? Mark your calendar for Thursday nights in February for this Zoom series.

Tomorrow begins a new year, and after 37 years of being on-call for his friends and neighbors, AVFD Battalion Chief Roy Laird will be off-duty when 2021 rings in. "I've been on-call 24/7 for almost 40 years. Part of me will be relieved to not wear the pager but part of me says, 'shoot, in another three years you'll be 70, might as well make it an even 40!" Roy got started with AVFD in 1984 when he took over the saw shop at the Floodgate. The Elliots across the street had an... AVFD water tender quartered in their garage and Captain Butch Paula recruited Roy to drive the tender. That was the extent of his involvement for a couple of years until a fire on a neighboring property made a run toward Roy's home in Rancho Navarro. He learned about it from dispatcher Bev Hand (dispatch was by phone tree at the time), who told him, "there's a fire heading toward your house!" He hurried home and stood there watching the fire come up the hill with a garden hose from a 2 GPM well and thought, "If I'm going to be involved, I should learn more about this." At about this time a change was happening in the fire service, on a national and local level. Roy described it as being the cusp between good-old-boy, on-the-job training and classroom training. Chief Dave Hutchison was a proponent of classroom training, and around 1986 AVFD spent a year getting everyone CA Volunteer Firefighter certifications. 22 years later, in June 2008, Roy had just accepted a promotion to Battalion Chief and was looking forward to heading out to the National Fire Academy training in Maryland. What he got instead was on-the-job command training when the Lighting Complex popped off that month. "I've seen a lot of people come and go over the years. I never expected to be in it this long, to be honest. The average is what, 6 years? One thing we do all have in common is wanting to help other people, and we're concerned about safety but willing to put ourselves in harm's way when it's required. You find out really quickly if you're cut out for it or not. Everyone should give it a try. You might like it!" Roy said he's most proud that the people he's spent the last few years mentoring are leaders. "When I see a successful scene, even when I'm not running it, it just makes me proud to see people I've mentored be successful." We'll be seeing Roy around. He plans to help out with training, fireground support, and maybe even a CSD committee. "It's time to, not move on, but pull back."

Update on the Toy Drive last week: it was a great success! Thanks to the many generous donations, families were able to choose the toy that was the right fit for each child. Thanks to everyone who supported this effort. And thanks to the parents who came and picked up toys for letting us help out a little! Hope everyone had a happy and healthy Holiday season. #avfd #andersonvalleyfiredepartment #andersonvalley #toydrive @andersonvalleyfoodbank #ruralfireservice #ruralems #firefighters #volunteerfiredepartment #service #community #volunteer

Mike and Tom standing by with Ambulance 7421 for AVHC’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the high school. We’re proud to be part of this historic effort. #avfd #andersonvalleyfiredepartment #andersonvalley #ruralfireservice #ruralems #volunteerfiredepartment #firefighters #emt #covidvaccine #service #community #volunteer

AVFD first responders receive round one of the COVID-19 vaccine at Anderson Valley Health Center. This year has been challenging to say the least - we're looking forward to better times ahead! #andersonvalleyfiredepartment #avfd #andersonvalley #ruralems #ruralfireservice #volunteerfirstresponder #volunteerfiredepartment #covidvaccine #covid_19 #service #community #volunteer

Our first group of first responders at AVHC, waiting to go in for round one of the COVID-19 vaccine. After two weeks the first shot gets you to about 50% immunity. The second dose is 3 weeks later, and will bring immunity up to about 95%. In the meantime we'll continue to mask up, since at this point it's unknown if an immunized person might still be an asymptomatic spreader. @denvertuttle, who we flagged down on his walk to snap a shot of us #andersonvalleyfiredepartment #avfd #andersonvalley #volunteerfirefighter #volunteerfiredepartment #firstresponders #ruralems #ruralfireservice #covidvaccine #service #community #volunteer

How it started -> how it’s going. The first photo is from a training burn that took place one month ago. The second photo is that same field, greened up after a sprinkle of rain. Well-managed fire can be a good way to maintain open spaces and manage fuels. The last few years have seen a revival in interest in fire as a land-management tool. Prescribed Burn Associations (we used to call it helping out our neighbors as one local rancher said) are forming all over the state. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit cemendocino.ucanr.edu/FireResources/PrescribedFire

Last night AVFD met at our Philo Station to drill on pumps and water supply. In a rural area like ours, without municipal water sources, a good number of our resources in a firefight are dedicated to locating and shuttling water and setting up systems that help to ensure an uninterrupted flow. #andersonvalleyfiredepartment #avfd #andersonvalley #ruralfireservice #ruralems #fireandems #volunteerfiredepartment #firefighters #bomberosvoluntarios #service #community #volunteer