Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Auburn Fire Chief reports 2,311 incidents in 2025; EMS calls rose to 64% of workload
Summary
Fire Chief John Rogers told the council the Auburn Fire Department responded to 2,311 incidents in 2025, including 1,487 EMS calls (64.3% of total), highlighted several major fires and described staffing, training and a new subjoint operations agreement with Placer Hills.
Chief John Rogers presented the Auburn Fire Department's 2025 year-end report to the City Council on March 23, detailing call volume, staffing and prevention work and highlighting several significant incidents.
Rogers said the department responded to 2,311 incidents in 2025, including 1,487 EMS-related calls, which represented 64.3% of total calls. "Our average code 3 travel time within the city limits is 3 minutes and 52 seconds," he said, and noted the department used joint-operational-agreement (JOA) staffing for 572 hours in 2025 to backfill engine-company personnel.
Rogers reviewed mutual-aid statistics—Auburn provided aid 258 times and received aid 282 times—and recounted notable responses: a multifamily structure fire on May 29 that mobilized approximately 50 firefighting personnel and an August structure fire in a very-high-fire-hazard zone that required several agencies to contain the incident. Rogers said the department handled those events with limited injuries and some resident displacement.
On prevention and vegetation management, Rogers said staff handled 43 hazardous-vegetation complaints (39 came into compliance after notification), issued 178 burn permits and executed a 120-acre shaded-fuel-break contract that came in under budget. He also noted the department completed 1,421 training hours in 2025, with training focused on lower-frequency events, and accepted a combined donation to buy cordless tools that reduced noise and exhaust exposure.
Rogers closed by identifying a new subjoint operations agreement with Placer Hills that took effect in December and allows the agencies to share administration, command and control, fire prevention and related services. He said staff will return with performance data to evaluate the agreement's effect on personnel and operations.
Why it matters: Rising EMS demand and increasing simultaneous calls affect resource planning and mutual-aid reliance. The council thanked the chief and department for training, prevention work and interagency cooperation.
