Operations Division
The overall mandate of the Chatham-Kent Fire Department is to save lives, fight fires, decrease property loss, educate the public and protect the environment. Within that mandate, the primary role of the Suppression Crews (firefighters) is to provide trained personnel, in a timely manner, to respond, utilizing the equipment provided, to calls for assistance from the citizens of this municipality. Fire Suppression Personnel respond to a wide variety of incidents besides fires including; medical calls under the tiered response system, and specialized rescue in the areas of auto extrication, dive calls, water/ice and high angle rescue.

Suppression crews are also assigned the responsibility of ensuring the equipment used during emergency responses is maintained in working order. Since the need for this equipment is unpredictable, it is necessary that checks be made regularly to ensure that it works when required.

Firefighters are involved in training to maintain the level of competency necessary to successfully respond to and deal with emergencies on behalf of the Municipality. Details of these training programs can be found in the Training Division section of this site.