Fire

The Fire Department of the City of Camden
The Camden Fire Department is the first career fire service of New Jersey and among the oldest in the United States. Organized in 1869, Camden was protected by a fully paid career force while such cities as Newark and Philadelphia were still served by volunteer firefighters. And in 1916 the Camden Fire Department was among the very first in the nation to have a fleet of fully motorized fire apparatus while such cities as Philadelphia and New York still used fire horses.

Organizational Mission
The Fire Department exists to preserve and enhance the quality of life in the City of Camden through the effective prevention of fire and the efficient delivery of emergency services in the assigned mission areas of fire suppression, rescue services, emergency medical support, and the mitigation of special hazards that threaten public safety. The Fire Department furnishes these services on a dedicated basis and also provides support to other emergency service agencies such as the Police Department, Emergency Medical Services, and Municipal Emergency management.

Mission Objectives

• To maintain a high standard of response time to all emergency calls for service and particularly for those incidents based time-critical to public safety.
• To help prevent fires and other hazards by promoting at all levels in the community, an awareness of the risks associated with fire and by educating the public in recognizing unsafe practices and conditions.
• To deliver services to the community at large in an efficient and cost-effective manner in all areas of mission responsibility.
• To provide a fair and uniform distribution of services to all regions of the community.
• To maintain the technical competence necessary for delivering effective fire services through quality management and technological advantage.