Anchorage Fire Department

The Anchorage Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Anchorage, Alaska. Areas that are served by department include the incorporated areas of downtown Anchorage, Bird, Bootleggers Cove, Eagle River, Fairview, Indian, Mountain View, Muldoon, and Spenard, among others. AFD is assisted by two volunteer fire departments operating in the outlying areas of the Anchorage Municipality.

History

The Anchorage Fire Department was founded in 1915. By 1951, AFD had grown to 50 fire fighters, and saw the beginning of Anchorage's first ambulance service. In 1967, the various fire companies unified as the Greater Anchorage Area Borough Fire Department. In 1975, the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Borough unified, becoming the Municipality of Anchorage.
As of 2015, the AFD has a goal of maintaining 315 fire fighters and paramedics on active duty.
In 2024, AFD is led by Chief Doug Schrage with Deputy Chief Eric Scheunenmann and Assistant Chiefs Brian Partch and Ben Lewis. Brian Dean is the Fire Marshal.
Anchorage has a history of inclusive female Leadership: Chief Jodie Hettrick served as Chief of the Anchorage Fire Department, Virginia McMichael served as Chief of Chugiak Volunteer Fire and Rescue and Judie Coletta and Michelle Weston have served as chiefs of Girdwood Fire Rescue. Bridget Bushue and Michelle Weston previously served as AFD Deputy Chiefs. Cleo Hill and Bridget Bushue both filled command roles as Fire Marshals.

Stations and apparatus

Fire Station Number	Neighborhood	Engine Company	Truck Company	EMS Medic Units	Special Unit	Battalion Chief Units
1	Downtown	Engine 1 Engine 2	Truck 1	Medic Unit 1 Medic Unit 81 -Basic Life Support Medic Unit 82 -Basic Life Support	HazMat 1, ALS 1	Battalion Chief Unit 1
3	Mountain View	Engine 3	Truck 3	Medic Unit 3	Rescue 3
4	Tudor	Engine 4		Medic Unit 4 Medic Unit 84 -Basic Life Support	Rescue 4, Dive 4, ALS 4
5	Spenard	Engine 5	Truck 5	Medic Unit 5
6	Muldoon	Engine 6		Medic Unit 6
7	Jewel Lake	Engine 7		Medic Unit 7
8	O'Malley	Engine 8			Tender 8
9	Dearmoun	Engine 9		Medic Unit 9	Tender 9, Rescue 9
10	Rabbit Creek	Engine 10			Tender 10
11	Eagle River	Engine 11		Medic Unit 11	Squad 11, Tender 11, Rescue 11
12	Dimond	Engine 12	Truck 12	Medic Unit 12	Safety 1	Battalion Chief Unit 2
14	Tudor Baxter	Engine 14		Medic 814-Basic Life Support	Tender 14, Rehab 14	Battalion Chief Unit 3
15	Southport	Engine 15

Chugiak and Girdwood Fire Service Areas

Chugiak and Girdwood fire departments provide fire, rescue and EMS services to the north and south of the Anchorage Fire Service Area. In the north, Chugiak Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company, Inc. operates five stations and serves an area from the North Eagle River overpass on the Glenn Highway to the Municipal boundary at the Knik River under the leadership of Chief Scott Fisher and two assistant chiefs. In the south, Girdwood Fire Rescue operates one station and serves the Girdwood community and Turnagain Arm. Girdwood responds to vehicle accidents in the Seward Highway Safety Corridor from Indian to Mile 60 in the Kenai Peninsula Borough under the leadership of Chief Michelle Weston and Deputy Chief Manch Garhart. Both departments provide 24/7/365 advanced life support coverage along with vehicle extrication, water rescue, mud rescue, wildland initial attack and backcountry rescue. Girdwood is 45-60 miles from the closest hospital, and Girdwood Fire is the only medical provider in the community from 6pm-9am weekdays and for 24hr/day on weekends. Girdwood can be isolated from Anchorage and travel south to the Kenai Peninsula by severe weather, avalanches and rockfall and is in an earthquake and tsunami zone. Both departments do a significant amount of fundraising for specialized rescue equipment and training.

Fire Station Number	Neighborhood	Engine Companies	Medic Units	Special Units
31	Chugiak	Engine 31	Medic 31	Tender 31, Brush 31, Utility 31, ALS 31, Captain 1, 2, 3, or 4
32	Birchwood	Tender 32		Utility 32
33	Peters Creek	Engine 33	Medic 33	Rescue 33, Tender 33
34	Birchwood Airport	Brush 34		off-season storage for snowmachines, 6-wheelers, Boat 31
35	North Eagle River	Engine 35	Medic 35	Tender 35, Brush 35, Boat 31 or snowmachines, Chief 31, Chief 32, Chief 33
41	Girdwood	Engine 41	Medic 41, Medic 42	Rescue 41, Rescue 42, Brush 41, Tender 41, Tender 42, Tender 43, Utility 41, Chief 41,Chief 42, Boat 41, UAS, snowmachines, Side-by-side Unimog