The Lakewood Fire Department operates under the government of the city of Lakewood, Ohio, and offers fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical services for residents. The department preserves and protects residents lives and their properties. It offers a full line of management services, such as conducting annual disaster exercises; coordinating the planning and preparedness activities of the city government; and preparing and maintaining a resource inventory. The Lakewood Fire Department is comprised of fire administration and mechanics divisions. The department operates a fire prevention bureau that is a local enforcement agency to administer uniform fire codes of Ohio within the township. It supports a community emergency response team program that educates individuals about disaster preparedness for hazards and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and medical operations.
The department's staff consists of Fire Chief Steve Rega, Assistant Chief Jim Wheeler, three Fire Lieutenants, a Fire Prevention Lieutenant, three shifts of six fire fighters each, an administrative assistant, and up to ten part-time firefighters filling in as needed to maintain staffing. All shifts are under the command of a Fire Lieutenant and are divided into three working groups (shifts). Minimum staffing on all companies consists of one officer in charge and four additional fire fighters per shift. Each shift works 24 hours on, 48 hours off, schedule. The work schedule (tour of duty) changes each morning at 8:00 am. The fire fighting force is housed at one central location in the City of Independence. This station houses 3 squads, 2 engines, a ladder truck, a brush truck, a rescue vehicle, and a staff vehicle.
