Who We Are
What area do we cover?
Tri-Community Fire Department was formed because of a concern for the lack of fire protection in the communities of Apison, Collegedale, and Ooltewah. In the 67 years since its formation, the department expanded to include areas now serviced by the Dallas Bay and Highway 58 Volunteer Departments. In 1975 the current district boundaries were established which include Apison, Collegedale, Ooltewah and East Brainerd.
In addition to the department's primary coverage area, Tri-Community Fire Department also provides automatic aid to both Catoosa County and Highway 58 departments for certain coverage areas. Several areas within the district overlap with the Chattanooga city limits. In these areas Tri-Community is contracted to provide dual coverage with the Chattanooga Fire Department.
With 5 stations, Tri-Community Fire Department provides coverage for over 62 square miles and serves more than 45,000 residents. The department is also a member of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association which offers and receives mutual aid with over 50 fire departments in 14 counties of 4 states.
About Our Members
The department has more than 140 members with a wide range of experience levels.
As of January 2024, we have:
10 Members in the Apprentice program
6 Recruits working to become Firefighters
74 Firefighters [42 with Emergency Medical Responder(EMR) or higher]
Our Medical division includes members who join specifically to run medical calls.
20 Medical team members with EMR or above.
We have 27 Non-Combat Administrative and Support staff.
Total Calls Per Year
How busy are we?
Our call volume has steadily risen over the years.
In 2021 we averaged 8 calls per day, 54 calls per week, and 232 calls per month.
In 2022 we averaged 8.06 calls per day, 57 calls per week, and 245 calls per month.
In 2023 we averaged 8.5 calls per day, 59 calls per week, and 256 calls per month.
We hold an ISO Class 3 Rating Which Improves Homeowners Insurance
Source: https://mtasresource.mtas.tennessee.edu/reference/iso-ratings-tn-fire-departments Reviewed: 11/09/16
On September 1, 2016 we were awarded the rating of ISO Class 3 from our previously held ISO Class 4. This achievement is a privilege and we are among the TOP 5% in the nation. There are fewer than 3,000 fire departments nationwide with this classification.
ISO stands for Insurance Service Organization. The purpose of ISO is to give insurance companies a uniform system on which to base their insurance premiums. They do this by evaluating almost every fire department in the nation and giving a ranking between 1 and 10. 1 being the best and 10 being no protection at all.
They base a fire department's rating on many factors including:
minimum number of personnel that are active and respond to calls
training level of personnel
the amount of water the fire department can get to a fire
the amount and quality of equipment used (i.e. fire engines, hand tools)
A little history about our past ratings: In 1983, Tri-Community became the first fire department in our region to be an ISO Class 6 with the use of a Tanker shuttle system. Later, in 1996, we achieved an ISO rating of 4 using tanker shuttles, making Tri-Community the only volunteer department in the state of Tennessee to ever achieve such a rating.