Fire Department

CITY OF BRANDON, .

Welcome

Office of the Fire Chief
Rob Martin, Fire Chief

Thank you for visiting the Fire Departments web site. It is my distinct honor to lead the fine group of professionals known as the Brandon Fire Department. The Fire Chief’s Office is responsible for the overall operation and direction of the Brandon Fire Department. This is accomplished through proper strategic planning and subsequent implementation of the plan. The office also ensures that the plan’s objectives are proactive and consistent with the City of Brandon’s mission, vision and values. The office consists of the Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, Division Chief, Battalion Chiefs and Administrative Assistant.

Brandon Fire Department Mission Statement

 The City of Brandon Fire Department was established to serve as an effective force against manmade and naturally occurring incidents that negatively affect mankind. It is the goal of the department to prevent or greatly reduce the likelihood of destruction due to fire in the community. It is further the department’s goal to provide all occupants of the City with a well maintained, trained and equipped fire control force to deliver fire suppression, injury prevention and emergency rescue activities in an effort to reduce the loss of life and property. The department will, to the best of its ability prepare for, mitigate, coordinate resources, and respond to those in need of emergency assistance as a result of fire, entrapment, medical emergency or other hazardous situation.

Department Motto

“Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future”

Today Brandon is a city on the move. Brandon proper is located in Rankin County, borders the City of Pearl to the west, the City of Flowood to the north, and unincorporated land areas to the east and south. The land mass is approximately twenty-six square miles with a population of Approximately twenty one thousand. Additionally, the department covers approximately ten (10) square miles and approximately 2,000 occupants in unincorporated areas. There is a federal interstate highway in the cities response district and four major state highways within the city limits. There is a major east / west railroad running through the city. The state’s largest international airport which has approximately one-hundred twenty six scheduled flights per day.  With respect to fixed site facilities, there is no prominent employer. However, the city does have a mix of industrial, mercantile, manufacturing and storage facilities, many of which hold the propensity for incidents of all types. There is a major medical facility located on the west side of the city represents a   clear target hazard from the standpoint of large numbers of convalescing occupants.

    The Greenfield road area and extending down Highway 18 is a burgeoning business district with the obvious flair of the older downtown area including the Rankin County Court Houses and Annexes provide the department with clear challenges into the future.

    It is incumbent upon the fire department to provide adequate mitigation capabilities and provide the maximum amount of protection to the citizens, businesses, and visitors to this city and to do so from an all hazards stand point.

  For the department to provide all hazards mitigation services, and provide it cost effectively, the department must become keenly aware of the scope of the problem now, current impacts on the service delivery system, and envision future development(s) as well as prepare now so that the department can provide the services its customers have come to count on. This will be accomplished by analyzing current hazards within the jurisdiction. Study of the past is an excellent indicator as to future trends and patterns. Analysis of the department’s current capabilities, training goals for increasing the departments all hazards approach, time lines and cost analysis must all be researched. It is understood that this is a large undertaking and will take a full team approach with all members providing input for successful adaptation of this plan.

Departmental Goals

    The following is a list of goals that are implemented. It is not all inclusive and remains a work in progress.

• Learn to respect each member of the team
• Become hard on problems and soft on people
• Decisions to be made at the lowest level of responsibility
• Learn to make risk / benefit analysis
• Each team member becomes responsible for themselves
• Each team member to become more than colleagues; become friends, but friends with responsibility.
• Will not tolerate disrespectful or malicious exchanges between members
• Strive for “seamless” emergency response throughout the district
• Garner a positive proactive mindset
• Strive to provide communications on all levels and improve communicative effectiveness by:
  • Improving educational level of all members of the department
  • Mastering written communication skills and improved, inclusive report writing
  • Continue to develop empathy and compassion for victims
• Establish the Incident Management System
• Establish minimum standards that can be measured against industry standards throughout the department
• Strive to achieve uniformity in the adoption and application of codes and regulations
• Emphasize customer service, one-stop assistance, and a reasonable balance between public safety and economic development
• Work in concert with other regulatory agencies, i.e., building, planning, public works, law enforcement, EMS transport services, etc… for the purpose of developing a broad based approach to public safety planning and regulation
• Become good stewards of departmental resources
• Become aware of financial
• Embrace long term benefits that can be achieved by proper code enforcement
• Fully embrace an “all hazards” approach
• Continue to develop specialized capabilities within the public safety area, including
  • Hazardous materials mitigation
  • Technical rescue
  • Domestic preparedness
  • Incident command
  • Advanced life support
  • Fire and injury prevention
• Continue to develop and enhance relationships with public and private agencies in providing safety services
• Make every effort to alleviate public concerns (i.e., make people feel safe)
• On all levels build team work and team concepts
• Slogan:
  • Preserving the Past; Protecting the Future

Ethics Statement;

The department is made up of professionals. Every profession has an ethical code and the Brandon Fire Department is no different.  The following is what we aspire:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Trustworthy
• Loyal
• Look out for each other
• Competent
• Protection of confidential issues
• Accepting individual and corporate responsibility
• Courtesy
• Civility
• Open to constructive criticism
• Criticize constructively
• Professional in every aspect
• Strive to lead
• Always give more than you expect to get