Fire Chief
Bradley C. Wardle

Thank you for visiting our Fire Department web-site. The City of Mountain View takes the health and safety of its citizens and their property very seriously. To deliver the highest level of fire and emergency medical services, we hire and train exceptional individuals who are dedicated to our community and profession.

To accomplish our mission, the City not only selects the “best of the best”, but we ensure that our personnel  are equiped  with state of the art equipment, which most recently includes a completely upgraded fleet of fire engines, ladder truck, specialized rescue unit and hazardous material response unit. We are an “all risk and service” fire department, on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, prepared to respond to any emergency situation.

Because rapid response times are critical to successfully handling an incident, our firefighters are deployed strategically throughout the city in one of five neighborhood fire stations. The critical facilities were built in specific locations to ensure that our personnel can arrive at emergencies within four minutes or less.

Furthermore, each fire station is staffed with at least one paramedic at all times. These specialists can treat all ranges of medical emergencies; including advanced life support services, such as intravenous drug therapy or cardiac defibrillation, as soon as we arrive.

In addition to fires and accidents, we respond to specialized emergencies as well. We have a fully trained Hazardous Materials Response team on duty every day to respond to chemical emergencies, transportation accidents, or terrorist events. The department’s ladder truck and rescue crew members receive advanced training in technical rescue as well. This training combined with our complement of specialized rescue equipment allows our firefighters to handle many varied types of special rescues.

Another important mission of our department is preventing fires and chemical emergencies. This is the job of our Fire and Environmental Protection Division. The dedicated professionals of this division conduct fire prevention, chemical safety, water quality, and housing inspections. They work diligently throughout the year to address risk factors in the city that could result in fires or environmental damage.

When a fire or chemical emergency does occur, members of the Fire and Environmental Protection Division conduct investigations to identify the cause and hopefully prevent similar incidents in the future. On suspicious fires, our Deputy Fire Marshals work closely with the Santa Clara County Fire Investigations Task Force and the Mountain View Police Department to collect evidence and investigate criminal fires.

Because emergency preparedness is critical as well, we are responsible to ensure that the City of Mountain View’s Emergency Plan is up-to-date and exercised regularly. Our Emergency Operations Center can be activated to function as a command center in case of major emergencies, like severe storms, an earthquake or other significant events.

Finally, we are committed to preparing our business community, schools and neighborhood groups to help each other when in need. An important part of this outreach is our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program, offered several times a year to all interested residents. Participants receive training in fire control, search and rescue, basic first aid, and principles of emergency management. Trained CERT volunteers serve as an important resource to their fellow citizens and public safety personnel in case of a major disaster.

We encourage you to provide us feedback on any of the services that we provide. We are always looking for ways to do a better job of serving you, our customer. We welcome your ideas and comments. You can email them to:brad.wardle@mountainview.gov or through regular mail to me at 1000 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94041.

Bradley C. Wardle, Fire Chief