Fire services in the York Region of Canada are provided for and by each municipality. There are 35 fire stations across the region. Most services consist of full-time members, but some services have volunteer firefighters.
The departments in south York Region deal mostly with residential and commercial incidents. The northern departments deal with rural, residential and agricultural fire needs.
Fire departments in York Region date back to the 19th century, and all were volunteer units. Later in the 20th century full-time fire departments were created. Some departments in the region still retain volunteer units. East Gwillimbury Fire was the last all-volunteer service in the region until 2008, when the first crew of career firefighters was hired. East Gwillimbury and Georgina still have some volunteer stations, but the Township of King is the only department which remains as an all-volunteer department, with a staff of 105 volunteers servicing King City, Nobelton and Schomberg.
Small local departments slowly merged to form large departments in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2001, York Region was planning to merge all fire services in the region into one large unit.[1] Resistance from firefighters and others prevented the plan from being implemented. This was attempted again in 2013 also with no outcome.[2]
The use of "Fire Department" gave way to "Fire and Emergency" as the firefighters' roles expanded in the 1990s.
Each department has their own Chief and senior officers (Deputy Chiefs). The command structure is for the most part similar in the fire services across the region:
Markham
King
Central York
East Gwillimbury
Georgina
Richmond Hill
Vaughan
Whitchurch-Stouffville
Even though Bradford West Gwillimbury is not part of York Region, Bradford West Gwillimbury Fire and Emergency Services uses the same numbering system for its apparatus (I.E.: Station 1 is numbered as 10-1)
| Town of Georgina Fire and Rescue | |
| Established: | 1978 |
| Staffing: | Composite - Full Time and volunteer |
| Strength: | 40 Fulltime Firefighters, 1 Training Officer, 3 Fire Prevention staff and 60 Volunteers |
| Stations: | 3 |
| Engines: | 3 |
| Ladders: | 2 |
| Tankers: | 4 |
| Rescues: | 2 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | Ron Jenkins |
Town of Georgina Fire and Rescue provides fire fighting services to the communities of Keswick, Ontario, Sutton, Ontario and Pefferlaw, Ontario. The department deals mainly with rural fire situations (residential, commercial and agriculture fires), but it has marine and hazmat capabilities. Georgina Fire and Rescue has a mix of full-time and volunteer staff with total strength of 90 personnel. A fleet of 11 apparatus are spread across 3 stations. Georgina Fire and Rescue was created from the merger of several local fire departments including Keswick Fire Department and Georgina Fire Department.
Georgina Fire Rescue launched a 34' Stanley Aluminium Fire and Rescue Boat in May 2020. At the time they are the only service with true firefighting capability (SCBA, Hose, Nozzles, etc) for operating on the south shore of the Lake. The Fireboat is designated as Marine 2. Marine 1 is the Georgina Fire Rescue Airboat utilized for Lake Rescue during the ice and winter season. The service is supported by York Regional Police in marine firefighting on Lake Simcoe by use of MU2 Naawig, a patrol boat equipped with a water nozzle.
| East Gwillimbury Emergency Services Department | |
| Established: | 1970 |
| Staffing: | Volunteer (Queensville 2 Full-time daytime weekdays) |
| Strength: | 27 per hall |
| Stations: | 3 |
| Engines: | 4 |
| Tankers: | 4 |
| Ladders: | 1 |
| Rescues: | 3 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | Phillip Dawson |
East Gwillimbury Emergency Services serves the communities of Holland Landing, Ontario, Mount Albert, Ontario and Queensville, Ontario. The fire service operates over an area of 238 square kilometres or 91.89sqmi. The department has a full-time fire chief, fire prevention officer and training officer. In addition six full-time firefighters are on duty in two shifts during daytime hours in the Queensville firehall. All other firefighters are volunteers and each station has a staff of 27 and all must be residents of the Town of East Gwillimbury. The fire service is capable of handling a variety of situations, but it is mostly a rural fire service. This fire department responds to approximately 1000 emergency calls each year. Expected growth to East Gwillimbury will result in massive changes to the town's population and the change from a part-time paid on-call fire department to full-time staffed 24 hours in the near future. The service began as independent fire stations in 1970 and unified after 1997.
| King Township Fire & Emergency Services | |
| Motto: | "Duty trust & honour |
| Staffing: | Volunteer |
| Strength: | 150 |
| Stations: | 3 |
| Engines: | 3 |
| Ladders: | 2 |
| Squads: | 3 |
| Rescues: | 1 |
| Tenders: | 5 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | James Wall |
King Township Fire & Emergency Services serves the communities of King City, Nobleton, and Schomberg. It serves an area of 333 square kilometres and a population of about 28,000 residents. The service is composed of volunteer fire fighters.
| Central York Fire Services | |
| Established: | 2002 |
| Staffing: | Full Time |
| Strength: | 112 firefighters + 28 Company Officers + 4 Seniors Officers |
| Stations: | 5 |
| Engines: | 9 |
| Trucks: | 3 |
| Tenders: | 1 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Chief: | Ian Laing |
Central York Fire Services provides fire services to both the Town of Newmarket and the Town of Aurora. It has 112 firefighters, 28 Captains and 4 Platoon Chiefs on staff at five fire stations. The fire service was created from the amalgamation of the former Town of Newmarket Fire Department and Town of Aurora Fire Department in 2002. The service has 15 vehicles of which 12 are fire fighting ones.
| Whitchurch–Stouffville Fire Department | |
| Established: | 1898 (Village of Stouffville) |
| Staffing: | Composite - Full Time and volunteer |
| Strength: | 64 |
| Stations: | 2 |
| Engines: | 3 |
| Trucks: | 1 |
| Rescues: | 1 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | William (Bill) Snowball |
Whitchurch-Stouffville Fire Department provides fire fighting services to Whitchurch–Stouffville. The services protects 38,000 residents with 24 full-time fire suppression staff, 2 full-time fire prevention Officers, training officer and a full-time administrative assistant. There are also 50 volunteer firefighters. The service has 10 vehicles in their fleet.
See main article: Vaughan Fire and Rescue Services.
| Vaughan Fire and Rescue | |
| Motto: | Pride and Honour |
| Established: | 1971 |
| Staffing: | Full Time |
| Strength: | 266 |
| Stations: | 10 |
| Engines: | 8 |
| Trucks: | 1 |
| Quints: | 5 |
| Platforms: | 1 |
| Rescues: | 2 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service provides fire and emergency needs to the communities in the City of Vaughan (Maple, Ontario, Kleinburg, Ontario, Concord, Ontario, Thornhill, Ontario west of Yonge Street and Woodbridge, Ontario). There are over 250 firefighters on staff all are full-time. The city did have volunteers in Woodbridge Station 7-3 and Kleinburg Station 7-4. Station 7-3 disbanded its volunteers in the early 2000s with the remainder of the volunteers being disbanded in 2013 with the closure of Station 7-4 in Kleinburg. The service deals with rural scenarios in the north / northwest and urban in the south part of the city.
| Richmond Hill Fire & Emergency Services | |
| Established: | 1881 |
| Staffing: | Full Time |
| Strength: | 172 |
| Stations: | 6 |
| Engines: | 5 |
| Trucks: | 1 |
| Rescues: | 1 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | Bryan Burbidge |
Richmond Hill Fire & Emergency Services provides fire services to the Town of Richmond Hill. It has 140 fire fighters on staff at 6 fire stations. Richmond Hill also offers specialized technical rescue services including water and ice rescue, technical rope rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue and hazardous materials response. Richmond Hill provides dispatch services to Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Central York, Whitchurch/Stouffville and Richmond Hill.
| Markham Fire and Emergency Services | |
| Established: | 1970 |
| Staffing: | Full-time (since 1996) |
| Strength: | 280 |
| Stations: | 9 |
| Engines: | 11 |
| Trucks: | 3 |
| Rescues: | 1 |
| Emsunits: | see York Region EMS |
| Firstresponderblsorals: | ALS & BLS |
| Chief: | Chris Nearing |
Markham Fire has 200 firefighters on staff and is responsible for fire support for the City of Markham, as well as Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport. The newest station is 9-9, which opened in February 2012. The service began as the Markham Village Fire Department (c. 1870s) and acquired Unionville Fire Department in 1964. The Markham Fire Department was created in 1970 and renamed with the current name in 2000. Volunteer fire members were disbanded in 1996.[3]
Markham Fire and Emergency Services provides fire protection to the following communities in the City of Markham:
Fire services on Fox Island, Georgina Island and Snake Island are provided by Georgina Island Fire Department under the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. The department has two full time firefighters and numerous trained volunteers.[4]
York Region's fire apparatus use fire engine red as the base colour. Trim varies from yellow, white and blue.
Markham and Vaughan were one of a number of municipalities to have formerly used a yellow paint scheme.
APPARATUS DESIGNATIONS - The numbering works like this:
The apparatus numbers are pronounced by saying each digit individually. For example, 729 would be pronounced Seven-Two-Nine, NOT Seven Twenty Nine, and 849 would be pronounced Eight-Four-Nine, NOT Eight Forty Nine, and so on.
For units with 4 digits, such as Fire Prevention, Training, and spare apparatus, the last 3 digits are pronounced individually from the first digit. For example, 4401 would be pronounced Four-Four-Zero-One, NOT Forty-Four-O-One.
| Station # | Municipality | Engine Company, Engine Rescue Company or Pumper Company | Tanker Units | Aerial Company, Ladder Company or Platform Company | Rescue Company,Rescue Engine Company, Rescue Pumper Company or Tech Rescue Company | Miscellaneous or Support Units | Address | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Georgina | Engine 141 | Tanker 144 | Platform 147 | Rescue Pumper 149 | Unit 140 | 165 The Queensway South, Keswick | Career and volunteer staffing. | |
| 1-6 | Georgina | Tanker 164 | Aerial 166 | Rescue Pumper 169 | Unit 160 | 37 Snooks Road, Sutton | Career and volunteer staffing. | ||
| 1-8 | Georgina | Engine 181 Engine 182 | Tanker 184Tanker 185 | 270 Pefferlaw Road, Pefferlaw | Volunteer staffing. | ||||
| 1-9 | Georgina Island | Pump 191 | Tanker 194 | Chief Joseph Snake Road | |||||
| 2-4 | East Gwillimbury | Tanker 244 | Aerial 246 | Rescue Pumper 249 | 19314 Yonge Street, Holland Landing | Volunteer staffing. | |||
| 2-6 | East Gwillimbury | Engine 261 | Tanker 264 | Rescue Pumper 269 | 22 Princess Street, Mount Albert | Volunteer staffing. Station rebuilt after fire in February 2014. | |||
| 2-8 | East Gwillimbury | Engine 281 | Tanker 284 | Aerial 286 | 1590 Queensville Sideroad, Queensville | Career and volunteer staffing. | |||
| 3-4 | Township of King | Engine 341 | Tanker 344 Tanker 345 | Ladder 346 | Rescue Pumper 349 | 2045 King Road, King City | |||
| 3-6 | Township of King | Engine 361 | Tanker 364 Tanker 365 | Ladder 366 | Rescue Pumper 369 | Command 30 2x parade units | 91 Proctor Road, Schomberg | ||
| 3-8 | Township of King | Engine 381 | Tanker 384 | Rescue Pumper 382 Rescue 389 | Parade unit | 5926 King Road, Nobleton | |||
| 4-1 | Central York | Engine 411 Engine 412 | 984 Gorham Street, Newmarket | Built in 1992. | |||||
| 4-2 | Central York | Engine 421 Engine 422 | Platform 427 | 125 McCaffrey Road, Newmarket | |||||
| 4-3 | Central York | Engine 431 Engine 432 | Haz-Mat 438 Support 40 Parade unit | 220 Edward Street, Aurora | Built in 1978. | ||||
| 4-4 | Central York | Engine 441 | Tanker 444 | Aerial 446 | 1344 Wellington Street East, Aurora | Built in 2005. | |||
| 4-5 | Central York | Engine 451 | Aerial 456 | Chief 4-5 (Platoon Chief) Car 4-5 (Spare command vehicle) Utility 410 | 300 Earl Stewart Drive, Aurora | Built in 2022. Department headquarters. | |||
| 5-1 | Whitchurch-Stouffville | Pump 511 | Tanker 514 | Platform 517 | Rescue 519 | 100 Weldon Road, Stouffville | Built in 2009. Department headquarters. | ||
| 5-2 | Whitchurch-Stouffville | Pump 521 Pump 522 | Tanker 524 Tanker 525 | Service 520 Parade unit | 15400 Highway 48, Ballantrae | Built in 1999. | |||
| 7-1 | Vaughan | Engine 711 | Aerial 716 | 835 Clark Avenue West, Thornhill | Built in 1981. | ||||
| 7-2 | Vaughan | Engine Rescue 721 | Rescue 729 | Utility 720 Chief 74 (Platoon Chief) | 9290 Keele Street, Maple | Built in 1966. | |||
| 7-3 | Vaughan | Engine Rescue 731 | Platform 737 | Haz-Mat 738 Chief 7-3 (District Chief) | 7690 Martin Grove Road, Woodbridge | Built in 2017. | |||
| 7-4 | Vaughan | Engine Rescue 741 | Field Support unit | 835 Nashville Road, Kleinburg | Opened in 2020. | ||||
| 7-5 | Vaughan | Engine Rescue 759 | Tech Rescue 758 | 2 Fieldstone Drive, Woodbridge | Built in 1997. | ||||
| 7-6 | Vaughan | Engine 766 Platform 767 | Parade unit | 120 McCleary Court, Concord | Built in 1990. | ||||
| 7-7 | Vaughan | Engine Rescue 771 | Tanker 774 | 40 Eagleview Heights, Woodbridge | |||||
| 7-8 | Vaughan | Engine 786 | 111 Racco Parkway, Concord | Built in 2004. | |||||
| 7-9 | Vaughan | Engine 791 | Tanker 794 | 9601 Islington Avenue, Woodbridge | Built in 2007. | ||||
| 7-10 | Vaughan | Engine 710-1 | Command 701 | 10800 Dufferin Street, Maple | Built in 2012. | ||||
| 8-1 | Richmond Hill | Engine 811 | Rescue 819 | Utility 810 Command 8-0 Command 8-3 (Platoon Chief) | 191 Major Mackenzie Drive West | Built in 1978. Named after Alfred D. Stong. | |||
| 8-2 | Richmond Hill | Engine 821 | Tanker 824 | Rescue 829 Rescue 829B | 13067 Yonge Street | Built in 1996. Named after Robert G. Kennedy. | |||
| 8-3 | Richmond Hill | Aerial 836 | Aerial 896 (Reserve) | 1371 16th Avenue | Built in 1989. Named after Harold J. Mills. | ||||
| 8-4 | Richmond Hill | Engine 841 | Tanker 844 | Haz-Mat 848 | 1365 Elgin Mills Road East | Built in 1999. Named after Russell "Curly" Lynett. | |||
| 8-5 | Richmond Hill | Engine 851 | Rescue 850 Engine 891 (Reserve) | 150 High Tech Road | Built in 2001. Named after Bert Cook. | ||||
| 8-6 | Richmond Hill | Engine 861 | Tanker 864 | 101 Gamble Road | Built in 2012. | ||||
| 9-1 | Markham | Pumper 911 | Aerial 916 | 7801 Bayview Avenue | Opened in June 1990. | ||||
| 9-2 | Markham | Pumper 921 | Air/Light 920 Haz-Mat 928 Chief 97 (Battalion Chief - Special Operations) | 10 Riviera Drive | Opened in May 2004. | ||||
| 9-3 | Markham | Pumper 931 | Aerial 9836 (spare) | 2930 Major Mackenzie Drive East | Opened in July 2010. | ||||
| 9-4 | Markham | Pumper 941 | Pumper 9841 (Spare) | 7300 Birchmount Road | Opened in 1985. | ||||
| 9-5 | Markham | Pumper 951 | Platform 957 | Tech Rescue 959 | Personnel Carrier 950 Chief 96 (Battalion Chief - Technical Rescue) | 316 Main Street Unionville | Opened in 1978. | ||
| 9-6 | Markham | Pumper 961 | Pumper 9861 (Spare) 2x parade units | 5567 14th Avenue | Opened in 1996. | ||||
| 9-7 | Markham | Pumper 971 | Pumper 9871 (Spare) Parade unit | 209 Main Street North, Markham Village | Opened in 1985. | ||||
| 9-8 | Markham | Pumper 981 | Tanker 984 | 650 Bur Oak Avenue | Opened in 2006. | ||||
| 9-9 | Markham | Pumper 991 | Aerial 996 (Spare) | 3255 Bur Oak Avenue | Opened in 2012. |
GEORGINA FIRE DEPARTMENT
Georgina Island Fire Department
Although not part of the York Region's fire services, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation has their own fire and rescue capability.
EAST GWILLIMBURY EMERGENCY SERVICES
KING TOWNSHIP FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES
CENTRAL YORK FIRE SERVICES
WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES
VAUGHAN FIRE & RESCUE SERVICE
RICHMOND HILL FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES
MARKHAM FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES