About

Mission

Exceptional people providing compassionate service and rapid response to our community’s diverse needs.

Vision

East Pierce Fire and Rescue is a regional leader providing the highest level of fire, rescue, emergency medical, and prevention services to a diverse and growing community with:

• Mission-essential staffing and training.
• State-of-the-art facilities, equipment and technology.
• A strong, diverse, and sustainable funding base, while maintaining stewardship of taxpayer resources.
• A safe environment for our citizens through effective and comprehensive prevention and public education programs.
• A safe and healthy workforce.

Our community and our employees are our most important resource.

We are committed to:

• Doing the Right Thing
• Integrity, Trust, Respect and Commitment
• Everyone Must Make a Difference
• Individual and Organizational Responsibility, Accountability, Teamwork, and Collaboration
• Anticipating and Meeting Our Community’s Needs
• Proactive Planning, Innovation, Creativity, Responsiveness, and Excellent Customer Service

We had a goal of creating a leadership model that guides the success of our organization at all levels, and develops future leaders who understand their responsibility to the organization and the community. Leadership within the organization promotes and empowers people to take personal responsibility for their contribution to the department, the community and each other.

The Leadership Philosophy applies to all members of the department regardless of rank or position. This leadership philosophy is the foundation of our department and the standard each and every one of us is expected to uphold.

We are very proud of our members and recognize that all of us are leaders in various groups and situations. By embracing this philosophy, we will continue to develop and improve both as individuals and an organization.

Welcome to the East Pierce Fire & Rescue strategic plan. This document sets the direction for our organization over the next five years by building upon our strengths, prioritizing needs, and identifying opportunities for ongoing improvement. We will use our adopted strategic plan to align around shared priorities and allocate our resources.

Since our inception in 2000, East Pierce Fire & Rescue has had service and efficiency as our primary goals. As we move into our third decade of service, this strategic plan provides a strengthened set of goals that guide us to best serve the District. In achieving these goals, we will reinforce our commitment to excellent service and ensure we remain efficient by realizing the benefits of regionalized emergency services.

The words “where compassion and action meet” can be seen on the side of every emergency vehicle in our fleet. These words are more than a motto to East Pierce Fire & Rescue. Our residents are our family, and our community is our home. With this core belief in mind, our Mission becomes very personal in that we serve to protect our family and our home.

I am proud to present our strategic plan on behalf of the Board of Fire Commissioners and East Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel. Through the collaboration of our community, stakeholders, and personnel, we have solidified a strong vision for our future. Thank you for your continued support—it truly is an honor to serve you, and we look forward to doing so in the years to come with the guidance of East Pierce Fire & Rescue’s new strategic plan.

Jon Parkinson
Fire Chief

This capital facilities planning step has included an in-depth, district-wide examination of the needs associated with East Pierce Fire & Rescue’s capital facilities. It has included evaluating all major stations and assessing which stations should be renovated and which should be replaced. It has examined East Pierce’s supporting services (i.e., training, administrative services, vehicle maintenance and repairs, and logistics). Diagrammatic floor plans have been prepared for what these facilities might look like in the case of new and remodeled structures. And, for all the improvement projects, detailed cost estimates have been prepared for how much they would likely cost to undertake.

The planning process incorporated input from a diverse cross-section of EPFR personnel. While not easy to predict what the future may hold, the district’s planning decisions were based on a 20-year perspective. To that end, the conclusions reached in this report are expected to serve the needs of the district and its citizens well into the future.

While this capital facilities process was underway, a parallel effort led by Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) was undertaken to determine optimal station locations, resource deployment, call types and response times, and projected population growth for the areas served by EPFR. ESCI’s work served as the basis for many of the assumptions made in terms of where stations should be located for optimal response and projected service growth over the next 20 years. This Capital Facilities Plan (PDF) includes a complete copy of the ESCI report.

Welcome to EPFR’s Standards of Cover. This document reports on a Standard of Cover analysis describing the environment, operations, challenges, and opportunities facing East Pierce Fire & Rescue, serving Washington State’s Pierce County Fire Protection District #22 (FPD#22). The report represents the results of six months’ collaborative effort between EPFR members, command staff, and technical and strategic consultants from Levrum, Inc. of Corvallis, Oregon.