Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) is a special-purpose government fire fighting and emergency services district in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon. Established in 1989 with a merger between Washington County Fire District 1 and the Tualatin Rural Fire Protection District, it primarily provides fire and emergency medical services in eastern Washington County, but also provides services in neighboring Multnomah, Clackamas, and Yamhill counties. It serves unincorporated areas along with the cities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, West Linn, Wilsonville, and Sherwood, among others. With over 450 firefighters and 28 fire stations, the district is the second largest fire department in the state and has an annual budget of $197 million.

History Beaverton incorporated in 1893, and by 1914 had a volunteer fire department. To the south, Tualatin incorporated in 1913 and on February 2, 1935, formed the Tualatin Fire Department. Residents of unincorporated West Slope contracted with Beaverton’s fire department to have the latter provide service starting in 1941, but created their own West Slope Rural Fire Protection District in 1949.

In 1946, the Tualatin department became the Tualatin Rural Fire Protection District and opened a new station on Boones Ferry Road, and in 1948 the Stafford-Wilsonville Fire Department merged into the new rural district. Also in 1946, the Cedar Mill Rural Fire Protection District was created, followed by the Beaverton Rural Fire Protection District in 1947 that covered the Aloha area. The Beaverton Rural district contracted with Beaverton for services, with the original station on 185th at Blanton across from the post office. A second station was opened in 1965 in the Progress area, with a third opening adjacent to Tektronix on Jenkins Road in 1967.

Sherwood merged their fire department with Tualatin Rural in 1968. Municipal fire departments in Tigard and King City, and Sherwood later joined the Tualatin Rural Fire Protection District. In 1972, Washington County Fire District 1 was created with the merger of the Beaverton Rural, Cedar Mill Rural, and the West Slope Rural fire districts.

Washington County Fire District 1 and the Tualatin Rural Fire Protection District began discussing a merger in 1985, and in November 1988 the two districts signed off on the plan with a preliminary name of as Consolidated Fire and Rescue District. The name Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue was adopted by the new entity in January 1989, and the district was officially created in February 1989. The new district covered with 176,040 residents and had 17 fire stations. WCFD1 covered with about 122,040 people in eastern and northern Washington County including Beaverton, Metzger, Garden Home, Aloha, Reedville, Bonnie Slope, Oak Hills, West Slope, Raleigh Hills, Rockcreek, and part of Tigard. Tualatin Rural covered with about 54,000 people in southern Washington County and western Clackamas County including Tualatin, Wilsonville, King City, Sherwood, Durham, Rivergrove, as the rest of Tigard. WCFD1 had eight fire stations with 126 firefighters, while Tualatin Rural had seven fire stations with 100 firefighters.

Prior to the merger, Washington County Fire District 1 signed an agreement with Hillsboro in 1987 in which TVF&R would not oppose annexations by the city that would remove properties from the district. The agreement also could have led to a merger with the Hillsboro Fire Department. The next year the district and Hillsboro agreed to have WCFD1 continue providing service in the recently annexed Tanasbourne neighborhood for five years.

In April 1989, the new district opened a training facility. Washington County Fire District 2 (WCFD2) started negotiations in October 1989 with TVF&R for a partial merger, though the merger never occurred. At that time TVF&R maintained WCFD2’s equipment, along with Hillsboro’s equipment. Multnomah County Fire Districts 4 and 20, plus the Valley View Water District, merged into TVF&R in 1995. Beaverton voters finally approved an official merger into the district in 1996.

West Linn contracted TVF&R for fire services in 1998, and then joined the district in 2004. Oregon City contracted with TVF&R from 1999 to 2003. In 1999, TVF&R was awarded the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Fire Service Award for Excellence for its Community Assistance Program. The district achieved national accreditation in August 2000 by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. Rosemont Fire District in West Linn became part of the district in 2001. In 2006, its Apartment Program led to the International Association of Fire Chiefs' awarding the Fire Service Award for Excellence to TVF&R.

Apparatus and stations Apparatus operated by the district includes 37 engines, 6 trucks, 11 water tenders, plus specialty equipment such as 5 HAZMAT trucks, 3 rescue boats, 13 EMS units, 4 technical rescue vehicles, and 4 elevated waterway units. In 2017, TVF&R responded to 1,362 fires and 33,390 medical emergencies, among the 49,211 total calls for service.The district operates 29 fire stations across the area. This includes two in Wilsonville, three in West Linn, one each in Tualatin and Sherwood, two in Tigard, one in King City, five in Beaverton, one in the Stafford area, one on Cooper Mountain, one in Aloha-Reedville, one each in the Rock Creek and Bethany areas, two in the West Hills, one in North Plains, and two in Newberg. In October 2015 TVF&R added its first mini-station in Raleigh Hills. In addition to the fire stations, the district operates a training center between Tualatin and Wilsonville and three operations centers, of which the one in Tigard also serves as the main command center. In January 2019, TVF&R started construction of a new station, located in the Rivergrove area just north of Meridian Park Hospital. Station 39 was completed in January 2020.

Fire stations and offices +List of fire stations & offices of Tualatin Valley Fire and RescueFire Station #LocationAddressEngine CompanyTruck CompanyRescue UnitsSpecial/Support UnitsChief UnitsRef.17North Plains31370 NW Commercial Street, North Plains, OREngine 17Brush 1719Midway15200 SW Midway Road, Hillsboro, OREngine 19Heavy Brush 1920Newberg414 E 2nd Street, Newberg, OREngine 20Rescue 20 Medic 20Water Rescue 20 Heavy Brush 2021Newberg3100 Middlebrook Drive, Newberg, OREngine 21Truck 21Medic 21Brush 21Battalion Chief 733Sherwood15440 SW Oregon Street, Sherwood, OREngine 33Brush 3334Tualatin19365 SW 90th Court, Tualatin, OREngine 34Car 34Hazmat 3435King City17135 SW Pacific Highway, King City, OREngine 35Medic 3539Lake Oswego7080 SW McEwan Road, Lake Oswego, OREngine 39Rehab 39 Squad 39Battalion Chief 650Tigard12617 SW Walnut Street, Tigard, OREngine 50Water Tender 50A Water Tender 50B Rehab 350 (Volunteer)51Tigard8935 SW Burnham Street, Tigard, OR Engine 51Truck 51 (Platform)Heavy Rescue 51 USAR 51 REM 5152Wilsonville29875 SW Kinsman Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070Engine 52CBRNE 52 Heavy Brush 5253Beaverton8480 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton, OR 97008Engine 53Car 53Hazmat 5354Wilsonville8995 SW Miley Road, #105, Wilsonville, OR 97070Rescue 5455West Linn20790 Hidden Springs Road, West Linn, OR 97068Engine 55Truck 55 (TDA)56Wilsonville8445 SW Elligsen Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070Engine 56Truck 5657West Linn24242 SW Mountain Road, West Linn, OR 97068Engine 57Brush 5758West Linn6050 Failing Street, West Linn, OR 97068Engine 58Heavy Brush 58 Mobile Command Center59West Linn1860 Willamette Falls Drive, West Linn, OR 97068Engine 59Water Rescue 5960Beaverton/Portland8585 NW Johnson Street, Portland, OR 97229Engine 60Brush 6061Beaverton13740 SW Butner Road, Beaverton, OR 97005Engine 6162Aloha3608 SW 209th Avenue, Aloha, OR 97007Engine 62Water Tender 62A Water Tender 62B64Beaverton/Portland3355 NW 185th Avenue, Portland, OR 97229Engine 64Rescue 64Heavy Brush 6465Beaverton3425 SW 103rd Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97005Engine 65Water Tender 65A Water Tender 65B66Beaverton13900 SW Brockman Road, Beaverton, OR 97008Engine 6667Beaverton13810 SW Farmington Road, Beaverton, OR 97005Engine 67Truck 67 (TDA)Battalion Chief 568Beaverton/Portland13545 NW Evergreen Street, Portland, OR 97229Engine 68Truck 68 (TDA)69Aloha9940 SW 175th Avenue, Aloha, OR 97007Engine 69Heavy Brush 6970Beaverton/Portland8299 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, Portland, OR 97225Squad 7072Portland11646 NW Skyline Boulevard, Portland, OR 97231E 372 (Volunteer)CBOC (Command & Business Operations Center)11945 SW 70th Avenue, Tigard, OR 97223Logistics Service Center9941 SW Avery Street, Tualatin, OR 97062SOC (South Operating Center)8455 SW Elligsen Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070TVF&R Training Center12400 SW Tonquin Road, Sherwood, OR 97140

Organization TVF&R serves about 520,000 people in Washington, Clackamas, Multnomah, and Yamhill counties on Portland’s Westside, mostly in the Tualatin Valley. The district is the second largest fire department in Oregon after Portland's Fire Bureau, and is the largest fire district in Oregon. Cities in the district are Beaverton, Durham, King City, Newberg, North Plains, Rivergrove, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, and West Linn. It also covers unincorporated areas such as Aloha, Cedar Mill, Bethany, Rockcreek, including most of eastern Washington County. Accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI), TVF&R has a five-member board of directors elected by residents that govern the district. the district had 416 paid fire fighters and paramedics, 67 volunteers, 16 prevention and 7 training staff, and 108 administration and support personnel.

See also

Firefighting in Oregon

References

External links