Program Description

Provincetown Fire / Rescue & Emergency Services proudly serve and protect the residents and countless visitors to the town of Provincetown annually. We are responsible for all phases of Fire Prevention, Fire Protection and EMS Services. This is accomplished through a Call/Volunteer department. We were the last volunteer fire department on Cape Cod and 4 years ago we started paying by the call. Our department saves the taxpayers of Provincetown an astronomical amount of money due to the enthusiastic efforts of our firefighters. Our goal is to provide our personnel with the best equipment possible to allow them to do their job safely. We want to remain a Call/Volunteer department as long as possible and continue to provide the citizens and visitors of Provincetown with the best possible fire and rescue protection. The Fire side of this department is working well. We manage to keep at least 40 call members so we can handle a working fire until mutual aid arrives when needed. The Board of Fire Engineers only asks for things that are necessary to keep this department operating. We do our best to present the lowest possible budget while providing the best coverage to the citizens of Provincetown.

We now pay our firefighters by the call and we have more members to answer fire calls than you would have if we were a full time department. This is still being accomplished without giving them any benefits like health insurance and retirement.

If we were to have a full time department it would cost much more and you would not have 40 firefighters responding to a fire. It takes a lot of effort from all of us to keep this kind of coverage and department going. The Rescue side of this department provides Basic and Advanced Life Support. Rescue calls are continually on the rise. We have teamed up with The Lower Cape Ambulance Association to make our hospital runs and to answer rescue calls for this department. The Firemen’s Association continues to purchase equipment for this department. This department has come a long way in the past 28 years and we are all very proud of what we have accomplished. We are very lucky and blessed to have the professional crew that we have. The EMS side of this department is extremely busy year round. This is a result of the aging population, events that go on here year round, doctor ordered transports from Outer Cape Health and Seashore Point, many bicycle accidents, and a variety of other medical issues. The extra crew for July and August has made a difference. We were calling for a mutual aid ambulance on average 3 times a week before we put the extra crew on for July and August.

Budget Statement

We realize that this increase is extreme, but consider that if we went to year round staffing, the costs with benefits would be

astronomical and provide less coverage. The EMS side of this department is extremely busy year round. This is a result of the

aging population, events that go on year round, doctor ordered transports from Outer Cape Health and Seashore Point, many

bicycle accidents and a variety of other medical issues. The extra crew for July and August has made a difference. Mutual aid

ambulances were being called on average 3 times a week and some days, several times and in our first year that was cut down

to almost none. We see no other solution to this problem than increasing rescue coverage to 240 days and keeping the second

Rescue crew for July and August. It is the only responsible thing to do. This will assure our citizens and guests that rescue will

show up in a timely manner.

Major Accomplishments for 2020

Provided the best possible fire and rescue protection to the visitors and citizens of Provincetown with minimal assistance from

the mutual aid system. This was all accomplished while saving the taxpayers an astronomical amount of money.

FY 2022 Objectives

To continue to provide the best possible fire and rescue protection to the citizens and visitors of Provincetown. We will always

strive to accomplish this difficult task at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers of Provincetown.