About The District:
The Garden Valley Fire Protection District, a combination paid and volunteer staffed department is an “all risk” agency providing fire protection, rescue and initial response medical aid to a population of approximately 7,500. The District consists of an area of approximately 60 square miles of unincorporated area on the Georgetown Divide in northern El Dorado County which includes the gold rush communities of Garden Valley, Kelsey and Greenwood and covers part of the historic Mother Lode Gold Country from the South Fork of the American River at Chili Bar, North to Gate Three of Auburn Lake Trails in the Greenwood area, Northeast to Shoemaker Road South of Georgetown, East as far as Darling Ridge in the El Dorado National Forest and West to the American River near the famous Marshall gold discovery site at Coloma. We border the El Dorado National Forest and have within our district approximately 8 square miles of Forest Service land that we are responsible for, as well as many BLM parcels (often old abandoned mining claims).
Garden Valley F.P.D. provides automatic aid (interagency mutual aid agreement) to, and receives it from, the Georgetown, Mosquito and El Dorado County Fire Protection Districts as well as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) and the U.S. Forest service. The Georgetown Fire Protection District provides paramedic ambulance services.
The California Department of Forestry has a station located in Garden Valley (Station 50) and the U.S. Forest Service ranger station is above Georgetown about 12 minutes away .The Forest Service along with California Department of Forestry only staff during fire season. During extreme fire danger CalFire is usually gone from our staffing area and the Forest Service is at a minimal staffing due to their need to respond to other areas they are responsible for, leaving our District to address all situations with minimal aid from local agencies. We have in the past, as just last season fought a wild land fire with minimal help from Federal and State agencies. We must rely on ourselves for protection from all adverse conditions. We cannot assume that we will receive aid from another agency. Over the past decade, we have experienced an increase in population; an increase in the dead and dying trees; an increase in the dry biomass and forest litter; an increase in the number and size of houses in the wild land interface; a relative decrease in our tax revenues due to state and county cutbacks. All with an increase in the public expectation of the levels of service we should provide.
The District utilizes both a 24-hr Kelly shift as well as 40-hr day shift system in addition to a staff of dedicated volunteer to provide coverage and normally employs one full time Chief, one part-time Assistant Chief, one part-time Division Chief, two full-time Captains, three full-time Engineers, one part-time engineer and one full time Administrative Officer. The strength of the District is with its volunteer fire fighters consisting of 20 members and its Support Group of 21 members. The District owns 3 type one engines, 1 type two Urban Wildand Interface engine, 2 type two wildland tender engines, 1 type one water tender, 1 Rescue/Medical Squad, 1 command vehicle, 1 Duty Officers pick-up and two utility vehicles.
The District owns 3 stations to house the 8 pieces of equipment. The main station is Station 51 on Marshall Road in Garden Valley and is staffed 24 hours a day. Station 52 is located just off of Highway 193 in Kelsey and is a volunteer only station as is Station 53 at the other end of the district in Greenwood.
Garden Valley Fire Protection District has experienced an average of a 6% growth per year in the number of calls for service.
Call Volume:
| 2006 | 618 |
| 2005 | 620 |
| 2004 | 682 |
| 2003 | 656 |
| 2002 | 627 |
| 2001 | 582 |
| 2000 | 502 |
| 1999 | 492 |
| 1998 | 430 |
| 1997 | 492 |
| 1996 | 436 |
| 1995 | 428 |
| 1994 | 449 |
| 1993 | 398 |
| 1992 | 394 |
| 1991 | 371 |
| 1990 | 350 |
| 1989 | 387 |
| 1988 | 369 |
| 1987 | 302 |
| 1986 | 220 |
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