City of Walla Walla Fire Department

Walla Walla's fire service dates to 1864, when three volunteer companies — the Tiger Company, Washington Company, and Our Boys — organized to protect the young town. Hand-drawn apparatus gave way to the city's first horse-drawn steamer in 1887, the same year a fire destroyed half of town, and in 1903 the city formed a full-time paid department with nine members drawn from the volunteer companies. Today the City of Walla Walla Fire Department is a career, all-hazards municipal department.

The department protects roughly 11 square miles and 33,680 residents from two stations: Station 1 at 200 S. 12th Avenue and Station 2 at 170 North Wilbur Avenue. Each day it staffs a command vehicle, two Type 1 engines, and two advanced life support ambulances with eleven personnel, including no fewer than three certified paramedics. The fleet also includes a 109-foot aerial, a Type V wildland engine, and a technical rescue trailer. In 2021 the department logged 1,237 fire suppression responses, and it answers more than 7,000 total calls for service annually.

Beyond suppression, the department runs the city's ALS emergency medical transport, technical rescue capabilities covering rope rescue and confined space, and hazardous materials response. A fire prevention bureau handles commercial inspections and new-construction review, public education programs reach schools and community groups, and the CARES community paramedicine program addresses residents' non-emergency health needs.

Walla Walla Fire hires entry-level and lateral firefighters and firefighter-paramedics through the Washington civil service process, with written testing coordinated through Public Safety Testing and a continuous candidate list. Entry candidates submit a city application, resume, and supplemental questionnaire to Human Resources, then must pass a written examination with at least 70 percent and a physical ability test before oral interviews and placement on the eligibility list; veteran's preference points are added to final scores, and the department certifies the top candidates under the civil service rule of five for background investigation as vacancies occur. Lateral candidates test by oral interview and physical ability test rather than the entry written exam.

One year of paid or volunteer firefighting experience or IFSAC Firefighter I certification is desired but not required for entry candidates, and the department lists Spanish bilingual ability as a desired qualification for all tracks. New hires serve a twelve-month trial service period. Suppression crews work a 48/96 schedule.