New Haven Fire Department
The New Haven Fire Department (NHFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Fire Department currently serves a population of over 130,000 people living in 19 square miles of land and is one of the largest fire departments in the state. The NHFD provides advanced life support and basic life support emergency medical services to the city with three paramedic-staffed Emergency Units. EMS transport services are contracted by the city to American Medical Response which provides response to medical emergencies with Basic Life Support (EMT ) and Advanced Life Support (EMT-Paramedic) ambulances. As of 2016 the NHFD has received an ISO Class 1 rating, making New Haven the third department in Connecticut (the other two being Hartford, CT and Milford, CT) with an ISO Class 1 rating and 1 of 60+/- departments in the country. James T. Mullen was fire commissioner for 13 years. Operations. Fire station locations and companies. The New Haven Fire Department currently operates out of 10 fire stations, strategically located throughout the city. The Department is organized into 2 battalions: East Battalion and West Battalion. The NHFD operates with 10 engine  companies, 4 truck companies, 1 heavy rescue company, 1 mobile command unit, 1 haz-mat unit, 1 fireground rehabilitation unit, 3 paramedic emergency units, and a fireboat along with several special units. Each engine company and truck company is staffed by an officer and 3 firefighters/EMTs. Rescue 1 is staffed by an officer and 4 firefighters/EMTs. SOC 1 (Special Operations Command 1) is staffed by an officer and 1 firefighter/EMT. Each Emergency (EMS) unit is staffed by 1 firefighter/paramedic and 1 Firefighter/EMT. The haz-mat unit and rehab units are crossed staffed by the officer  and firefighter/EMT from SOC 1. Each Battalion Chiefs unit is staffed by a battalion chief. The Deputy Chief serves as the city wide tour commander. Truck 1 is a Tower Ladder Company, Trucks 4 and 2 are Tiller Ladder Companies, and Truck 3 is a Rear Mount Ladder Company. Controversy. In 2009 eighteen city firefighters, seventeen of whom were white and one of whom was Hispanic, brought suit against the department under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after they had passed the test for promotions to management positions and the city declined to promote them . New Haven officials invalidated the test results because none of the black firefighters scored high enough to be considered for the positions. City officials stated that they feared a lawsuit over the test's disproportionate exclusion of certain racial groups from promotion under the controversial "disparate impact" theory of liability.