The City of West Fargo Fire Department is actually two departments under one roof. There is the City Department that covers the City of West Fargo; which is an area that extends to Mapleton down to 52^nd Avenue South and to the Harwood exchange. Then there is the Rural Department which covers the Townships of Reed, Raymond and Mapleton. They also cover the Cities of Reile’s Acres and North River. These two departments have all the same officers, members and directors so they are able to share personnel and equipment between both departments. 

The City of West Fargo Fire Department is a private non-profit corporation. Operating funds are generated through yearly contracts with the City of West Fargo and the three Townships that they serve. They also receive donations throughout the year and apply for any grants that are applicable to their operation.   They are governed by a board of directors that is made up of members of the department. There are five Board members that serve three year terms. These terms are elected at the annual Board meeting, which is held the third Tuesday in January of every year. They have alternating terms so that for two consecutive years they will elect two Board members and then the third year they will elect only one Board member. The current Board members are:

*Kevin Dockter-President

*Chris Rolph-1^st Vice President

*David Pragulske-2^nd Vice President

*Ken Zetocha-Treasurer

*Joey Porter-Secretary

The three full time employees of the Fire Department are: Roy Schatschneider (Fire Chief), Dell Sprecher (Assistant Chief and Lead Fire Inspection Officer), and Kendel Frost (Fire Inspector and Assistant Training Officer). There are 42 volunteers at the Fire Department who have all been FFI and FFII certified or are going through the training. 

The City of West Fargo has expanded rapidly since the year 2000 and development south of I-94 has offered new challenges to the Fire Department. In order to reduce their response times, the Fire Department has acquired property located at the intersection of 29^th Ave. & 5^th St. West and built a second fire station. The building includes five truck bays, offices and space for future 24 hour staffing. The West Fargo Police Department is also  utilizing the new Fire Department building by using it as a substation, occupying one bay and some of the office and storage areas.  This facility is greatly reducing response times for both the Fire and Police Departments.

On the technological front, the Fire Department is in the process of purchasing and installing Mobile Data Computers, Automatic Vehicle Location and Global Positioning System in some of their fire trucks. The computers will have the capability of “mapping” locations, which will precisely identify the incident location for the firefighters while, “building information” will give the firefighter helpful information about the building and water supplies in the area. There have also been upgrades to the vehicles that they use to fight fires. The most recent Fire Engine purchase was in September 2008, this vehicle features a 6 person cab, full complement of ladders and hoses, 1250 gpm pump and also carries extrication and rescue equipment. This truck was built by Crimson Fire Apparatus and carried a price tag of $320,000. We now have a fleet of trucks that include four Engines, two tankers, a Rescue Truck and three administration vehicles.