New Way to Request a RCFD Appearance

The Rapid City Fire Department remains firmly committed to community relations and public education. However, over the years, the volume of requests for RCFD appearances at community events has increased dramatically. This, coupled with dramatic increases in calls for service, dictates that the RCFD look at new ways to handle these requests.

Effective September 14, 2016, all requests for RCFD apparatus and crew appearances, public education requests, presentations or speaking engagements, and fire station tours will go through a vetting process. This process will seek to determine whether or not the appearance falls within established guidelines for RCFD participation in community events.

Guidelines for appearances include, but are not limited to:

-All requests must be received no less than 14 days in advance.

-While firefighters enjoy participating in community events, our first priority is providing quality, timely, and professional emergency services to those who live in, work in, and visit our community. We may not be able to accommodate all event requests due to training obligations, call volume and other scheduling conflicts.

-If a fire crew attends an event, they will typically remain “in service” and stage the apparatus somewhere that allows them to leave quickly if they are dispatched to an emergency.

-Crew visits at community events are typically scheduled for 1-2 hours, with the understanding that an emergency response may cause the crew to arrive late to the event, to leave abruptly, or in some cases, to not be able to show up at all.

-It is highly recommended that the event not be centered on an appearance by the Rapid City Fire Department, but rather should be approached as a complimentary element to the program.

Individuals and groups that wish to have the RCFD attend their event or tour the fire station should visit our website, http://www.rcgov.org/departments/fire-department.html, and click on "Fire Department Appearance Request" on the "Information" pane. Fire Department Appearance Request can also be found under the Community Involvement" tab on the right side of the page.

Individuals or groups that wish to have our organization attend their event or gathering or that wish to take a group tour of a fire station should complete the "Appearance Request" form and submit it to RCFD Headquarters via mail, e-mail, fax, or in person. The from must be signed and should be received by the RCFD no less than 14 days in advance of the event.

Upon receipt of the form, the RCFD will contact the individual listed on the from to acknowledge that the from was received by our organization. The request will then be reviewed by our Command Staff. Submitting the form does not guarantee approval.

We believe that, through this process, we will be better able to provide quality education and information at community events while continuing to provide the high quality emergency services that our community has come to know and expect from the Rapid City Fire Department.