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BadgeBound Prep · Department Record BBP Form DP-1

Santa Cruz Fire Department

NorCal · Municipal · Career

Mission

The City of Santa Cruz Fire Department does not publish a formal mission, vision, or values statement on its official site as of May 2026. From the department's About page, the agency describes its purpose as providing "fire suppression, paramedic emergency medical services, marine rescue services, fire prevention and emergency preparedness" to the community.

Source: official department source

~9,438 calls/yr · Annual calls62,956 residents across 15.8 square miles · Population servedRob Oatey (as of Jul 11, 2026) · Fire Chief

Santa Cruz Fire Department is a small to medium-sized municipal career department with 62 sworn personnel and approximately 70 seasonal lifeguards, operating across four fire stations and one lifeguard headquarters.

Preparing for the Santa Cruz Fire Department oral board

Santa Cruz Fire Department serves 62,956 residents across 15.8 square miles. Build your ARTS Tie-back material from what this department tells you about itself:

  • its mission and the values it states
  • the community it serves and the calls it runs
  • the specialized work it runs, from wildland and interface fires and water and marine rescue
  • the programs it puts into the community, like community emergency response (CERT)
  • the culture and priorities its own people describe

Themes this profile surfaces

  • Why you want to serve Santa Cruz Fire Department specifically, over any other department
  • Scenario questions that touch its wildland and interface fires and water and marine rescue work
  • How you would contribute to its community emergency response (CERT) work
  • How your own values line up with the department's mission
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