HISTORY
HISTORY
The San Mateo Consolidated (SMC) Fire Department officially commenced operations on January 13, 2019. The department was formed by the establishment of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) and represents the merger of fire departments in San Mateo, Foster City, and Belmont. At that time, it was the first JPA to commence operations in the State of California in nearly a decade.
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SMC Fire has over 260 years of combined history providing emergency services in the three communities. The new department is staffed by 154 personnel that provide emergency services utilizing 10 engine companies and two ladder trucks from the existing nine fire stations. The consolidation allows SMC Fire to continue providing comprehensive emergency response services to all three cities in a more cost-effective way, while maintaining the high level of service the communities rely upon.
The efforts to explore this collaboration began in 2010 when Foster City and San Mateo agreed to share duties of then Fire Chief Dan Belville. Over the next two years, the two cities expanded their partnership to include other key Command Staff positions. In 2013, under the leadership of Fire Chief Mike Keefe, the City of Belmont/Belmont Fire Protection District joined the partnership. At that time, the three cities agreed to share, jointly staff, and relocate the Foster City Ladder Truck to a centralized location that better served the three communities. In 2015, newly appointed Fire Chief John Healy was directed by the three City Managers to study the viability of completing the merger of all fire protection services. The goal was to continue to provide the same high-quality emergency services in a more sustainable model. Staff from the cities and fire departments explored available options and determined a JPA was the most viable option.
The JPA was officially established on November 22, 2017, and on January 13, 2019, SMC Fire commenced operations as an independent fire department.
The San Mateo Consolidated (SMC) Fire Department officially commenced operations on January 13, 2019. The department was formed by the establishment of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) and represents the merger of fire departments in San Mateo, Foster City, and Belmont. At that time, it was the first JPA to commence operations in the State of California in nearly a decade.
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SMC Fire has over 260 years of combined history providing emergency services in the three communities. The new department is staffed by 154 personnel that provide emergency services utilizing 10 engine companies and two ladder trucks from the existing nine fire stations. The consolidation allows SMC Fire to continue providing comprehensive emergency response services to all three cities in a more cost-effective way, while maintaining the high level of service the communities rely upon.
The efforts to explore this collaboration began in 2010 when Foster City and San Mateo agreed to share duties of then Fire Chief Dan Belville. Over the next two years, the two cities expanded their partnership to include other key Command Staff positions. In 2013, under the leadership of Fire Chief Mike Keefe, the City of Belmont/Belmont Fire Protection District joined the partnership. At that time, the three cities agreed to share, jointly staff, and relocate the Foster City Ladder Truck to a centralized location that better served the three communities. In 2015, newly appointed Fire Chief John Healy was directed by the three City Managers to study the viability of completing the merger of all fire protection services. The goal was to continue to provide the same high-quality emergency services in a more sustainable model. Staff from the cities and fire departments explored available options and determined a JPA was the most viable option.
The JPA was officially established on November 22, 2017, and on January 13, 2019, SMC Fire commenced operations as an independent fire department.
MEDICAL EDUCATION & DISPOSAL (MED) PROJECT
Don't Rush to Flush
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Medicines help treat diseases, manage chronic conditions, and improve health and well-being for millions of Americans. It’s vitally important that patients take their medicines as prescribed by their health care provider. However, if you have expired or unwanted medication, proper disposal is important and easy. There are a number of ways to dispose of expired or unwanted medicines. To protect your privacy, consumers are reminded to remove all personally identifiable information on labels or materials before using any of the available disposal options.
San Mateo County now has over 50 medicine disposal locations available for residents to dispose of medicine safely. By taking your unwanted or expired medicine to one of the convenient kiosks listed, you are protecting the environment, preventing overdoses and errors, and helping keep drugs away from kids and teens.
ACCEPTED: Medications in any dosage form, except for those listed below, in their original container or sealed bag.*
*If transferring medications to a sealed bag, please be sure to recycle all remaining packaging.
NOT ACCEPTED: Herbal remedies, vitamins, supplements, cosmetics, other personal care products, compressed cylinders, aerosols, inhalers, medical devices, sharps, illicit drugs, iodine-containing medications.
The MED Project site has additional resources and resources in other languages available such as pamphlets, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or Mail-Back Inserts. These resources are currently available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Tagalog and can be found here.
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Kiosks
Community take-back locations allow residents to bring expired or unwanted medicines to a convenient, centralized location for proper disposal. To find out where your nearest safe disposal site is, please visit the San Mateo County Health website here.
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Mail-Back
Mail-Back Services are available to differently-abled or home bound residents upon request. Please complete the form on the project site to request a pre-paid, pre-addressed Mail-Back Package. Each Unwanted Medicine Mail-Back Envelope is 8 by 11 inches in size and will hold up to 8 ounces of unwanted medicine. This form may be submitted more than once if multiple packages are needed.
To find out what medications are accepted and to fill out the form, please visit the project site.
