The City of Tracy Fire Department was established under a Council directive in 1910. Back then firefighters received no pay for their service and had to drag fire carts to the fire. In 1916 the city passed a $24,000 bond that provided for a firehouse, an office for the City Clerk and a fire engine. The engine, an American La France, was purchased in September 1917 for $6,000. The firehouse was a multi-use facility that housed City Hall and also served as the jail. It was not until the 1970's that facilities were specifically designed and built to serve various City departments. The firehouse remained at the same location and still serves as Station #91.

Throughout the mid century the Tracy Fire Department operated as a combination fire department with a small professional force. The department relied heavily on volunteer firefighters to augment the paid force. Tracy was mainly an agricultural town with a booming railroad transfer-switch station.

In 1945 the Tracy Rural Fire District was established to protect the greater Tracy Region that encompassed over 200 miles. The rural fire department was comprised of volunteers who manned the four stations. Both departments have experienced several fire related civilian deaths and a few major fires.

Throughout the sixties and seventies the city and rural department worked to better equip their personnel and began to emerge as professional forces as the Tracy region began to grow. It was also in the 1970's that the first talks or department consolidation began. Like many departments throughout California, both departments also began to utilize such innovations as Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, Hurst rescue tools, ladder trucks, and water tenders.

The 1980's and 1990's saw the use of the Incident Command System, Positive Pressure Ventilation and a modernization of the fire apparatus. As with the decades before consolidation talks continued. The population of Tracy was also emerging from a small rural town of 25,000 to over 45,000.

Tracy experienced a few major fires that would also change the way we do business. The Ace Hardware fire of 1987 and the Opera House fire of 1991 would force Tracy to adopt better fire attack methods, accountability and ICS.

In September 1999 after years of talks, the Tracy City Fire Department merged with the Tracy Rural Fire Department. A partnered South County Fire Authority was created to manage the department and the consolidation would offer better response times, services, staffing levels and a general streamlining of the organization. The consolidation would also help provide emergency services for the growth our community is experiencing. The consolidated fire department can maintain revenues through district fire-tax assessments and grow in accordance to city planning. Growth has become a major part of our fire department as we have rapidly grown to a city in excess of 69,000 and the fire department has enjoyed City and community support reflected in an updated fleet, equipment and staffing.

Today, the Tracy Fire Department is state of the art. While our equipment is not unlike any other modern fire department, there are some state of the art tools we use. We have a state of the art apparatus fleet, all of which are equipped with Thermal Image Cameras, extrication tools and defibrillators.

The Tracy Fire Department also provides a number of non-emergency services such as; Fire prevention, public education, counseling for juveniles who play with matches, and installation of smoke detectors. This department takes pride in the delivery of all services with an emphasis on customer service.