Mission Statement, Vision, and Guiding Principles

Mission Statement
The South Lyon Fire Department is called upon to provide a safe environment within the City of South Lyon by minimizing the impact of fire, disaster, hazardous conditions, illness and injury through information, public education, quality service and efficient utilization of resources.

Vision
It is the vision of the South Lyon Fire Department to be recognized by those we serve and our members as:

  • An organization striving to achieve a level of service that is viewed as a benchmark within the Fire Service.
  • An exceptional department dedicated to the education of the public in order to promote life safety.
  • A dynamic organization that adjusts to the changing needs of the community and its members.
  • A department that is acknowledged for its pride, integrity, and professionalism.
Guiding Principles
The starting point for developing and executing our plans:
  • Our primary mission is fire fighting. All our efforts to improve capabilities, develop people, and structure our organization should be grounded in this fundamental responsibility.
  • People are the department's foundation. We have a professional and moral obligation to uphold a covenant with firefighters and their families – to ably lead, equip, train, and motivate.
  • We must ensure today's force is ready for response. Maintaining apparatus and equipment to their expected service life is an essential contribution to fleet capacity.
  • The professional development of our members will improve our quality of service.
  • We will promote a positive environment that inspires teamwork.

Insurance Rating

As of December 1, 2017, the South Lyon Fire Department has achieved an ISO rating of 3. ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPC™) Service gauges the capacity of the local fire department to respond if flames engulf a property.

ISO collects information on a community's public fire protection and analyzes the data using their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). They then assign a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire-suppression program doesn't meet ISO's minimum criteria

Annual Reports

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

What is an Engine Company?

Engine 1

The Engine Company is the basic unit of a fire department. It provides the primary fire fighting agent- water- and the personnel to use it at the fireground.

To supply and use water properly, the fire fighter must have considerable skill and knowledge (along with a certain amount of brawn and the ability to withstand physical and mental stress).

The objectives of an Engine Company are:
  • Rescue victims
  • Protect exposures
  • Confine the fire
  • Extinguish the fire
  • Overhaul the fireground

All but the last of these objectives are carried out in an atmosphere of flame and smoke. Therefore, it is essential that fire fighters understand the nature of fire and the factors that affect its spread, including building construction, type of occupancy, and types of fuel available to the fire.

Engine Company Operations
Engine company apparatus and equipment have been designed to allow fire fighters to function effectively and quickly. Through training and experience, engine company personnel must acquire knowledge, skill and judgement in performing the following eight basic operations of engine companies:
  • Rescue
  • Water supply
  • Use of initial attack fire hose lines
  • Use of backup fire hose lines
  • Exposure protection
  • Heavy water stream development
  • Tactical use of protective systems
  • Overhaul
It is not expected that one company will perform every one of these operations at every fire; nor are the operations necessarily to be carried out in the order given above. Just as fire situations vary, what needs to be done in each case will vary.

What is a Ladder Company?

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Ladder companies are sometimes called "truck" companies, "hook-and-ladder" companies, "aerial" companies, and "snorkel" companies. Such labels might partially describe ladder company apparatus, but they do not even hint at the planning, personnel, equipment and training that are coordinated in an efficiently operating ladder company. A ladder truck and a driver do not make a ladder company, any more than a pumper and a driver make an engine company.

The ladder company provides access to, and exits for, all parts of a fire building. Ladder company crews also are responsible for removing heat, smoke and gases to allow greater visibility and permit engine company crews to move rapidly and safely within a fire building or exposed buildings. These examples do not by any means include all the duties of a ladder company, but they do illustrate two important points about ladder company work.

  1. Ladder work is required at every fire.
  2. Ladder operations either accompany or precede engine operations.
Ladder Company Operations
Ladder company apparatus and equipment have been designed to permit ladder crews to function effectively and quickly in accomplishing the five fire fighting objectives. Listed in the order in which they must be accomplished, these objectives are:
  • Rescue victims
  • Protect exposures
  • Confine the fire
  • Extinguish the fire
  • Overhaul the fireground
All but the last of these objectives are carried out in an atmosphere of flame and smoke. Therefore, it is essential that fire fighters understand the nature of fire and the factors that affect its spread, including building construction, type of occupancy, and types of fuel available to the fire.
Through thorough training and experience, ladder company personnel must acquire knowledge, skill and judgement in performing the nine basic duties usually assigned to ladder companies. These duties are:
  • Rescue
  • Ventilation
  • Laddering
  • Forcible entry
  • Checking fire extension
  • Ladder-pipe operation
  • Utility control
  • Salvage
  • Overhaul
At some fires, it might be necessary for a ladder company to perform all of these operations; other fires might require only some of the duties. Just as situations vary, procedures for each situation will also vary. With the exception of rescue, the duties are not necessarily performed in the order given above; that, too, depends on the fire situation.