Westfield Fire Department Division of Operations
The Deputy Chief of Operations is responsible for developing, administering, and evaluating the training of the Department as well as the safety of fire ground operations. It is the responsibility of the Operations Division to ensure the members of the organization meet all mandated criteria set forth by local, state, and federal guidelines and respond to large incidents where the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is put in place.
The Battalion Chief is the Incident Commander on the scene in charge of assigning resources or requesting additional resources when needed, accountability of all personnel working on a scene, and the overall strategic plan to mitigate an incident. Other daily duties include management/supervision of company officers and assisting personnel while on station. The Battalion Chief is there to serve the assigned shift with human resource needs or point personnel in the right direction when needed while managing the overall daily operation of on-duty crews during a 24-hour shift.
Westfield Fire Department has three Battalion chiefs (BCs) on staff.