About Us

Who We Are

As the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services, we strive to provide a safe and resilient community through emergency management and coordination within the Stanislaus County Operational Area. Our goal is to protect lives, property and the economy by preparing, planning, mitigating, responding and recovering from disasters and emergencies.

What We Do

  • We protect the public's safety by developing and maintaining general and specific preparedness programs for the County and its nine cities
  • We prevent fire hazards through fire prevention inspections and services to the unincorporated areas of Stanislaus County
  • We educate and inform the public in the areas of emergency preparedness and fire prevention
  • We coordinate and manage statewide requests for fire mutual aid resources
  • We ensure compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directives that provide training and preparedness funding
  • We provide administrative and communications assistance to local fire districts and departments in conjunction with the Stanislaus County Fire Authority
  • We coordinate and regulate local emergency service for the Stanislaus County EMS system

OES

OES is responsible for the day-to-day administration of Stanislaus County's disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery programs. OES develops and maintains the Stanislaus County Emergency Operations Plan and its associated annexes. OES also coordinates training, planning and exercises for first responders throughout the Stanislaus Operational Area.

OES maintains the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Modesto. The EOC is the focal point for local coordination during a disaster. OES also facilitates the Operational Area Council and the Disaster Council.

EMS

The Stanislaus County EMS Agency coordinates and regulates local emergency service for the Stanislaus County EMS system. We ensure that all Advanced Life Support (ALS) responders are properly licensed and certified to give the highest quality care to those in Stanislaus County. We work in prevention and quality assurance to review cases, develop appropriate policies and implement continuous quality improvements to the emergency response system.

On March 30, 2021, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors authorized the Chief Executive Officer to issue a termination notice to the MVEMSA JPA Board to withdraw from the JPA, effective July 1, 2022. SCEMSA is a division of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and will be led by the Chief of Emergency Services, Richard Murdock, and the newly appointed EMS Director, Chad Braner. The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will be the governing body over all SCEMSA activity. Prior to July 1, 2022, Stanislaus County was a member of the MVEMSA JPA, which served Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa and Stanislaus Counties

Fire Warden

The Fire Warden supports and coordinates all public fire services agencies in the County, with an emphasis on special fire districts. Activities include fire prevention and plan review, training, and fire and rescue mutual aid management.

The Fire Warden's Office:

  • Serves as Stanislaus County's Fire and Rescue Operational Area Coordinator
  • Coordination and assistance to fire departments and fire districts within Stanislaus County
  • Serves as a liaison between local fire agencies and County departments
  • Provides coordination efforts for local fire representatives to establish and implement operational level standards
  • Manages and directs the multi-jurisdictional "OES On-Call Duty Officer" program
  • Provides operational level support to the multi-jurisdictional Arson Task Force
  • Manages the Operational Area's California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS)
  • Manages the Fire Prevention Bureau who reduces the risk of fire, protecting the lives, welfare, and economic vitality of our community by providing a variety of services such as plan checking of new construction and tenant improvement projects, issuing permits for various operations involving fire safety, public fire safety education and enforcement of California Fire Code regulations.