Meeks Bay Fire Protection District (MBFPD) is the local agency which serves as your "fire department," however, a fire protection district is different than a "fire department" in many ways. A "department" is usually a part, or division of a larger governmental entity, such as a city or other district i.e., Tahoe City Parks & Recreation is a department of the Tahoe City Public Utility District. MBFPD is a ..."legally constituted governmental entity created and empowered by the State of California and established for the purpose of carrying out specific activities within definitely defined boundaries." We are not a part of the County government, but rather an "Independent Special District" formed by, and designed to serve YOU, our property owners, residents and tax payers.

MBFPD runs from the El Dorado/Placer County line to the northern boundary of D.L. Bliss State Park. We have approximately 2100 parcels, about 1500 of which are "improved" (have structures). The District is governed by an elected five member board, each of whom serve four year terms. Our volunteer force is usually 10 men and women, and we augment the paid staff with part-time/paid firefighters during high call volume periods. Paid staff is vital, as many of our volunteers work out of the District during the day and are too far away to respond to calls. We are fortunate to have many of them available at night and on weekends.

Emergency Services have changed quite a bit over the years since MBFPD was formed in 1961. The days of "ringing the bell" and dozens of volunteers leaving their jobs to answer the call are all but gone. Today a modern fire district has highly trained, paid professionals and volunteers, as well as a knowledgeable, educated administrative/management staff and board. All of our firefighters participate in ongoing training. Certifications such as EMT, special driver’s licenses, and other technical skills must be maintained as part of the job qualifications. When firefighters are in training, other (off-duty) staff must cover their shifts at additional expense. Directors must also attend training seminars (on their own time) not only to learn their jobs, but also to keep up on the ever increasing and changing body of state laws relating to public employees and the governing of special districts.

As a result of factors such as age of equipment, water system, number of firefighters, etc., the Insurance Services Organization (ISO) has rated the MBFPD a 6 on a scale of 1-10. (10 being the rating for areas with no fire protection agency.) This is considered a good rating for a small district such as ours. This rate is used to compute your homeowner’s insurance premium. If we were to reduce the number of paid firefighters or apparatus, the rating could change for the worse.