About Us

The CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department District VI is approximately 1400 members strong. CAL FIRE L2881 is affiliated with CPF and IAFF. Our members are afforded opportunities within Riverside County that is both complex and diverse. Our members are tasked with fulfilling many positions depending on their rank.

CAL FIRE L2881 work various unique schedules We have two separate firefighter classes. We have Firefighter I’s and Firefighter II’s. Both are considered an entry-level position, but the Firefighter I was originally designed as a temporary position for Fire Season only. These firefighters typically work for nine months and are then laid off for the other three months. They also work three days on and have four days off.

CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (RVC FD) operates 100 fire stations in 15 battalions, providing fire suppression, emergency medical, rescue, and fire prevention services. The equipment used by the department has the versatility to respond to both urban and wildland emergency conditions. RVC FD inventory includes Type I fire engines, rural engines, brush engines, trucks, tillers, paramedic units, a helicopter, hazardous materials unit, incident command units, water tenders, fire crew vehicles, mobile communications centers, breathing support units, fire dozers, and mobile emergency feeding units.

Riverside County once started mainly as a Wildland Fire Department. We have grown into a Fire Department that meets and, in many instances, exceeds the services that any large municipal fire department can provide. The growth of our county has been explosive over the last decade, which has dictated that we elevate our services to the citizens that both reside and work within our service area.

In the middle of the 1960s a group of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters from throughout the state met in a hotel room in Sacramento, California. The object of the meeting was to create an association that would advance the wages, benefits, and conditions of their members. Angry at the unrelenting schedule, which often meant seven days a week for months on end, the firefighters decided to unite in an effort to establish reasonable hours and livable wages. Almost 55 years later this proud organization is called CAL FIRE.

CAL FIRE L2881 is an affiliate of The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) and California Professional Firefighters (CPF).  We represent current and retired employees of CAL FIRE in Bargaining Unit 8, including Firefighters, Fire Apparatus Engineers, Fire Captains, Battalion Chiefs, Foresters, Pilots, Supervisors, Forestry Logistics Officers, Fire Prevention Specialists and other classifications.

We answered the call 196,125 times in 2023, of which less than 1% are wildland fires.

Ultimately, CAL FIRE L2881 is responsible for fulfilling the mission of CAL FIRE to provide comprehensive fire protection and other related emergency services, including protection of life and property.

We are CAL FIRE Firefighters. We are California’s Fire Department