Salem Fire Protection District has a long tradition of proudly providing service to the residents of our community. Our history began as the City of Salem Fire Department in 1892. In 1955 the area voters approved a referendum that created the Salem Fire Protection District. This expansion allowed for coverage to include not only the City of Salem but also the surrounding rural areas. The fire district currently serves to protect approximately 125 square miles of Marion County and 12,000 residents. We provide and receive mutual aid to all of the surrounding fire districts when needed. In addition to this we are a member of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) which provides us access to statewide and national resources in the event of a major incident.
Our membership consists of four full-time engineers and forty paid on-call firefighters. Our station is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide immediate response to emergencies. Our firefighters train every week, and many have earned certification from the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI). IFSI is the training institution that is part of the University of Illinois and provides training for all of the State of Illinois fire departments. A few of the certificates that our firefighters have earned include:
1. Basic Operations Firefighter
2. Advanced Technician Firefighter
3. Incident Command
4. Hazardous Materials Operations
5. Fire Apparatus Engineer
6. Fire Service Vehicle Operations
7. Grain Bin Rescue Operations
8. Fire Instructor I & II
9. Advanced Auto Extrication
10. Rope Rescue Operations
In addition to being well trained, our firefighters are well equipped to respond to emergencies. I invite you to visit for a guided tour of our equipment and station. We also welcome anyone that is interested in joining our “family” to pick up and fill out an application. We welcome residents of our district that are interested in serving our community.
I am privileged to lead this group of talented motivated individuals.
Chief Jim Cerny