Chief Al Higinbotham 

Welcome to the Ontario Fire & Rescue website!

Ontario is located in Malheur County at the Oregon -Idaho border.  State highways 20, 26, 201 and Interstate 84 pass through Ontario.  Our department serves a population of over 18,000 and an area over 100 square miles.  The City of Ontario contracts with the Ontario Rural Fire Protection District #302 to provide fire protection for the rural area.  The city has an ISO rating of class 4 and the Rural District has an ISO rating of 3-7.

Our department has a roster of 1 fire chief, 8 paid career firefighters, 29 part time volunteers, 1 administrative assistant and 6 associate members.  We respond to over 1,500 fire and medical calls per year.  Our department provides fire, medical and hazmat coverage for the city and rural district.  We have a mutual aid agreement with 26 departments, both Oregon and Idaho.  The department also has a contract with the Oregon State Fire Marshals Office to provide a Regional Hazmat Response Team.  The team is made up of 13 hazmat technicians.   The response area consists of Malheur County, Harney County, a portion of Grant and Baker Counties and also portions of six Idaho Counties along the Oregon Idaho border. 

I have been fortunate to serve as Chief since October 2008, and am proud to serve with the dedicated men and women that the department has.  Most of our members have numerous certifications, including Firefighter II, Apparatus Operator, Hazardous Material Technician, Wildland Firefighter to name a few.

We conduct an annual smoke detector campaign to assure our residences have a working smoke detector and furnish free smoke detectors to homes that lack protection or provide replacement batteries.  We also offer school educational fire safety classes, civic educational talks and tours of the fire station to mention a few.  Our staff handles all commercial fire inspections within the city as well as maintain all the apparatus and fire fighting equipment. 

We are governed by a Mayor, six City Council members and a City Manager, and thanks to their support we are a progressive department working to more adequately serve our citizens.

Thanks for visiting our web site!  If you are in the area, please stop by and tour your facility and visit with the staff.  If you have any questions always feel free to give us a call.

Yours in service

Al Higinbotham, Fire Chief