History of the Kirby Fire Dept

The City of Kirby is located in Northeastern Bexar County and is a bedroom community to San Antonio. Kirby is at the intersection of Interstate 10 East and South Loop 410. San Antonio's city limits are the boundaries on the North, South, and the West sides of Kirby. the East side city limits are unincorporated Bexar County and San Antonio's city limits in the Northeast corner. Kirby is mostly residential, with retail property making up less than 25% of the city. The area of unincorporated Bexar County served is very similar in property type.

The Kirby Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1952 and covered a large part of Northeastern Bexar County. Most of this was either annexed by San Antonio or is covered by departments that formed over the years. The K.F.D. currently serves 21 square miles with over 25,000  residents. The City of Kirby makes up 1.5 square miles with a population of about 8,800. The remainder of our area is unincorporated Bexar County.

The department was all volunteer until the late 1970's when 1 firefighter was hired for daytime manpower. In 1982 the city hired a second firefighter and lost the ambulance company that provided E.M.S. when it went out of business. At that time the city hired 6 people and started providing E.M.S. to the residents of Kirby. In 1985 a third firefighter was hired to increase daytime manpower. The third man was paid by the volunteers and worked 8-5 like the chief and the other man paid by the city. The E.M.S. crews worked 24-on, 48-off and operated a MICU along with providing assistance on fire scenes. In 1997 the 2 day men were moved to shift work and a third man was hired to make 3 shifts of 3 men. the chief remained  on an 8-5 schedule. We currently have 11 volunteers and 3 junior volunteers who are under 18 years old..

The K.F.D. provides fire protection for all of our service area and has a mutual aid pact with all departments in Bexar County. In addition, there is a Disaster Aid pact that can be called upon when our resources are depleted. This pact brings in the resources of the San Antonio F.D. and all the military bases in Bexar County. We also belong to C.E.S.O. which is the Combined Emergency Services Organization. C.E.S.O. encompasses the paid and volunteer fire departments of Northeastern Bexar county and 1 E.M.S. service. Kirby F.D. only provides E.M.S. to the City of Kirby itself. E.M.S. in unincorporated Bexar county is provided by a third service. K.F.D. provides first responder to the residents of our county area until the ambulance arrives for transport. The K.F.D. has 7 Paramedics, 2 EMT-Intermediates, and 3 EMT-Basics providing medical service.