About Us
We are CAL FIRE Local 2881. We are California's Fire Department
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.
More than 50 years later, this proud organization is called CAL FIRE Local 2881.
CAL FIRE Local 2881 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.
CAL FIRE Local 2881 is an affiliate of The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), CAL FIRE Local 2881 represents employees of The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). We represent over 7,000 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.
Members of Local 2881 are also members of the IAFF and CPF (California Professional Firefighters).
CAL FIRE Local 2881 answers the call more than 500,000 times a year, of which less than 2% are wildland fires. CAL FIRE firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California's most serious disasters, and from structural fires to auto accidents to earthquakes to floods to the spilling of hazardous materials to every conceivable disaster, we make up California's Fire Department.
CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the third-largest fire department in the United States. Our firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). However, from the Oregon border to the Otay Mountains in San Diego, CAL FIRE Local 2881 are among the best-trained firefighters in the world.
Cooperative Agreement
Since the 1940s, local government entities such as cities, counties, and districts have contracted with CAL FIRE to provide many forms of emergency services for their communities. CAL FIRE provides full-service fire protection to many of the citizens of California.