Mission
The mission of the West Buncombe Fire Department is to protect the lives, property, and environment of the residents of the community and of Buncombe County by providing exceptional public safety services. We accomplish this mission through professionalism by being prepared, compassionate, focused on customer service, and evolving our profession through continuous self and organizational improvement.
Values
To Lead – Be accountable. Be prepared. Be a teammate. Hold yourself to the highest levels of integrity. Be an example in both professional and personal dealings. You are a role model!
To Protect – Lives, Property, and Environment.
To Serve – Our public and each other before ourselves and any personal gain.
Vision
To continue our steadfast commitment to serving our community by delivering an unparalleled level of customer service.
We will invest in our staff by being a transparent, collaborative, and compassionate employer. Leadership commits to helping staff attain greater heights of personal and professional achievement through training, goal setting, and increasing responsibility. It is our shared vision to work towards greater health and wellness initiatives to achieve a better and longer quality of life in active service and continuing into retirement.
Our goal is to establish and maintain a high-performing department that is both expected and deserved by the community we serve. We understand it is our duty to respond quickly, safely, and most importantly, professionally when called on by our citizens. We will respond with understanding and compassion regardless of circumstances as we recognize all members of our community deserve high-quality care. Emergency response is only one tenet of responsibility to our community and thus, we endeavor to increase our visibility and engagement within the community and to increase our education related to the reduction of injuries and fires.
To meet the needs of our staff and community, it will take both a financial and personal commitment. Department leadership and its stakeholders commit to these needs while conscientiously being the best stewards of the resources provided to us. Our actions and business practices shall be in line with best practices and will continue to be transparent and accountable.
Risk Statement
The West Buncombe Fire Department prioritizes human life, firefighter safety, the conservation of property, and the environment. Risk is determined by the constant evaluation of every situation and/or operation and measured as acceptable or not based on expertise, training, experience, and the resources provided to the department.
West Buncombe firefighters may place themselves in positions of extreme personal risk, which may result in injury or death in order to attempt the rescue of those who may be saved. The recovery of those who have perished or the conservation of property will only take place with primary consideration for the lives and health of our workforce.