Vacaville Firefighters Association Local 3501

07/05/2026

Your Local 3501 Vacaville Firefighters want to wish everyone here in Vacaville and across this great country of ours a Happy Fourth of July!
From all the men and women working at your local fire station on this July 4th we hope everyone has a safe and fun July 4th!
#250

07/01/2026

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!
Today Engineer Means delivered over 800 pounds of locally sourced and locally raised pork to The Opportunity House and to St. Mary’s Food Pantry!

As summer fair season rolls on, while representing your Vacaville Firefighters Local 3501 and the Vacaville City Firefighters Charity Fund, Engineer Jimmy Means continued to support our communities youth at the Solano County Fair Livestock Auction.
Jimmy, the Local & the VCFCF recognize the amount of time and effort these kids put into their livestock and salute them for that dedication!
All livestock will be processed and donated to various shelters and food pantry’s in Vacaville, such as the Opportunity House & St Mary’s Food Pantry.
Side Note: It’s always interesting to find out what the kids will be using their proceeds for and this time Jimmy was able to find out that one of the purchases will help a young lady fund her nursing degree. Best of luck to her!
Finally, thank you to all our supporters for your continued support!

06/20/2026

From multi agency training burns this morning to assisting our neighboring fire department with a multiple alarm vegetation fire this afternoon and running 911 calls throughout all of it, sometimes you get moments like this.
Have a great weekend Vacaville and be safe out there!

06/13/2026

Always preparing - Battalion 71 , Rescue 71, Engine 71 with Truck 74 and Medic 74 recently ran a multi company drill simulating an injured victim down an embankment. The simulated victim’s injuries prompted a Technical Rescue response which would bring a minimum of 12 personnel to the scene with specialized equipment and training.
Fast forward to tomorrow morning, B-Shift crews will be training for a confined space rescue operation.
Training ranges from the basics, like in the current recruit academy, to complex multi company drills. We pride ourselves in being prepared for any and all 911 responses and this comes from our preparation on the training ground.
Always ready to answer the call - this past week has been a busy one for your Vacaville firefighters and especially along the I-80 corridor.
Last Sunday Local 3501 firefighters were the first on scene of the “Lyon Fire”.
It began as a vehicle fire on Lyon Road and it quickly moved into the dry vegetation on the hillside next to the roadway.
With the assistance of Fairfield FD, Vacaville FPD and CalFire the Lyon Fire was kept to under 11 acres on a hot, dry and windy day.
Yesterday there were two more fires that significantly impacted traffic along I-80. The first was a fire that began in the trailer section of a truck towing scrap metal on its way to a recycling center. In order to fully extinguish the fire, the trailers load had to be dumped on the highway. Agencies that assisted with mitigating the incident were Fairfield FD, Vacaville FPD, CHP and Cal Trans.
Later that same day, when temps were over 100, multiple units and the Battalion Chief responded to a roadside vegetation fire along I-80 near the Leisure Town exit. Unfortunately prior to crews arriving on scene the fire was able to reach the property of a local car dealership and destroyed three vehicles and damaged others.
Thankfully all incidents were mitigated with no injuries to the public and none to our firefighters.

05/30/2026

Your Vacaville Firefighters were out in full force recently at the Dixon May Fair Jr Livestock Auction!
Many of our Local 3501 members were in attendance supporting not only their own children but also many other local children from different 4H and FAA organizations.
At the May Fair, once again, our very own Jimmy Means spearheaded the Vacaville Firefighters efforts to support our local Ag kids. Jimmy not only bid on livestock but also coordinated the processing of the livestock..
During the fair our members learned that one of the May Fair participants families was recently struck by tragedy. This lead to a collaboration between our organization and several charity groups to help donate to a young man’s tragic loss. This was one of those times where we wish there wasn't a reason to help but we are glad that we are in a position to help.
Fast forward to last week and Jimmy personally delivered almost 350lbs of meat to St Marys Food Locker and to The Opportunity House! For the last several years Jimmy has lead this effort and delivered thousands of pound of meat to organizations that support Vacaville residents in need.
As Jimmy said, "What an amazing charity group we are part of! "

05/22/2026

This morning one of our crews responded to a resident who fell and sustained injuries while doing yard work. As he was being transported, he mentioned that he was almost done with his yard work when he fell. Once they cleared the hospital, the crew returned to the residence and finished the yard work for him.

This job is about far more than emergency response. It’s about serving our community, looking out for our neighbors, and doing the small things that can make a difficult day a little easier for someone in need.

We’re proud of the compassion and character our members continue to show both on and off the emergency scene.

05/11/2026

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there! A special tip of the cap to the mothers of firefighters and especially those moms that are firefighters!

03/30/2026

Tradition is important in the fire service - from leather helmets to Easter baskets
….yes, Easter baskets!🤣
For the last 14 years your Vacaville Firefighters and other volunteers have built Easter baskets for our community with the “Baskets of Hope” program.
Each year the program provides Easter baskets to Vacaville children with the help of local organizations.
Your Vacaville Firefighters and the VCFCF once again teamed up with volunteers to make it happen! Those volunteers included: Rotary, Sunrise Rotary, Soroptimist International Club. Other volunteers represented BBSI Vacaville, the Fathers House, and Kairos School students.
We all joined forces to put together over 350 baskets!!!
Over the weekend those baskets were delivered to The Vacaville Boys and Girls Club as well as the Knights of Columbus and St. Mary’s & St. Joesph’s Church’s.
The goal is for each basket to have a book, a coloring book, a small toy, crayons, a small stuffed animal, Easter eggs with candy and of a course chocolate bunny.
The VCFCF would like to thank Bounty Books for their donation which ensured each basket had a children’s book and the VFW Post 7244 for the use of their hall!
Finally, from the VCFCF family to your family -
Happy Easter!

12/21/2025

Join us in congratulating Fire Captain Chad Azevedo on his retirement! Chad has faithfully served the citizens of Vacaville since November of 1999. Prior to working in Vacaville Chad was also a firefighter for the Mt. View FPD and an Apparatus Engineer for Turlock Rural FD.
With Vacaville he achieved the rank of Captain in 2016, requested to be assigned to training and lead Academy 17-1. During his career here in Vacaville he was active in the Union. Chad served on the Executive Board as the Political Action Committee (PAC) lead from 2000 to 2007 helping build relationships in the community and keep our Union moving forward. He didn't stop in Vacaville as he was asked by CPF to help 4 other departments establish PACs.!
As firefighters mental health issues gained attention, Chad helped establish the first Peer Support Program for the fire department in an effort to assist his fellow firefighters when the need arose.
Once he completed his time in Training, Chad was assigned to Fire Station 71 on A-Shift and served the "88" until the day he retired.
We wish him the best in retirement and thank him for his years of service to Vacaville!

Today we tip our cap to Captain Chad Azevedo as he retires after serving the Vacaville Fire Department for 26 Years. Captain Azevedo is an all-around good guy who truly cared about people. Whether it was his crew or the citizens he came across, he strived to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Captain Azevedo was passionate about peer support and helping his colleagues through the mental aspect of the job. Always willing to have a deep conversation to make sure everyone was ok. Chad also left his mark on training where he served as the department’s training captain for a short time. Chad was instrumental in bridging the gap between the firefighters and elected officials through his work with the Vacaville Firefighters Association. Congratulations on your well earned retirement Chad! May all your lunches be served at 12pm and dinner at 5! Thank you for your 26 years of service!