About the Verdugo Fire Communications Center

The Verdugo Fire Communications Center, also known as Verdugo, is a regional public safety emergency communications center, that receives and processes EMS & Fire related 911 calls for thirteen (13) cities within Los Angeles County. The cities include Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, San Gabriel, Montebello, Monterey Park, Alhambra, South Pasadena, San Marino, Monrovia, Arcadia, and West Covina. In addition, Verdugo dispatches fire resources for the Hollywood Burbank Airport located within the city of Burbank.

Verdugo is an enterprise agency, owned by the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena, also known as the Tri-Cities. Verdugo is governed by the Executive Committee, comprised of the Fire Chief from each agency. The Finance Committee decides on budgetary matters and is comprised of the Finance Directors from the Tri-Cities. Operational changes and decisions are done by the Operations Committee, which is made up of the Deputy Fire Chiefs from the Tri-Cities. The Verdugo Task Force consists of a representative from every agency dispatched by Verdugo, who meet regularly to discuss mainly operational topics related to dispatch, and present ideas for changes or improvements of the center.

Verdugo staff consists of:

• A Glendale Deputy Fire Chief acting as the division head, responsible for the overall operations of the center.
• A Verdugo Fire Manager who acts as the communications manager, is responsible for operational compliance, training, staffing, and QA/QI.
• A Public Safety Business Coordinator, responsible for all things money, including Verdugo’s budget.
• A Departmental Applications Manager overseeing all computer-based technologies, including the CAD system and related interfaces.
• Fire Communications Shift Supervisors, who perform first line supervisor duties, responsible for over-seeing their team of Fire Communications Operators during their shift.
• Fire Communications Operators, performing all duties related to processing emergency and non-emergency calls and incidents received by the center.

Since Verdugo’s inception, incident and call processing has continued to increase, with each year growing more and more as the need for the Fire Department continues to grow, and Verdugo adds to their contracted cities. In CY 2024, Verdugo saw its highest year of dispatched incidents, directly related to the addition of West Covina Fire Department, grow to 98,127. Verdugo’s phone calls included 70,910 911 calls, 40,266 emergency calls, and 64,730 administrative calls, totaling 175,906 calls received, plus an additional 64,652 outbound calls made.

Verdugo also acts as the coordinator of Region 1-Area C, which consists of twelve (12) Verdugo cities. As the Area Coordinator, Verdugo handles all mutual-aid requests throughout the State, assisting agencies manage their local emergencies.

Verdugo is located on the third floor of Glendale Fire Station 21. Verdugo serves a combined population of over 944,000 residents, covering a geographic area of just over 150 square miles and manages approximately 140 front-line emergency vehicles spanning 49 fire stations.

History of the Verdugo Fire Communications Center

The Verdugo Fire Communications Center was established August 1, 1979, when the founding cities Fire Chiefs of the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena were faced with a number of concerns:

• Limited local resources,
• Voluntary mutual aid with an average 45-minute delay,
• Unfamiliarity with neighboring cities’ geography,
• Nonstandard fire-fighting tactics,
• Incompatible equipment, and a lack of common radio frequencies.

They recognized a need for a single Fire/EMS communications center which would support mitigation of these issues; prior to 1979, they were each dispatched by their Police Department Communications Centers.

The benefits of a localized dispatch center were recognized immediately. In its first year of operation, Verdugo dispatched over 19,000 incidents. The agreement among the three cities included a “no borders” clause – the closest fire engine responded to calls regardless of jurisdiction.

There were 23 fire stations initially in the borderless system, and up to 15 fire engines could be dispatched to a major incident without delay. Specialized equipment was shared among the three cities, including an Air Utility, a Hazardous Materials unit, and an Urban Search and Rescue unit. 

The name “Verdugo” was chosen for the Verdugo Mountain range which spans the geography of the three cities.  The City of Glendale was further chosen by the Fire Chiefs for the Center’s setting as it was a centralized location.

In 1996, the cities of South Pasadena and San Marino contracted for fire dispatch services, which added two more fire stations to the system and an increase of approximately 2,500 incidents per year. Eight more fire stations were added in 1999 when the cities of Monrovia, Arcadia, and Sierra Madre joined the Verdugo System, and in 2000 when San Gabriel was added.

Ten additional stations were added when Monterey Park, Alhambra and Montebello joined the Verdugo System in February 2005, April 2006, and February 2009, respectively. In September 2011, the Hollywood Burbank Airport Authority (Bob Hope Airport) became the 13th agency to contract for Verdugo’s dispatch services. In June 2016, Vernon joined adding 4 more stations to the Verdugo System bringing the total to 48 fire stations. However, in October 2019, the Vernon Fire Department was absorbed by Los Angeles County Fire Department, thus ending the dispatching of Vernon Fire Department.

On June 15^th, 2024, Verdugo began dispatching for the West Covina Fire Department, bringing the total number of fire stations in the Verdugo system to 49.

Verdugo celebrated 45 years of service in October 2024.