Fire Operations is the largest division in the Oceanside Fire Department.  Three shift-platoons of over 100 sworn personnel are on call from eight neighborhood firehouses throughout the city.  They respond to fires, medical responses, disasters, and rescue situations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The platoons are managed by on-duty, line battalion chiefs who coordinate daily staffing, logistics, and serve as the Incident Commander on large emergencies.  They may also be called on to be Strike Team leaders for larger scale out-of-city emergencies or disasters.

Truck and engine companies are staffed with a minimum of one company officer, one engineer, and one firefighter/paramedic.  Ambulances are staffed with a minimum of two firefighter/paramedics.

Operations also manages EMS response, transport and management.  This includes EMS budget, billing, quality assurance, and exposure control.

Specialized units such as Wildland, Rescue, SWAT, and Urban Search & Rescue also fall under Operations.