Fire Stations

A fire station is the central location for a local fire department. It is a place where firefighters live while on duty and where their fire apparatus, vehicles and equipment are maintained and stored. It may also contain offices, a library of reference materials and a trophy wall. Fire stations may be named for a specific fire company and its apparatus, such as “Ladder 49” or they may be named for the settlement, neighborhood or street in which they are located, such as “Fire Station 1”. The buildings may have an above-ground or underground garage.

A large fire department might have multiple fire stations. Each station will typically have living quarters for firefighters, a garage for housing at least one fire engine and often some additional apparatus such as water pumps or utility trucks. A fire engine is a motorized vehicle equipped with a tank of water, pump and hoses for fighting a fire. Firefighters ride in the fire engine during emergency responses and work from their station when not at a call.

Some fire departments still use old-fashioned stations with the living quarters above the garage. Many newer fire stations are built with the living quarters on the same level as the garage. In some areas, a fire station is used for a whole company or platoon (also called a watch). The whole company is divided into different shifts that are each assigned to one of the fire engines.

Firefighting terms vary widely from department to department and region to region, and are often more idiosyncratic than those of any other profession. Some examples are:

Drill: training during which an emergency is simulated, and members go through the steps of responding as if it were real, to train for different situations. A drill might be a hands-on, scenario-based exercise or it might involve simulating the actions of an actual emergency and then reviewing the results.

Two-in/two-out: A standard safety practice of having two firefighters enter a hazardous area, and at least two others stand by outside in case they need to leave or require rescue from the scene.

Roof sector: A crew, usually of a ladder company, assigned to the roof of a building, most frequently for purposes of vertical ventilation during a fire, but also to check roof-mounted equipment, such as HVAC.

High-rise building: A structure taller than three or four stories, requiring firefighters to climb stairs and/or aerial ladders for access to upper floors.

Wet riser: A pipe in a building, usually in a ceiling, filled with water that hoses can connect to, for supplying water to the floor of a fire.

Mutual aid: Agreements between fire departments to dispatch additional manpower and equipment when needed, especially in response to a major incident. Dispatching mutual aid is done by radio and is not normally an automatic system.

Auxiliary fire engine: A second motorized fire engine that accompanies an incident, for assistance with manpower or equipment. Generally, auxiliary engines are manned by volunteers.