New York Fire Stations

A fire station (also called a fire hall, firemen’s hall or engine house) is a building or facility used to store and maintain firefighting vehicles, personal protective equipment, tools and other specialized equipment. It may also be a living and working area for firefighters and other support staff.

The city of New York has 255 firehouses across its 302 square miles, and the Fire Department of the City of New York is recognized as one of the world’s busiest and most highly skilled emergency response agencies. It has been in existence since 1865 and is made up of professional firefighters and a variety of other staff members.

Fire companies are organized into groups based on the types of fires they are trained to respond to. These groups are called Engine Companies, Ladder Companies, Rescue Companies and Squad Companies. Each group is led by an officer, such as a lieutenant or captain. The officers oversee a company of firefighters, which are made up of firefighters in training or experienced firefighters. Typically, the number of firefighters in a company varies from four to five for engine or ladder companies, 10 to 12 for rescue or squad companies and six for hazmat companies.

Upon receiving a call from a 9-1-1 operator, the fire alarm dispatcher at a particular firehouse assigns the appropriate personnel and apparatus to an incident. This is done using a computer system that determines the location of the incident and the nearest FDNY units and then allocates them accordingly. The fire alarm dispatchers do not handle EMS calls; those are routed directly to the FDNY EMS communications center by the NYPD.

The firehouse assigned to an incident is determined by the type of fire, and it also influences the fire classification of a property (e.g., Class A). This is based on the level of service and equipment at a particular firehouse; the higher the class, the better the protection available to a property.

Each firehouse will have a sign out front that identifies its address and the name of the fire company that is housed there. Some will have a number as well, such as Engine 10 or Ladder 23. However, this is not always the case in other parts of the country, especially the South, where a firehouse will usually have only a number and not a specific unit name.

Some famous firehouses have even appeared in films and television shows. In Manhattan, the firehouse at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca is a familiar sight to anyone who has seen Ghostbusters. It appears in both the original and the 2016 reboot of the film. Other firehouses are featured in The CW series Gotham and on CBS’s The Amazing Race. In addition, the FDNY was represented in two episodes of Sesame Street’s Elmo Visits the Firehouse. This episode featured the FDNY’s Ladder Company 26 and Rescue 1 in Brooklyn. The Upper West Side’s firehouse, Engine 80 and Ladder 71, is also well-known from its appearance in the 2002 movie Brotherhood.