boston mass area - response levels - first alarm

[Peteri Szerlagi]

first alarm - box alarm - usually transmitted for a reported structure fire

boston - 4 engines - 2 ladders - 1 rescue - 1 or 2 chiefs

cambridge - 3 engines and 2 ladders and 1 rescue + 1 als squad + 1 chief

somerville and quincy - 3 engines and 2 ladders and 1 rescue and 1 chief

newton - 3 engines and 1 ladder and 1 rescue and 1 chief and maybe 1
private ambulance

lynn - 3 engines and 1 ladder and 1 chief and 1 als fire ambulance or
maybe 1 private als ambulance

woburn - 3 engines and 1 quint and 1 fire bls ambulance and 1 chief
and maybe 1 private als suv

weymouth and medford and chelsea and revere - 3 engines and 1 ladder and 1 chief

everett - 2 engines and 1 ladder and 1 chief

arlington and burlington - 2 engines and 1 ladder and 1 bls fire
ambulance and 1 chief

randolph and needham and melrose and watertown - 2 engines and 1
ladder and 1 als fire ambulance and 1 chief

lexington - 2 als engines and 1 ladder and 1 als fire ambulance and 1 chief

reading and winchester - 2 engines and 1 ladder and 1 als fire ambulance

stoneham - 1 engine and 1 quint and 1 als private ambulance

weston - 2 engines and 1 bls fire ambulance and 1 chief and 1 oncall ladder

wellesley - 1 engine and 1 quint and 1 platform and 1 chief and maybe
1 private als ambulance

wakefield and saugus - 2 engines and 1 ladder and maybe 1 chief and
maybe 1 private ambulance

milton - 2 engines and maybe 1 ladder and maybe 1 private ambulance

staffing is typically 3 or 4 people per engine and ladder - but it
varies - there might be some 2 man ladders out there - stoneham and
winchester come to mind

you might wonder why every FD has to do something different - chaos rules!

[Peteri Szerlagi]

boston - also gets 1 bls ambulance and 1 ems supervisor on box alarms
- from bems

whether or not some cops respond varies widely maybe - arlington sends
at least 1 cop to every box alarm

we left out Massport - 1 engine and 1 ladder and 1 small rescue and 1
chief go to fire alarms in buildings on the airport property - have
never heard them go to a working building fire - boston would probably
send a box along with massport - some buildings on the airport
property might be directly wired into boston fd also - like the hotel
and maybe a convention center or something