there are 2 types of fire stations in the USA - or more - or more
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Peteri Szerlagi
Jul 12, 2025, 8:25:59 AM7/12/25
to usafire
there are 2 types of fire stations in the USA - or more - or more
1. there is at least 1 firefighter at the station before any emergency
calls are received - the firefighter is doing paper work and maintain
the equipment or whatever until a call is received
1A. there are no firefighters at the station before any emergency
calls are received - this is a 'volunteer' station - or an 'on call'
station - a few fire departments (FD) in California might call these
'auxiliary' stations or 'reserve' stations
2. the fire station is dispatched to any nearby emergency medical
calls - probably 90% of the stations are dispatched to nearby
emergency medical calls
2A. the fire station is NOT dispatched to nearby emergency medical
calls - some stations are only dispatched to CPR calls - like FDNY -
some stations do not respond to any violence related calls such as
shootings, stabbings, or assaults - like Boston FD
3. there is an ambulance at the station - 50% of ambulance service in
the USA is provided by fire department - like FDNY - like Chicago FD -
like L.A.FD - like Philadelphia FD
3A. there is no ambulance at the station - ambulance is provided by a
'third service' or by a private (for profit) ambulance company
4. the fire station has a Ladder truck - maybe 5% of stations have ladder trucks
4A. if there is no ladder truck - then one must be provided for you -
LOL - thats what the head of the FBI might say - idiot
5. the fire station is a wildland fire station - the staff is not
trained nor equipped to handle structure fires, emergency medical
calls, nor rescue calls - these stations are primarily operated by the
federal and state levels of the government - there might be 4 or 5
locally operated 'wildfire only' fire stations in the USA - maybe
Boulder CO and Austin TX might have them
5A . probably 35% of the structural fire stations in the USA operate
small fire trucks - they are called 'brush' trucks or 'boosters' or
'minipumpers' or 'field units' or etc - they are small and typically
have four wheel drive - they are intended to drive on dirt roads and
paths in the woods and forests etc
6. the fire station has a satellite phone or a short wave radio - lol
- you can count on 1 hand the number of fire stations that have this
equipment in the USA
7. the station has a tanker truck or a rescue truck - maybe 5% of
stations - actually - maybe 5% on rescue trucks - maybe 20% on tanker
trucks - many rural fire stations have 1 pumper + 1 tanker + 1 brush
truck
8. the fire station has a 2nd pumper - that is much more common in the
suburban and rural areas - the 2nd pumpers are used as spares or in
disasters - they are typically 20 to 30 years old - it is very rare
for a city fire station to have a staffed 2nd pumper - maybe 0.5% of
stations
9. the fire station is staffed by firefighters (FF) who have passed
their FF1 or FF2 test - this is a test to show that the FF has taken
basic firefighter courses - maybe 5% to 10% of volunteer stations
cannot meet this goal in any meaningful way
10. off duty firefighters are equipped with pagers or apps to receive
emergency alerts - this is common in rural and 50% of suburban areas -
but unheard of in the major cities - so you have huge pools of
available trained manpower who have basically no timely means of being
alerted to nearby emergencies
10A. no one at the FD responds to any calls unless a jetliner crashes
into their neighborhood
11. there is a hazmat truck at the fire station - this is very rare -
each major metro area has only 1 or 2 hazmat trucks
12. there is a foam truck at the fire station - this is very rare
unless at an airport or petro refinery - just FDNY and LAFD have foam
trucks - and they just have 1 or 2 of them - and they might not even
have a foam pump - and they are only staffed when needed
13. the station has a scuba team - very very rare - maybe only 500 FDs
in USA have SCUBA teams - of course - scuba calls are very rare
14. the fire station has a helicopter - again very very rare - for
example - there are no fire department helicopters in the northeastern
USA - except that Maine State Forestry has 5 helos to handle forest
fires - and Maryland State Police have 7 helos that can carry bambi
buckets and have hoists - in fact - the only fire helos operate by
structural fire departments east of the Mississippi are at Chicago and
Miami and Palm Beach County - and they primarily do EMS work
and we could go on - but we have hit the highlights - imho
correct me if I am wrong
1. there is at least 1 firefighter at the station before any emergency
calls are received - the firefighter is doing paper work and maintain
the equipment or whatever until a call is received
1A. there are no firefighters at the station before any emergency
calls are received - this is a 'volunteer' station - or an 'on call'
station - a few fire departments (FD) in California might call these
'auxiliary' stations or 'reserve' stations
2. the fire station is dispatched to any nearby emergency medical
calls - probably 90% of the stations are dispatched to nearby
emergency medical calls
2A. the fire station is NOT dispatched to nearby emergency medical
calls - some stations are only dispatched to CPR calls - like FDNY -
some stations do not respond to any violence related calls such as
shootings, stabbings, or assaults - like Boston FD
3. there is an ambulance at the station - 50% of ambulance service in
the USA is provided by fire department - like FDNY - like Chicago FD -
like L.A.FD - like Philadelphia FD
3A. there is no ambulance at the station - ambulance is provided by a
'third service' or by a private (for profit) ambulance company
4. the fire station has a Ladder truck - maybe 5% of stations have ladder trucks
4A. if there is no ladder truck - then one must be provided for you -
LOL - thats what the head of the FBI might say - idiot
5. the fire station is a wildland fire station - the staff is not
trained nor equipped to handle structure fires, emergency medical
calls, nor rescue calls - these stations are primarily operated by the
federal and state levels of the government - there might be 4 or 5
locally operated 'wildfire only' fire stations in the USA - maybe
Boulder CO and Austin TX might have them
5A . probably 35% of the structural fire stations in the USA operate
small fire trucks - they are called 'brush' trucks or 'boosters' or
'minipumpers' or 'field units' or etc - they are small and typically
have four wheel drive - they are intended to drive on dirt roads and
paths in the woods and forests etc
6. the fire station has a satellite phone or a short wave radio - lol
- you can count on 1 hand the number of fire stations that have this
equipment in the USA
7. the station has a tanker truck or a rescue truck - maybe 5% of
stations - actually - maybe 5% on rescue trucks - maybe 20% on tanker
trucks - many rural fire stations have 1 pumper + 1 tanker + 1 brush
truck
8. the fire station has a 2nd pumper - that is much more common in the
suburban and rural areas - the 2nd pumpers are used as spares or in
disasters - they are typically 20 to 30 years old - it is very rare
for a city fire station to have a staffed 2nd pumper - maybe 0.5% of
stations
9. the fire station is staffed by firefighters (FF) who have passed
their FF1 or FF2 test - this is a test to show that the FF has taken
basic firefighter courses - maybe 5% to 10% of volunteer stations
cannot meet this goal in any meaningful way
10. off duty firefighters are equipped with pagers or apps to receive
emergency alerts - this is common in rural and 50% of suburban areas -
but unheard of in the major cities - so you have huge pools of
available trained manpower who have basically no timely means of being
alerted to nearby emergencies
10A. no one at the FD responds to any calls unless a jetliner crashes
into their neighborhood
11. there is a hazmat truck at the fire station - this is very rare -
each major metro area has only 1 or 2 hazmat trucks
12. there is a foam truck at the fire station - this is very rare
unless at an airport or petro refinery - just FDNY and LAFD have foam
trucks - and they just have 1 or 2 of them - and they might not even
have a foam pump - and they are only staffed when needed
13. the station has a scuba team - very very rare - maybe only 500 FDs
in USA have SCUBA teams - of course - scuba calls are very rare
14. the fire station has a helicopter - again very very rare - for
example - there are no fire department helicopters in the northeastern
USA - except that Maine State Forestry has 5 helos to handle forest
fires - and Maryland State Police have 7 helos that can carry bambi
buckets and have hoists - in fact - the only fire helos operate by
structural fire departments east of the Mississippi are at Chicago and
Miami and Palm Beach County - and they primarily do EMS work
and we could go on - but we have hit the highlights - imho
correct me if I am wrong
Peteri Szerlagi
Jul 12, 2025, 9:48:22 AM7/12/25
to usafire
we forgot a big one
15. the fire station is in operation 365 days per year - or its not -
many state and federal wildfire stations are only in operation during
the summer - all other fire stations are staffed 365 days per year -
except some military airport fire stations are only staffed weekdays -
and the Curtis Bay USCG fire station is only staffed weekday - most of
the federal wildfire aircraft only operate for 90 days during the
summer - some are only staffed in the spring (FL maybe - NM maybe) -
some structural fire stations in suburban and rural areas only have
FFs in the station for weekdays - private fire stations at racetracks
are only staffed on race days - some airport fire trucks are only
staffed when an airline wants to land a large aircraft at a small
airport - 24 to 48 hours notice is required sometimes - there might be
1 or 2 structural fire stations that are only staffed during tourist
season - maybe at a ski resort or a beach town - cant think of any
offhand
15. the fire station is in operation 365 days per year - or its not -
many state and federal wildfire stations are only in operation during
the summer - all other fire stations are staffed 365 days per year -
except some military airport fire stations are only staffed weekdays -
and the Curtis Bay USCG fire station is only staffed weekday - most of
the federal wildfire aircraft only operate for 90 days during the
summer - some are only staffed in the spring (FL maybe - NM maybe) -
some structural fire stations in suburban and rural areas only have
FFs in the station for weekdays - private fire stations at racetracks
are only staffed on race days - some airport fire trucks are only
staffed when an airline wants to land a large aircraft at a small
airport - 24 to 48 hours notice is required sometimes - there might be
1 or 2 structural fire stations that are only staffed during tourist
season - maybe at a ski resort or a beach town - cant think of any
offhand
Peteri Szerlagi
Jul 12, 2025, 10:56:08 AM7/12/25
to sm...@groups.io, usafire
just thought of another one
15. or whatever. Not all federal Air Tanker Bases are staffed
continuously during the summer.. There is alot of movement of the VLAT
and LAT airtankers - from base to base as fire weather conditions
change. Not sure about the TY1 helos. They might stay closer to their
home bases.
these are fire stations in a sense - but they are very specialized -
there are only around 25 LAT and VLAT iirc - might be fewer than that
even - might be only 10 of them nowadays
15. or whatever. Not all federal Air Tanker Bases are staffed
continuously during the summer.. There is alot of movement of the VLAT
and LAT airtankers - from base to base as fire weather conditions
change. Not sure about the TY1 helos. They might stay closer to their
home bases.
these are fire stations in a sense - but they are very specialized -
there are only around 25 LAT and VLAT iirc - might be fewer than that
even - might be only 10 of them nowadays
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