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First in area size/battalion size
Howdy Folks,
Just curious as to your first in or battalion sizes.
I am in California, this is by no means typical of all paid departments, but money (or a lack thereof) dictates the level of service available.
I worked for a rural county fire department that included some urban/city areas, the largest battalion is considered a training area for for new captains: it is fairly isolated, 90 miles from headquarters. and the second-in engine is a minimum of 15 minutes away. We also have a small town (pop. 12,000) in the area.
Size wise, 305,600 acres (478 sq. miles) 2 stations staffed year round with a wildland station staffed April-November, 2 Type 2 engines, a watertender, 2 type 3 engines, a dozer and tender,a brush patrol, and a utility vehicle. The chief is headquartered at the wildland station in the summer.
The staffing level is 2-0, each station has 2 captains, 2 engineers and 2 firefighters assigned, the wildland stations are staffed 3-0, captain and 2 firefighters and an engineer and 2 firefighters and a dozer operator each day. We work a 72 hour schedule; 3 days on 4 days off for the wildland folks, 2 on 2 off with a 6 day kelly for the county guys, the chief works 72 on 96 off.
Challenges include a major N/S interstate, another major 2 lane highway, 2 large oil production facilities and associated oil fields, a Naval air station, a large hotel,fueling point, restaurant complex, a small airfield, a massive feed lot, agriculture operations everywhere you look, a major aqueduct, the only thing missing is a railroad line.
Weather is all extremes, high wind all day, every day, very high summer temps- 100+ down to 30-40 in winter, dense fog, heavy rain and since the area includes part of the coast range, flooding after rains in the mountains is not uncommon.
The county engines are set up for truck work as well as rescue, they carry jaws, air bags, over the bank rescue gear and pretty much anything else that comes along.
Like I mentioned before, this is a training ground for new captains, you are on your own and learn to multi-task quickly on incidents. It is good for the engineers, if the captains are away or off, thay take command .
So, how about you fine folks, I realize urban, suburban and city departments are not as extreme as what I have described, but I would like to hear from others regarding this subject!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Peter Reilly on
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Hey Bob, I have work for a fire dept. for the last 27 years in the the City of Hollywood Florida.The first response to a call was 2 engine ,1 rescue , 1 ladder 1 commander. The total of men and woman on scene were 12 people. This was a total response on every call. We all so had 3 man rescue and everybody was a paramedic. The total amount of calls were 32,000.000 calls a year with 5 station. I have just retired from this department and have taken a job on a small island on the west coast of Florida. The job that I had was to build a fire department from nothing , this was a challenge. The island that I was on had 502 homes and a 1mile and a half from the mainland. They had no roads or stores or even cars on the island. My closest mutual aid was thirty five minutes away I was the only paid firefighter paramedic on the island . I had six volunteer that I was training at the same time building the fire department. In the first four months I manage to get the EMS up and started with paramedics and state certified.I also was able to get a grant from FEMA for equipment for the fire side . The worst thing was to get a call and you were the only one that showed which happen a lot. This is only part of the story on the island .
Petey
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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We have a staff of about 2,200 personnel. We protect 62 sq miles of land and then some water space. Population is about 610,000 with a daytime population of 1.5-2 million. We have 33 Engines, 16 Trucks, 3 Rescue Squads, 3 boats, HazMat trucks, heavy rescue crane and a ton of other specialized units. We run about 170,000 runs each year. We have 7 battalions in the operations division. The 7th being the Special Operations Battalion consisting of the 3 Rescues, HazMat, Fire boat. Engines are staffed with 4. Trucks, Rescue, Boat, HazMat with 5. A normal battalion has about 6 fire houses. A first due area can vary. Some fire houses are separated by 5-6 blocks only.
Box Alarm is 5 Engines, 2 Trucks, Rescue Squad, 2 Battalion Chiefs, Ambulance. Working fire gets another engine, truck and specialized units.
We have many challenges being the #1 target for a terrorist attack. Some include the White House, Capitol, monuments, museums, Union Station and our subway system.
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