Fire Engines Photos

Thanks Jacques,at last i can see the rear mounted warning lights in use.

Added by Bob on 04 September 2009.

Can somebody explain New York's Battalions to me? I thought a battalion consisted of around 200 troops. I know the GMC is quite a big vehicle, but 200? Come on . . .!

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 05 March 2011.

The FDNY is split into four Divisions covering the city. Each Division has 5-6 Battalions under it's control. Each Battalion has control of a number of Companies. The number and type of Company varies between each Battalion.

Added by David Jones on 05 March 2011.

What is the purpose of those rear mounted lights?

Added by Michael G. on 05 March 2011.

An SUV or pickup is a common vehicle in North America for a Battalion Chief (just the commanding officer of a battalion). Here a battalion is a group of stations. In Portland, Oregon, my city of abode, we have 30 stations and 4 battalions, so each battalion chief commands 7-8 stations. The battalion chiefs do drive SUVs -- Chevy Yukons, I think. Each station has a front-line pumper, plus nine stations have aerial trucks, mostly 100-ft ladders on tractor-drawn tillers. Numbering is simple: Station 3 (the one nearest my home) houses Engine (Pumper) 3 and Truck (Ladder) 3. I think a standard crew here is 4 per vehicle.

Added by Michael Feldman on 06 March 2011.

New York's Battalions latest data:-Although various changes have taken place over the last few years, this is beleaved to be the most up-to-date.
The FDNY.The department is nominally organized into five borough commands for the five boroughs of New York, and in those boroughs exist nine divisions, each headed by a Deputy Chief.Within in division there are four to seven battalions and these are led by a Battalion Chief.Each battalion consists of some 180-200 firefighters and officers.Each battalion consists of four to eight companies, with a company being led by a Captain.He commands three lieutenenants and 25 firefighters.On each tour of duty, an engine company today rides with 4-5 riders, the ladder/truck company ride with 5, and the Haz-Mat Company(2 piece)ride with 7 riders.Throughout the city at many stations/firehouses, other special apparatus such as the Satallite Units, Foam Units, Brushfire Units are manned by these mensioned companies, they just swop apparatus.
I feel I should mension to make things easy to understand is the general rank system of the FDNY:-Fire Commissioner(former Fire Chief)Salvatore Cassano who took command in 2010, Chief Officer, Deputy Chief Officer for each borough, Battalion Chief for each Division, Captain or Lieutenant for each piece of apparatus.
Today, there are 9 Divisions with 52 Battalions in the five boroughs of New York City.There's 251 Stations(including EMS Stations)with 198 engine companies, 143 Truck Companies, 7 Squads, 5 Rescues, 1 Haz-Mat Unit, and the many hundreds of other special apparatus, such as Command Vehicles, Foam Units, Brush Units, Sattelite Units, and of course lets not forget the Marine Division.The list just goes on and on and so does the history of the FDNY, motto-"New York's Bravest"/EMS motto-"New York's Best".The New York City Fire Department, the busiest fire department in the world.
I do hope this answer's just some of the questions often asked about the FDNY, anything else then ask, I'm sure if I can't answer it, someone else can.

Added by Pete Matten on 06 March 2011.

Michael G., the rear warning lights can be popped up on spring-loaded shafts so their flashing is more highly visible in New York's heavy traffic.

Added by Michael Feldman on 06 March 2011.

Hi Pete,
Many thanks for this updated infos.
Any figures on the total amount of staff?
Cheers
JP

Added by Jacques PETER on 07 March 2011.

Jacques, there are 11, 400 uniformed officers and firefighters, 2, 800 Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics and Supervisors assigned to the departments EMS Command, and 1, 200 civilian employees.Pete.

Added by Pete Matten on 07 March 2011.

The actual runs by the Fire Department for the year January 1st 2010-December 31st 2010 are not yet available as far as I'm aware, but here's the latest figures for the runs for the year 2009.
For the period 1st January to 31st December 2009, Structural Fires-26, 666, None-Structural Fires-17, 011, None-Fire Emergencies-194, 406, Medical Emergencies(FDNY)-209, 503.
The busiest companies with the most runs were-Eng Co62-5, 498 runs, Eng Co75-5, 346 runs, Eng Co58-5, 300, Eng Co-290 runs, and Eng Co37-5, 124 runs.
The busiest Ladder Companies were Lad Co123-4, 432 runs, Lad Co43-4, 366 runs, Lad Co120-4, 261 runs, Lad Co26-4, 242 runs, and Lad Co28-4, 233 runs.
The busiest Battalions were Battalion 9 with 5, 114 runs, and Battalion 8 with 4, 416 runs.

Added by Pete Matten on 07 March 2011.

Sorry, I missed out the runs by Engine Co290, they had 5, 153 runs in 2009.

Added by Pete Matten on 08 March 2011.

Interesting to compare these New York statistics to London, which has approximately the same population.

Added by Rob Johnson on 02 August 2013.

Of course, London Fire Brigade responds to less calls than New York (due to the fact that UK brigades do not respond to medical calls). London does however have more pumping appliances than New York, but much fewer aerial vehicles. London also has some of the busiest dedicated fire stations in the world, Soho and Euston responding to over 4, 000 and 3, 000 calls respectively (only to go up if Clerkenwell and Westminster close); the busiest New York Engine Co. responds to more than 5, 000 but how many thousands of those are of a medical nature? London also has about half the amount of active firefighters compared to New York but a similar fire load.

Added by David Jones on 03 August 2013.

David - I don't know the answer for any FDNY units, but I do know that my local Engine Co 13 in Chicago responds to over 4, 000 calls a year and more than 80% are EMS. When you take these out, and discount AFAs and service calls, they attend only around 120 actual fires a year. But unlike London, Chicago (and many other US fire departemnts) sends only one or two units to an AFA, instead of a full first alarm assignment. In my neighborhood, which consists exclusively high-rise apartments, office buildings and hotels, this comprises three engines, two ladders, a rescue, a snorkel, a chief, a safety officer, two ambulances, and between two and four police cars.

Added by Rob Johnson on 04 August 2013.

The stations I was talking about, Soho and Euston, do not respond to medical calls so those figures of 4, 000 and 3, 000 are fire and rescue related calls, admittedly the majority of those calls are AFA's. Imagine how busy those stations would be if London ran medical calls?

Added by David Jones on 05 August 2013.

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