Contents
Copyright© 2004 Mica Calfee or other contributors
Please contact for permission to reproduce anything on these pages.
Why
do they call it a Fire "Plug"?
Check out our Q & A page.
This site is about firefighting terminology, history, strategy, training and more.
We
suggest that you click on one of the buttons above and
start finding whatever it is you are looking for.
"Smoke
Showing." Irving Texas, 8-2-04 (5+ alarms)
by Ben
Saladino
About This Site
This site started out as a reference for some friends who were reporters, and their colleagues. It was conceived to be a place to find a few tips for reporters and those firefighters who find themselves working with the media. It has grown to be one of the more popular sites about the fire service. It is used by students, fire departments, buffs and politicians.
Before you dive into firefighting terminology and practices there are a few things you need to understand. There are often different terms for the same thing in different parts of the country. What one department may call a "Halligan" another may refer to as a hooligan and yet another may call a "pro tool". There are major differences between fire departments in the Northeast and the rest of the country. You can find major differences in training, terminology and traditions. There are even differences between fire departments in the same county. For example, there are over twenty fire departments just in Dallas County, Texas. This means that there are probably over twenty different philosophies on how hose should be loaded, in that county alone. Some of the differences are very reasonable. The Dallas County Fire and Rescue Department must contend with the fact that there are fewer fire hydrants in the area they serve. They must be equipped to draft water from ponds or use their large water transporting vehicles to fight many fires. In the same county, the Irving Fire Department, on the other hand, is on the opposite end of that spectrum. Irving has a hydrant every 300 feet, or less, in most of the city. The Irving fire department has no tankers and carries no hard suctions.
Fire departments can't even agree on what color fire engines should be. These pages will address the most common terms, techniques and philosophies of the fire and rescue business.
There are many excellent reporters out there. Many do a great job when it comes to covering a fire or other emergency event. But sometimes, even the best are at a loss to describe what is going on. Firefighters talk in a strange code. They talk of “A-Wagons” and “LDH”. They refer to “Exposures” “CO Levels” and “ Ladder Pipes”. Sometimes a lack of understanding of how fire departments work can cause reporters to imagine or infer what is happening and consequently, they will describe something less than accurately. Hopefully our pages will serve as a reference to reporters and provide them a little better understanding of the modern fire service and EMS. This information should not only help you report on emergency events but also help in the reporting of political issues involving fire departments. With today’s budget crunches many cities are looking at making changes to their fire departments. This should help you know what they are talking about when they suggest that they are considering changing from “Quints” to “Squads”.
These pages are mostly about urban firefighting. Wildland firefighting is a discipline and activity all it's own. The logistics, techniques and problems associated with wildland fires deserve there own pages. A list of suggested links is provided on the bottom of this page.
If
anyone doubts about how fire departments can have their own sets of terminology,
go to this
Houston FD Glossary page. Do you know what a "Tush Hog" is?
http://www.houstontx.gov/fire/abouthfd/terms.html
Who is Captain Mica?
Captain Mica Calfee is currently a station captain on the Irving Fire Department (TX). In his 27 year career as a professional firefighter, he as served in several positions including, Paramedic, EMS Supervisor, Instructor and more. He has also been published in publications such as, Fire Chief's Magazine, Firehouse Magazine, FireRescue Magazine and several others.
To
read some of his published articles, CLICK HERE.
To read a more complete bio, CLICK HERE.
A few stats about this site as of Feb. 2007
Number of page views a month: About 8000 –10,000
Countries
represented by visitors.
- U.S.
- Canada
- UK
- France
- Philippines
- Spain
- Australia
- Japan
- Netherlands
- And others.
Top
five search keywords.
- Fire Fighting Terminology
- Firefighter lingo
- Fire Department ranks
- Fire Fighting terms
- Maltese Cross
Contents
Copyright© 2004 Mica Calfee
Please contact for permission to reproduce anything on these pages.
Most
Action or Apparatus Photos Copyright© Ben Saladino.
Most photos since November 2002 taken with Nikon Coolpix 5700.
See hundreds more at: http://www.bensware.com/firetrucks/photos.htm
For
information on wildland fire fighting the following sites are recommended:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siskiyou/fire1.htm (Excellent
Park Service Site on the subject)
http://www.lacofd.org/ (LA County
Fire Department)
http://www.fire.ca.gov/cdf/incidents/terminology.html (Calif.
Dept. of Forestry)
http://www.scancolorado.com/wildland_fire_terminology.htm (Colorado, Excellent
Wildland Fire Glossary!)
http://www.WFFoundation.org
For
UK firefighting history.
http://www.fire-uk.org/Fire_Service_Structure.htm
Another
way to learn about YOUR fire department is through:
Citizen
or Media Fire Academies.
Here you can experience and learn many things about the fire service.
Not that long ago such programs were rare. Today many cities have a
program. The easiest
thing is to call you local fire department or do a web search
of "citizen fire academy" and the name of your town or state. It
does not appear that the size of the city is a determining factor. A city of
just 40 thousand may have a great program while one with the population close
to one million may not have one at all. There are literally hundreds to choose
from.
Fire
Departments Around the World.
There is a good site for information about fire departments all over the US
and the world.
http://www.worldfiredepartments.com
http://www.worldfiredepartments.com/International/Main.htm
fire service history, jargon, slang, terms, terminology, fire fighter lingo, fire fighter history, firefighter terms, fire fighter training, firefighting terminology, firefighting terms, fire fighting terminology, fire terms defined, firefighter language, lingo, slang, jargon, tools, devices, firefighter tactics, paramedic terminology, EMT.
