Houston Fire Department Apparatus

[Guest]

  I realize that no one has posted on this thread for a while but I was wondering if anyone on this site knows what a "Tap" company is supposed to be and is it something new.? I just found a site that had featured some company run downs on some Houston fires and a few of them had a couple of Engines under the title of "TAPs Dispatch" and generally speaking for a couple of Engine companies which were usually listed after the extra alarm companies were listed. This is for the Houston fire department of course.

 

 It is from the photo website Tac-7.com

Here's an example.http://tac-7.com/photos/2012-0723-0555/

It has been around for quite a while, when requesting an additional engine and not needing a full additional alarm you can request "taps" each "tap" is an additional engine such as District 20 give me 4 taps on the fire.  A 5 tap was an additional ladder truck - you might hear District 8 give me 3 - 5/taps for a special call of 3 ladder trucks.

 

Today we have added "plain text" and the code 1-11 which can be requested prior to a second alarm or a 2-11.  The 1-11 has different response levels based on the type of structure such as a house vs. apartments etc. - hope that answers the question.