Houston Fire Department Apparatus

[firepost]

The accents are different, the weather is different, even the trucks are different colors, but the job is still the same whether you live in Texas, illinois, or Anytown USA.  How you dispatch companies or how you call extra companies is each departments policy.  Sure, there are similarities, but each one is different.  Really, cant we all just get along?

 Yes , in fact I agree with you. I think that too much was being read into what I was saying as all that I was doing was pointing out the differences and the similarities between Chicago's and Houston's extra alarm designations. As most other cities and fire departments that I know of usually call their extra alarms 1st, 2nd and 3rds etc and I just found it interesting that just a few other fire departments use the "11" designation on their extra alarms like Chicago does. I think that New Orleans may also use the "11" designation on their extra alarms as well. As there aren't very many fire departments that actually use the "11" designation on their extra alarms I had found it be an interesting coincidence that two different fire departments in two different parts of the country should be using the "11" designation on their extra alarms. Years ago I had thought that only Chicago was using the "11" designation on their extra alarms.

  Being an avid and life long fan I find comparing the differences and similarities between fire departments to be very interesting. Another example as to a major terminology difference that I have found that in most fire departments a still alarm usually means a fire or a run that is reported directly from the fire station while in Chicago a still alarm is a full structure fire response that is usually called in via telephone.

It is amazing some of the questions and false assumptions that I have gotten from non fire fans over the years when I have used different extra alarm designations in my terminology. The most recent false assumption that I had heard was when some one recently told me that they had thought that a "5 alarm" was when they sent 5 fire engines to the fire. I had to explain the in most cases 4 or 5 pieces of apparatus was the normal response sent to the report of a possible structure fire.

  I find that Houston fire department to be one of the most interesting fire departments in the United States in fact I Iike the idea that (to my knowledge) all of their Aerial Ladders seem to be equipped with "pre piped waterways" in addition to their Tower Ladders, which allows them to initiate elevated streams more quickly.