Fire Stations

A fire station (also known as a fire hall, firemen’s hall or engine house) is a building for storing firefighting equipment including fire engines and other vehicles, personal protective equipment and fire hoses. In addition, it will have living spaces for firefighters and staff. Fire stations are often located in small towns and villages where full-time firefighters live, but can also be found in large cities and metropolitan areas.

A common feature of a fire station is the fireman’s pole which allows firefighters to quickly descend from the living quarters to their parked fire engine when they are called out to an emergency. In the 19th century, many city governments formed their own fire departments and merged their private fire companies into one department. In North America, a fire department may be called a fire company or fire brigade and in England and parts of the Commonwealth, it is referred to as a fire authority.

In addition to fire suppression, some fire departments provide a variety of other emergency services. These include hazardous materials response, technical rescue and wildland firefighting. Some fire departments also have a division of emergency medical service personnel who act as first responders to non-fire medical emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes and then stabilize patients until ambulances arrive.

Most states and countries have a network of fire stations that are operated by their local fire authorities or districts. These facilities are typically staffed by a mix of part-time and full-time firefighters who perform the day-to-day maintenance of the fire equipment, respond to calls for help when they are received and conduct training drills. Often, community activities are hosted at the fire station to raise awareness of fire prevention and safety issues in the local area.

The FDNY, with a total workforce of 11,400 uniformed firefighters and officers and 2,500 civilian employees, is responsible for providing Fire Suppression, Specialized Hazardous Materials Response, Emergency Medical Response and other emergency services throughout New York City and its five boroughs. The FDNY’s headquarters are at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn.

Each fire company has a vehicle that is assigned to them to carry various forcible entry tools and other equipment that are used when they are dispatched to an emergency call. Each truck also has a mask service unit that provides air to the firefighters so they can breathe while working on a call. There are 143 Ladder Companies in the FDNY.

Each station has a mascot and at the FDNY’s Engine 74 in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC it is a twelve-year-old Dalmatian named Yogi. He greets visitors as they come into the firehouse and has become quite the celebrity in his own right. During a recent visit to the station, our Manhattan Sideways team was able to meet him and get a tour of the firehouse which was built in 1865. We even got to see the infamous fireman’s pole which is used by firefighters to quickly descend from the living quarters down to their fire engine when they are called to an emergency.