Number Scheme

[Engine 101]

Wel what do you know, The post that everyone thought was dumb and that I would get laughed at seems to be doing pretty well

Engine 101
There are no dumb questions, The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked

[Fireboy422]

Here we have a county wide dispatching, so the first or first two numbers (if the dept. have 4 digit numbers) are the department. Ex my department is 400, surrounding depts. are 500, 000, 100, 200, 600. The second # represents type of apparatus:

xx1 - 1000 gal or less onboard water pumper
xx2 - >1000 gal pumper
xx4 - arial
xx6 - tanker
xx8 - other (grass rig, light rescue)
xx9 - command (chief, deputy chief, lieutenant, captain, squad leader)

the last number usualy is the station the truck is at:
xxx1 - station 1
xxx2 - station 2
xxx3 - station 3

we also have two county owned CFR trucks
R-1
R-2

I'm partial to 423 (my station's only city side truck) and Rescue 1 (R-1) (my department runs the ARFF for the county) R-1 is an Oshkosh, need I say more?

-FF D. Betka
NSFD
Norton Shores, MI

[RFD220]

In Dutchess Co. N.Y. the apparatus is numbered in the following way.
Each department has a number designating them in the field. In the past you would say your department name and apparatus number but now it breaks down as:
63=Department number
11-20+Engine numbers
30-40=Tankers
40-50=Ladder trucks
50-60=Heavy rescues
60-70=Brush (utility) trucks
71- Ambulances
So an example would be a vehicle fire on main street U.S.A. 63-11 (for Roosevelt engine 1) 63-14 (for Roosevelt Engine 4) 63-51 (for the rescue) and 63-71 for the ambulance.
It really cuts down on radio traffic and makes it very easy to follow calls from a dispatcher point of view.

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Jeffrey D. Grey-Captain
Roosevelt Fire District-Hyde Park,N.Y.

[firedoc6]

We have 52 stations. Engines are numbered according to the station number. Our 26 truck companies and 26 units (ambulances) are randomly placed. EXAMPLE: Engine 7, Snorkel 13, Unit 1. There was some talk of renumbering all the companies the number of the house, but most of our firefighters objected. So, this brings a new twist to the topic. Which numbering system do you prefer, and why? Most of us felt as if too many of the same numbers on the radio at the same time could get confusing. I'm sure tradition has something to do with it also.

[This message has been edited by firedoc6 (edited 01-21-2001).]

[daysleeper47]

Well, my cities FD is very old school. [b/]WE WERE THE FIRST ALL-MOTORIZED DEPT. IN THE COUNTRY![b/] Anyway, the engines correspond to the stations. We at one time or another had 15 stations, so the engines go E2, E3, E6, E7, E9, E12, E15. The ladders go L22 at Station 1 and L24 at Station 2. I have no idea where they got that scheme for the Ladders. (We haven't had an engine at Station 1 since god knows when) The Squid(as the Dept. calls it), Rescue Squad to everyone else, is Res33cue. My personal favorite is Engine 7. It is first-due to my house and is the only Tele-Squrt around. Ok, so they might not work all that well, but I think they look cool when you put it on an '89 Pierce Arrow.

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Joe
Daysleeper47
"When the bell goes ding-ding, its time to get on the woo-woo."
"Dusting desire - starting to learn. Walking through fire with out a burn..."

[ME93]

Our number scheme is designated by the district within our county. Which happens to be district 9. Then our station #.

Batallion 9
Station 91
-engine 91
-ladder 91
-medic heavy rescue 91
-tanker 91
-reserve engine 96
-reserve ambulance 96
Station 92
-medic engine 92
-ambulance 92
-grass 92
-boat 92
Station 93
-medic engine 93 (my favorite)
-ambulance 93
-tactical 93
Station 94
-medic engine 94
-ambulance 94

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Fishers Fire Dept.
FF/Medic
Local 416