amusement park FD's

[EoneTiller]

Today i went to six flags in jackson,NJ and as i was waiting in line to ride superman and nitro i saw two fire trucks drive by and noticed the lettering on the side and it said SFGA. i figured out the s&f was six flags but i couldnt figure out what g&a meant.does anyone know what it means or have any guesses.also the trucks they had were one reminded me of a brush truck and the other was an old engine prolly from the early eighties im guessing they dont have many fire calls at the parks or the trucks would be a lot better.btw anyone in NJ i recomend superman and nitro really awesome roller coasters!

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

The correct name for the park is Six Flage Great Adventure. The park has been there probably for at least 25 years. My guess is that the apparatus has pretty low mileage with the limited response area.

There have been at least two major fires at the park. One was in a "Haunted House" that was constructed out of a series of 40' box trailers hooked together to form a maze. The decorations were highly flammable. A fire begain inside the unit and killed alot of kids (I forget the number. NJ, anything in the archives?). I believe there is a small memorial to the people lost in this fire on the old site of the haunted house )It was not replaced).

Since this tragedy, there has been a major commitment to safety by the company. While they may not have many fires, they are active in fire prevention. Remember, the most succesful FD in the world will never go to a fire.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

From www.gadv.com:

In May 1984, a rapidly spreading fire destroyed the Haunted Castle amusement facility at the 200 acre Six Flags Great Adventure Park in Jackson Township, New Jersey. At the time of the fire there were three employees and an estimated 28-34 visitors. Eight of the visitors unable to immediately exit from the structure died in the fire. The haunted house was constructed of 17 commercial trailers (each about 8-ft. wide by 40 ft. long). The trailers were connected by use of plywood. The interior of the Haunted Castle was constructed of plywood partitions that created a convoluted path of travel approximately 450 ft. long. Materials used for the interior included synthetic foam, various fabrics and plastics, plywood and tarpaper.

The structure had a total of 7 exits, including the main entrance. Fire protection features were emergency lighting and portable fire extinguishers. The cause of the fire was determined to be by ignition of a wall-mounted polyurethane foam pad by a cigarette lighter.

We would like to acknowledge the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for providing the information on these two fires. In both cases, combustible furnishings and lack of fire protection/detection and egress was related directly to the loss of life. (http://www.state.ma.us/dfs/adv/av_HauntedH.htm)

[Weruj1]

there is a department that is on the grounds of Disney in Florida.....am not sure if it is private or part of the Kissimmee Fla dept.

[Just a new name]

It's Disneys. I knew a guy that worked there while he was going to school.

[firenresq77]

Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio (which they say is one of the best amusement parks in the world) has their own Fire Department also...........

[SCOOBY14B]

Actually fire protection at WDW is provided by the Reedy Creek Fire district.

http://www.reedycreek.org/about.html

[Weruj1]

AH................thanks for the clairification ........ Firehouse did and article on it some years ago ........

[ullrichk]

It's amazing what you can learn on these forums.

I've been trying to get a local seasonal haunted house brought into compliance or shut down for two years now. What I guess I've needed all along are some good case histories to illustrate the potential consequences. And here they are!

Our building and fire code officials are too afraid of the politics to get involved and I'm not permitted to do code enforcement. Looks like I'll have some more ammo this year.

GeorgeWendtCFI, you made my day.

[explr985]

Originally posted by SCOOBY14B
Actually fire protection at WDW is provided by the Reedy Creek Fire district.

http://www.reedycreek.org/about.html

I have been to their station, and I have to say, they have/had some nice trucks. If you stay at the carribian resort, its right across the street.

[DanTCFD]

How many calls do these departments run?
What kind are there?

It's real interesint information, pretty cool too.

[choad33]

Dorney Park and Wildwater Kindom in Allentown Pa still has a fire truck a ford tanker it was staffed by security back in the day. Today it is use to water the flowers. The park when under the old owners had a number of bad fires in the past usually just before a new ride was put in. They have a private hydrant system fed by a 500 gpm fire pump drafing from one of the parks streams. The hose in hose houses was never tested and the low ball fire extinguisher Co they had comming in was not testing fire extinguishers or replacing the links in the kitchen systems. This was back in 98 when I worked there. Some of the buildings did not even have an abc extinguisher in them only BC ones for the kitchen stuff.

[codeblue81]

What about Emergency Services training

I was just wondering about what kind of ES training Amusement parks must have. I know that Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana is staffed by both Lifeguards for the water park and I believe a couple of EMT-Basics, but I dont know about any kind of fire training. Does anyone know what is required or what some of them do on their own?


code_blue81

[Bones42]

The cause of the fire was determined to be by ignition of a wall-mounted polyurethane foam pad by a cigarette lighter.

I had gone through this Haunted House numerous times and saw this being done very often. Wall-mounted polyurethane foam padding...kind of like at The Station? When I first saw the footage of The Station, this Haunted House fire came right to my mind.


On a side note...full season pass to SFGA was $32 in 1984...

[SCOOBY14B]

A few years ago I went by the firehouse (the one that is very colorful) near the Disney Village stores. From what they said they are VERY proactive in prevention and inspections. They said every kitchen is inspected every day for safety, etc. I dont know if they have dedicated inspectors or they do it, but that is a LOT of kitchens to inspect every morning.

They have some nice equipment. One ladder truck is AWD. They bought it after an incident on the monorail and was unable to access it due to the soft sand. They said that truck can access about 95% of the monorail track.

I was there during the millenium celebration and I was constantly hearing sirens all the time. Never saw them, but heard them.

ALSO, someone I went to school with now works at WDW in HR, and at a reunion she told me that there are safety and security personnel ALL OVER the parks. But they are all either dressed as tourists or "cast". The thought is not to alarm the guests. She also said there is an elaborate tunnel system UNDER the Magic Kingdom where personnel can access almost any part without being seen??? Dont know if it is totally true, but sounded pretty awesome.