Timeframe for Incidents

[trizahler]

I am on a dept. that has had multiple "structure" (i.e structural members involved) fires in the last three years and now has gone nine months without a "structure" fire.

I hear from the veterans that things are getting back to normal and that normal is, a structure fire once every two years.

Is this fairly common throughout the U.S.?

[KenNFD1219]

These guys would tend to disagee with your departments version of "normal"

http://www.fdnewyork.com/randw_05.asp

Every FD is different. Some run multiple working fires a day, others may go years between fires.

[jerry4184]

Like was said, it's different for everyone. We tend to get a few good jobs a year, but mostly small stuff. I've heard of houses in like New York and Chicago, catching upwards of seven, eight, nine room and contents or better in a shift.

[VinnieB]

Like was said, it's different for everyone. We tend to get a few good jobs a year, but mostly small stuff. I've heard of houses in like New York and Chicago, catching upwards of seven, eight, nine room and contents or better in a shift.

Yeah, maybe during the war years, which have been over for a LOOOOOONG time. Being from one of the busier houses in the city. I can tell you that we operated at 113 All-Hands or greater and 18 2d Alarm or greater from Dec 2005 to Dec 2006. I can also honestly say that is was a slow year for us in regards to fire duty. Now, not all of those 113 were 1st due. But on the same hand there have been many times that we've used 2 and 2 for a fire. I've done 3 jobs in one tour, or consistant with a job a tour, and I have gone months with nothing. Its hit or miss. But...the rule of three is usually true here.

[ElectricHoser]

Some stuff I once read...

Despite the laws of averages and probabilities, emergencies tend to randomly happen all at once.

The likelihood of getting a job increases in proportion to the amount of time since you last visited the john. (where was that old thread about using the toilet in the unburned area without removing your mask?)

And in all seriousness... the law of 3's is spooky. Comes true way too often to ignore.

There is one way to circumnavigate the law of 3's: After you get back from the second job, you can go back to bed (guaranteeing the third job is less than an hour away), or you can stay up with coffee so you're ready (in which case nothing happens).

[adam18]

Three's around here too. Smaller department, but very true when it comes to calls. We do only fire and rescue, but when we get one, we know two more are not that many days away

[hwoods]

Well, Let's See...........

For CY 2006:

Total Responses for Suppression Units....... 1,956

Total Working Fires.......... 32

Total Extracations........... 21

Total Station Responses, including EMS Units...... 6,764

See www.GDVFD18.Com for details..........

These numbers break down to a Working Fire every 11 days, on average. A Working Fire is defined as a Structural Fire that requires a minimum of a 1.5 inch line for extinguishment. Other Fires also happen, such as Vehicles, and Brush fires that may require Multiple Units. A Brush fire last March had over 30 Units on scene before it was controlled, but it's not listed as a "Working Fire" since a structure was not involved.

[cozmosis]

We ran 1,145 total incidents in calendar year 2006 with 25 "fires in a structure." Eleven of those 25 were considered working fires -- hoses stretched and flowing water for extinguishment.

Using averages, that would come out to a working fire every 33 days. Of course, averages don't seem to work at the firehouse. Five of those 11 came in the first 34 days of the year and the rest of 2006 was spent with huge gaps between workers.

As always, more statistics than you'd ever want can be found at the link below.