Dallas Fire-Rescue Department

Dallas Fire-Rescue Department

Operational area
Country	United States
State	Texas
City	Dallas
Coordinates	32°47′N96°48′W / 32.783°N 96.800°W / 32.783; -96.800
Agency overview
Established	4 July 1872 (1872-07-04)
Employees	1,939 (2017) [1]
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Justin Ball [2]
EMS level	Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS)
IAFF	Local 58
Facilities and equipment
Divisions	7
Battalions	9
Stations	59
Engines	59
Trucks	24
Rescues	2
Ambulances	55 (49 Frontline, 6 SFP)
Tenders	1
HAZMAT	2
USAR	TX TF 2 Urban Search and Rescue Team
Airport crash	5 [3]
Wildland	1 [4]
Fireboats	1
Rescue boats	6
Light and air	1
Website
Official website
Dallas Fire Fighters Association

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department provides Fire Suppression,Hazardous Materials Mitigation,Technical Rescue Services,Emergency Medical Response Services and other public safety services to the city of Dallas, Texas. Dallas Fire-Rescue is the second-largest fire department in Texas, with 59 fire stations.

Overview

Area served

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department serves approximately 1.6 million people within the City of Dallas, Texas. DFRD is organized into 2 divisions, with 10 battalions, and 59 fire stations for each geographic area of the city. Dallas Fire-Rescue faces some challenges within their district. Including 2 airports, large bodies of water, many high rises, and over 6 major highways.

Organization

The department's current fire chief is Justin Ball. ^[5] The department has four bureaus, each directed by an assistant chief: Emergency Response, Emergency Medical Services and Special Operations; Recruiting and Communications; Fire Prevention & Investigation; and Training and Administration. Under each assistant chief, deputy chiefs or managers coordinate specific programs and branches.

History

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department began operations on July 4, 1872, in response to a large fire 12 years earlier in July 1860. ^[6] During the interim, there was a disorganized response with delays in starting due in part to the Civil War, The department became fully salaried in 1885. ^[7]

Chief Artis ^[8] assumed his role in December 2018 after the previous chief David Coatney resigned to become director of Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. ^[9]

Urban search and rescue

Main article: Texas Task Force 2

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department was instrumental in the creation of Texas Task Force 2, ^[10] one of two urban search and rescue (USAR) teams in the State of Texas. ^[11] It is managed by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and headquartered in Dallas. ^[12]

Notable incidents responded to by Task Force 2 include Hurricane Dolly (2008), Hurricane Ike (2008), ^[13] the West Fertilizer Company explosion (2013) & Hurricane Harvey (2017). ^{[14] [15]}

Stations and apparatus

Dallas Fire-Rescue operates from 59 stations. Fire apparatus operated is mainly Spartan however a change to Pierce has started with the recent purchase of a squad & several trucks & engines. ^[16]

Fire station number and nickname	Address	Engine Company	Truck Company	EMS Rescue Units	Chief and Supervisor Units	Special Unit	Battalion [17]
1	1901 Irving Blvd.	Engine 1		Rescue 1	EMS Supervisor (780)		9
2 "Midway Mavericks" (2)	4211 Northhaven Road	Engine 2			EMS Supervisor (782)		7
3 "The Gator Pit"	500 N. Malcolm X Blvd.	Engine 3	Truck 3 (Tiller)	Rescue 3		Hazmat 3(Tiller), Foam 3, Support 3, Car 810, Car 811	1
4 "Old School"	816 South Akard Street	Engine 4	Truck 4 (Tiller)	Rescue 4	Battalion Chief 1		1
5 "The Nickel"	2039 St. Augustine Drive	Engine 5		Rescue 5 Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 75			8
6 "Pride of South Dallas"	2301 Pennsylvania Ave, Dallas	Engine 6		Rescue 6		Command 1	1
7 "Pride of North Dallas"	6010 Davenport Road	Engine 7			Battalion Chief 2	Booster 7	2
8 "Beast of the East"	1904 North Garrett Avenue	Engine 8		Rescue 8	Battalion Chief 3		3
9 "Strong to the Finish"	2002 Cool Mist Lane	Engine 9		Rescue 9		Booster 9	8
10 "The Last Outpost"	4451 Frankford Road	Engine 10	Truck 10	Rescue 10			2
11 "The Big House"	3828 Cedar Springs Road	Engine 11	Truck 11	Rescue 11			3
12 "Dirty Dozen"	7520 West Wheatland Road	Engine 12		Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 76			6
13 "Lucky Dogs"	6902 Frankford Road	Engine 13		Rescue 13			2
14	1005 West Twelfth Street	Engine 14			Battalion Chief 6		6
15 "Top of the Cliff"	111 East Eighth Street	Engine 15		Rescue 15		Tender 15 (TIFMAS), Blocker 5	6
16 "Pride of West Dallas"	2616 Chalk Hill Road	Engine 16					9
17 "Pride of Lakewood"	6045 Belmont Avenue	Engine 17	Truck 17	Rescue 17			3
18 "Always Rollin'"	660 North Griffin Street	Engine 18	Truck 18 (Platform)	Rescue 18, Rescue 218		Air supply units (820), (821), Light-Air unit (829)	1
19 "Fightin' XIX"	5600 E Grand Ave	Engine 19	Truck 19	Rescue 19			3
20 "Knights of the North"	12727 Montfort Drive	Engine 20	Truck 20 (Tiller)	Rescue 20			2
21	3210 Love Field Drive (Dallas Love Field)					Red 1, 2 & 3, Medic 1	7
22 "Men of Mayhem"	12200 Coit Road	Engine 22		Rescue 22		Booster 22	2
23	1660 South Corinth Street Road	Engine 23	Truck 23 (Tiller)	Rescue 23			5
24	2426 Elsie Faye Heggins St.	Engine 24	Truck 24	Rescue 24			1
25 "South Oak Cliff"	2112 56th Street	Engine 25	Truck 25	Rescue 25 Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 70	Battalion Chief 5		5
26 "Pride of West Oak Cliff"	3303 Sheldon Avenue	Engine 26		Rescue 26	EMS Supervisor (781)		9
27	8401 Douglas Avenue	Engine 27	Truck 27 (Platform)	Rescue 27		USAR 27, USAR Support 27	7
28	8701 Greenville Avenue	Engine 28		Rescue 28	Battalion Chief 4	Box 4 Canteen Unit (896) Box 4 Support Unit (897)	4
29	9830 Shadow Way Dallas	Engine 29		Rescue 29			4
35 "Road Warriors" (30)	11381 Zodiac Ln	Engine 30		Rescue 30		Swift Water 30	7
31 "White Rock"	9365 Garland Road	Engine 31				Boat 31	4
32 "Gateway to the Grove"	4262 N. Jim Miller Road	Engine 32		Rescue 32	EMS Supervisor (783)		8
33 "Oak Cliff" (33) and "South Oak Cliff" (46)	745 West Illinois Avenue	Engine 33	Truck 33	Rescue 33		USAR 33	6
34 "Pride of the Grove"	1234 Carbona Drive	Engine 34		Rescue 34	Battalion Chief 8	Rescue 77	8
35 "Six Mile Road" (35)	3839 Walnut Hill Lane	Engine 35			Battalion Chief 7		7
36 "West Dallas"	3241 North Hampton Road	Engine 36	Truck 36 (Platform)	Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 71	Battalion Chief 9		9
37 "Five points of Paradise"	6780 Greenville Avenue	Engine 37	Truck 37	Rescue 37	Division Chief 1 (806)	Hazmat 37	4
38 "Southeast Oak Cliff"	2839 Wilhurt Ave.	Engine 38		Rescue 38 Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 72	EMS Supervisor (785)		5
39 "Smoke on the Water"	2850 Ruidosa Ave	Engine 39	Truck 39 (Tiller)	Rescue 39		Marine 1	4
40 "Cowboys of the Cliff"	2440 Kirnwood Drive	Engine 40	Truck 40	Rescue 40		Brush 40	5
41 "Preston Hollow"	5920 Royal Ln	Engine 41		Rescue 41			7
42	3333 West Mockingbird Lane	Engine 42		Rescue 42		Red 42 (Reserve) Mass Casualty Vehicle (788)	7
43 "Pride of Letot"	2844 Lombardy Lane	Engine 43	Truck 43	Rescue 43		Blocker 4	7
44 "Sunny South"	2025 Lagow St.	Engine 44		Rescue 44			3
45 "Fighting 45"	716 West Commerce Street	Engine 45		Rescue 45		Booster 45	1
46 "South Oak Cliff"	331 E Camp Wisdom Rd	Engine 46		Rescue 46			5
47	7161 Envoy Court	Engine 47		Rescue 47			9
48 "Pride of the Northeast"	10480 East Northwest Highway	Engine 48		Single-Function Paramedic Rescue 73			4
49 "The Rock"	4901 South Hampton Road (Dallas Executive Airport)	Engine 49		Rescue 49		Red 49	6
50 "By Aerial, By Land, By Sea"	841 S. Walton Walker Blvd.	Engine 50	Truck 50	Rescue 50		Trail 50 Boat 50	9
51 "Area 51"	200 South St. Augustine Road	Engine 51		Rescue 51		Booster 51	8
52 "The Hornets Nest"	2504 Cockrell Hill Road	Engine 52		Rescue 52		Booster 52	6
53 "Fightin' 53s"	1407 John West Rd	Engine 53	Truck 53	Rescue 53			8
54 "Midnight Riders"	6238 Bonnieview Road	Engine 54		Rescue 54		Boat 54 Brush 54	5
55 "Double Nickle"	6600 Trammel Drive	Engine 55		Rescue 55	EMS Supervisor (784)		3
56 "Fretz Park"	7040 Belt Line Rd	Engine 56	Truck 56	Rescue 56			2
57 "Knights of Audelia"	10801 Audelia Road	Engine 57	Truck 57	Rescue 57			4
58 "The Outpost"	9393 Water Mill Rd	Engine 58				7
59	7097 Jim Miller Rd	Engine 59	Truck 59	Rescue 59		Swift Water 59	8

Notable incidents

• Golden Pheasant Fire, February 16, 1964, resulted in four line of duty deaths ^[18]
• 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers resulted in the deaths of five Dallas Police Department officers ^[19]
• 2022 Dallas airshow mid-air collision involving two planes resulted in the deaths of six people at Dallas Executive Airport ^[20]

Alarm assignments

Dallas Fire-Rescue Department has a set protocol for structure fire responses. Each fire is dispatched as a "Structure Fire Reported" (Category A) or "HIRISE Structure Fire Reported" (Category B). Once a fire unit is on scene and has reported on the conditions of the fire, the unit will either "tap out" the box (canceling all units except for the units on scene already) if there is no fire or smoke showing, or upgrade the fire to a working assignment. If the fire is large enough, "alarm" upgrades will be transmitted, sending additional units to the scene. A working fire becomes a first alarm, if more units are required, a second alarm is transmitted, and so on and so forth. Any Category B High Rise Box with that reports out with initial fire company with fire or smoke showing will automatically be transmitted as 2nd Alarm High Rise Box. The following is a list of Alarm types along with the Units assigned.

Alarm Type	Units Assigned [21]
Box Alarm (Category A)	3 Engine Companies, 2 Truck Companies, 2 Battalion Chief Units, 1 RIC Engine
Working Fire Upgrade	1 Rescue Unit, 2 Fire Investigator Units
Second Alarm Upgrade	Adds 3 Engine Companies, 2 Truck Companies, 2 Battalion Chief Units, Safety Chief (832) 1 Division Chief Unit (Unless already on ticket), 1 USAR Team, 1 Rescue Companies, Air Truck (829), EMS Supervisor Unit, 896 (Canteen), PIO*(During Business Hours
Third Alarm Upgrade	Adds 3 Engine Companies, 1 Truck Company, 2 EMS Supervisor Unit, 780, PIO
Fourth Alarm Upgrade	Adds 3 Engine Companies, 1 Truck Company, Command 1, Fire Marshall
Fifth Alarm Upgrade	Adds 3 Engine Companies and Trucks will be at the Incident Commanders request
Box Alarm (Category B "High Rise")	4 Engine Companies, 4 Truck Companies, 3 Battalion Chief Units, 1 Division Chief Unit, 1 Safety Chief (832) Unit, 1 EMS Shift SDO, 1 Rescue Unit
Second Alarm Upgrade(High Rise)	Adds 4 Engine Companies, 3 Truck Companies, 2 Battalion Chief Units, 1 Division Chief Unit (Unless already on ticket), 1 USAR Team, 2 Rescue Companies, Air Truck (829), EMS Supervisor Unit
Third Alarm Upgrade(High Rise)	Adds 3 Engine Companies, 2 Truck Companies, 2 Rescue Companies
Four through 6 Alarm Upgrade(High Rise)	Adds 3 Engine Companies and 2 Truck Companies
Seventh or Greater Alarm Upgrade(High Rise)	Adds 3 Engine Companies and Trucks will be at the Incident Commanders request

Line of duty deaths

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department has suffered a number of Line of Duty Deaths during its operational history. ^{[22] [18]} The department has a memorial to their fallen members at the department museum. DFRS maintains an interactive list that explores the individual's lives & the events that led to their line of duty death. ^[23]

See also

• Dallas Fire Station No. 16
• FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force
• Texas Task Force 1
• Texas Task Force 2
• Urban Search and Rescue

References

1. "Dallas Promotes New Fire-Rescue Chief From Within". cbslocal.com. December 28, 2018. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
2. "Dallas names Justin Ball next chief of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department". nbcdfw.com. April 11, 2025. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
3. "City of Dallas: Dallas Fire-Rescue Department". www.dallasfirerescue.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
4. "City of Dallas: Dallas Fire-Rescue Department". www.dallasfirerescue.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
5. "Dallas Fire Rescue administration-bureau".
6. "Archives_1991-025". dallascityhall.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
7. "Leadership History". dallasfirerescue.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
8. "Dallas Promotes New Fire Chief from Within". Firehouse. December 29, 2018. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
9. "Dallas Chief Leaving for Higher Education". Firehouse. October 17, 2018. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
10. "Urban Search & Rescue (US&R)". www.nctcog.org. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
11. "Dallas Regional Urban Search & Rescue Task Force" (PDF). dallascityhall.com. September 19, 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
12. "Texas Task Force 2 to be managed locally by TEEX". www.kbtx.com. July 31, 2017. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
13. "Texas Task Force 2: Response to Hurricane Ike" (PDF). dallascityhall.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
14. Oder, Michael (September 2, 2017). "Texas Task Force 1 & 2 still rescuing people as flood waters recede". www.kbtx.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
15. "Deployments". Texas Task Force 2. February 1, 2018. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
16. "Find a Fire Station". Dallas Fire-Rescue. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020.
17. "DFR Fire Districts". Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
18. "The Worst Fire in Dallas History". dmagazine.com. January 21, 2014. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
19. "Dallas Fire-Rescue chief speaks out on officer shootings". FireRescue1. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
20. "6 dead after a pair of vintage military aircraft collided at a Texas air show". CNN. November 13, 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
21. "Incident Run Sheets". www.box4.org. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008.
22. "Draft of Dallas LODD report more critical than official version". FireRescue1. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
23. "City of Dallas: Dallas Fire-Rescue Department". dallasfirerescue.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.

External links

• Official website