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A wet down is a ritual celebrated by many volunteer fire departments in the United States in which squads of firefighters from neighboring towns ritualistically commission a new fire apparatus by anointing it with water sprayed from the visitors' firefighting equipment.
If two new apparatus' are commissioned, then it is considered to be a "Double Wet down". If three new apparatus' are commissioned, then it is called a "Triple Wet down". Or if four new apparatus' are commissioned, then it is considered as a "Quadruple Wet down".
The tradition dates back to the late 1800s, when fire departments used horses to pull a fire apparatus to fires. After fighting the fire, the crews would wash and ready the horses and the apparatus in preparation for the next call, then they would push the apparatus into the station's bay. [1] [2] [3]
A fire engine or fire truck is a vehicle, usually a specially-designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations in a fire drill. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.
The Los Angeles Fire Department provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials services and emergency medical services to the citizens of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The LAFD is responsible for approximately four million people who live in the agency's 471 square miles (1,220 km2) jurisdiction. The Los Angeles Fire Department was founded in 1886 and is the third largest municipal fire department in the United States, after the New York City Fire Department and the Chicago Fire Department. The department is sometimes also referred to as the Los Angeles City Fire Department or "LA City Fire" to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which serves unincorporated areas and, via contracts, other incorporated municipalities within Los Angeles County without their own fire departments. The department is currently under the command of Chief Kristin Crowley.
Pierce Manufacturing is a U.S. company based in Appleton, Wisconsin that manufactures customized fire and rescue apparatus. A wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, Pierce was acquired in 1996. It is currently one of the largest fire apparatus company in the US. The company was founded in 1913 by Humphrey Pierce and his son Dudley as the Pierce Auto Body Works Inc., and concentrated on building custom truck bodies for the Ford Model T. The first production facility was designed in 1917 and enlarged in 1918 by architect Wallace W. DeLong. From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Pierce was primarily known for building custom bodies on commercial and other manufacturer's custom chassis, and was considered an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Toronto Fire Services (TFS), commonly called Toronto Fire, provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Fire Services is currently the largest municipal fire department in Canada.
A fireman's pole is a pole that firefighters slide down to quickly reach the ground floor of a fire station. This allows them to respond to an emergency call faster, as they arrive at the fire engine faster than by using a standard staircase.
The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, technical rescue services and emergency medical response services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) is an all-risk, all-hazards fire department, providing fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of San Diego, California, United States. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is the second-largest municipal fire department in the state of California, after Los Angeles. The department responds to nearly 162,000 calls per year. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department covers 343 square miles of service area including 17 miles of coastline, with responsibility extending three miles offshore.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to firefighting:
Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department is the fire and rescue service provider for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as the cities of Wilton Manors and Lazy Lake through service contracts. Additionally the FLFRD is responsible for ARFF at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. In 2013, the department responded to 44,387 calls for service.
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) provides fire services for the city of Calgary, Alberta.
The Underwriter's Salvage Corps in Cincinnati, Ohio was created and operated by the Underwriters Association, a syndicate of Cincinnati-based fire insurance companies, for the purpose of reducing financial losses to their companies from claims due to building fires by providing a company of trained men with proper equipment to work in conjunction with the city fire department to protect life, structures and their contents from fire, smoke damage, and damage from the water that was used to fight the fire. The Salvage Corps worked to save and protect the structure and its contents while the city fire department concentrated on rescuing persons from the burning structure and extinguishing the flames. The Salvage Corps provided this service to all property owners without charge, whether they were insured or not.
The Loudoun County Combined Fire-Rescue System (LC-CFRS) is made up of the career Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (LCFR) and 16 volunteer organizations. LC-CFRS has the responsibility of protecting the citizens and property of the towns, villages, and suburbs of Loudoun County, Virginia, from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, and technical rescue response services, including Hazardous Materials mitigation, Mass Casualty Incident response services, environmental danger response services and more. The headquarters and training facilities of the department are in Leesburg, off Sycolin Road.
The Laurel–Rex Fire Company House, consisting of the Laurel Fire Company's engine house and the Rex Hook & Ladder Company's truck house, is a historic fire station located in York City, York County, Pennsylvania. The oldest building, the Laurel engine house, was built in 1878, and is a two-story, brick building in the Italianate style. The original engine house was expanded in 1887 with a horse stable and in 1892 with a ladder truck house. It has a three-story bell tower on the southwest corner and a second faux tower atop the roof on the northwest corner. It measures 48 by 96 feet.
The Fort Worth Fire Department provides firefighting, rescue and emergency medical services to the city of Fort Worth, Texas.
The San Rafael Fire Department (SRFD) provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of San Rafael, California. The San Rafael Fire Department serves an estimated population of 72,000 people with approximately 70 firefighting and emergency medical field personnel. The ISO Class 1 department responds to, on average, approximately 9,000 emergency calls annually, with about 70% being emergency medical calls. EMS patients are transported to the hospital of their choice, unless the call is urgent.
The Yonkers Fire Department (YFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Yonkers, New York, United States.
Savannah Fire & Emergency Services (SFES) provides fire protection to the city of Savannah, Georgia, United States. The professional fire department is active 24/7 and 365 days a year, and has about 325 paid employees. They received an ISO Class 1 rating in November 2014, and CFAI accreditation in 2016.
The Briarcliff Manor Fire Department (BMFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York and its hamlet Scarborough. The volunteer fire department also serves unincorporated areas of Ossining and Mount Pleasant. The fire department has three fire companies, two stations, and four fire engines; it also maintains other vehicles, including a heavy rescue vehicle. The Briarcliff Manor Fire Department Ambulance Corps provides emergency medical transport with two ambulances. The fire department is headquartered at the Briarcliff Manor Village Hall, with its other station in Scarborough, on Scarborough Road.
A firefighting apparatus or firefighting appliance describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting and emergency medical services.
Los Angeles Fire Department Station No. 1 was built in 1941. The Streamline Moderne station located at 2230 Pasadena Avenue replaced an older station, 3 blocks west of its current location. Built in 1887, the original station was the city of Los Angeles' first professional, full-time fire station. The former station's plot of land at Pasadena Ave & North Avenue 19 now houses the LAFD's supply and maintenance yard.