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It would seem that assisting at auto accident scenes now constitute 95% of actual calls firefighters make (i.e. discounting false-alarm calls)...which makes me

by junkscience2017 9y ago

It would seem that assisting at auto accident scenes now constitute 95% of actual calls firefighters make (i.e. discounting false-alarm calls)...which makes me wonder why there isn't an effort to situate fire stations right on major highways. Where I live in California there has been only one house fire in our town in years, but the fire department is on the highway responding to an accident at least once a week.

stevenwoo 9y ago
My guess is EMS is probably not primarily auto accident response so population density/tax revenue has more to do with location of fire stations. Along rural 5/99 in California often see county fire responders, versus seeing municipal stations respond to situations closer to towns. Somewhere along the way EMS has switched from independent service seen in that 70's TV show about EMS in my childhood to almost always being attached to a fire station. Anecdotally from a suburb in Silicon Valley I hear the local firestation truck sirens go off multiple times daily when working at home, and there are an average of zero fires a day anywhere near my home.
johansch 9y ago
Ah.. I guess that explains why they moved my city's fire station from the city center to something closer to the nearby major highway. (Europe/Sweden though.)
- dx034 9y ago
  It could also be that they wanted to expand the area they can reach within a certain timeframe.
taxicabjesus 9y ago
I had a passenger who was a wildland firefighter. He'd tried city firefighting, but said most the calls were medical, and he wanted to fight fires. He also didn't like having to shave twice a day to keep his beard from breaking his mask's seal. > It would seem that assisting at auto accident scenes now constitute 95% of actual calls firefighters make A Mesa firefighter told me how they have "busy" stations, and stations for firefighters who are close to retirement. A common cause of fires around one busy station was electrical shorts from 1950's bathroom ventilation fans. Chandler and Phoenix have an agreement to share responding to calls on their section of I-10 (part of the border between the cities): https://www.google.com/maps/search/fire+stations+near+i-10+and+baseline/@33.3215407,-111.9760362,12z https://www.google.com/maps/search/fire+stations+near+i-10+a...
brooksgarrett 9y ago
If you have fire based EMS then that will account for the vast majority of your call volume, full stop. Accidents requiring extrication are rapidly decreasing as cars are becoming safer. Additionally, homes are becoming drastically less at risk of fire (to the point many municipalities now include residential suppression sprinkler systems as a building code requirement.) As an anectdote, my district has around 10 miles of interstate and 20 miles of major highways. Our call volume is, in order of prevalence,: 1. Fire Alarm (Only 2 have ever been actual 'fires') 2. Medical Assistance (We are EMR, not EMS) 3. Grass fires / Trash fires 4. Accidents 5. Building fires 6. Something else Our neighboring district has a ton of farms and little to no major roads. They may receive a total of 20 calls per year compared with over 300 in our station. (Both low volumes but the type of response is reflected.)

stevenwoo 9y ago

My guess is EMS is probably not primarily auto accident response so population density/tax revenue has more to do with location of fire stations. Along rural 5/99 in California often see county fire responders, versus seeing municipal stations respond to situations closer to towns. Somewhere along the way EMS has switched from independent service seen in that 70's TV show about EMS in my childhood to almost always being attached to a fire station. Anecdotally from a suburb in Silicon Valley I hear the local firestation truck sirens go off multiple times daily when working at home, and there are an average of zero fires a day anywhere near my home.

johansch 9y ago

Ah.. I guess that explains why they moved my city's fire station from the city center to something closer to the nearby major highway. (Europe/Sweden though.)

dx034 9y ago
It could also be that they wanted to expand the area they can reach within a certain timeframe.

taxicabjesus 9y ago

I had a passenger who was a wildland firefighter. He'd tried city firefighting, but said most the calls were medical, and he wanted to fight fires. He also didn't like having to shave twice a day to keep his beard from breaking his mask's seal. > It would seem that assisting at auto accident scenes now constitute 95% of actual calls firefighters make A Mesa firefighter told me how they have "busy" stations, and stations for firefighters who are close to retirement. A common cause of fires around one busy station was electrical shorts from 1950's bathroom ventilation fans. Chandler and Phoenix have an agreement to share responding to calls on their section of I-10 (part of the border between the cities): https://www.google.com/maps/search/fire+stations+near+i-10+and+baseline/@33.3215407,-111.9760362,12z https://www.google.com/maps/search/fire+stations+near+i-10+a...

brooksgarrett 9y ago

If you have fire based EMS then that will account for the vast majority of your call volume, full stop. Accidents requiring extrication are rapidly decreasing as cars are becoming safer. Additionally, homes are becoming drastically less at risk of fire (to the point many municipalities now include residential suppression sprinkler systems as a building code requirement.) As an anectdote, my district has around 10 miles of interstate and 20 miles of major highways. Our call volume is, in order of prevalence,: 1. Fire Alarm (Only 2 have ever been actual 'fires') 2. Medical Assistance (We are EMR, not EMS) 3. Grass fires / Trash fires 4. Accidents 5. Building fires 6. Something else Our neighboring district has a ton of farms and little to no major roads. They may receive a total of 20 calls per year compared with over 300 in our station. (Both low volumes but the type of response is reflected.)