New Loudoun FD Assignment Boxes

[freqhopping]

Yesterday I heard a new box #. 22-33 and it was in the north end of the Ashburn area. I thought maybe I had mis-heard it. Well tonight I've heard 04-64 Kilo and just now 01-19 Mike. So there is definately something new going on. I checked the GIS website and there was not a new map.


01-04K = Raspberry Falls
20-09 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, 20-12 Evan Ridge Apartments. It seems like the 1-9 box has been divided into the 20 boxes. 1-9 covered a lot of territory.
18-05M Sunrise of Countryside Manor East
The 22 Boxes seem to be the area north of Rt7 from Goose Creek east to Broad Run. 22-22H and 22-17 are both at Leisure World.
09-31K = Red Hill Rd
18-30C = Dulles Town Center Mall Suite C230

 

[JESSERABBIT]

Could it be that they changed the first due box assignments? Is not the first number the number of the company first due to that location/area, or is it the geographical location, as determined by whatever means by the county?

 

[freqhopping]

The 20 boxes are completely new, however Co 20 has been around for several years. Co 20 and 1 were both responsible for the 1 boxes. There is not a Co 22 though, at least no yet. As far back as at least 2003 there has been a proposed Co22 station at the Xerox center shown on ADC maps. Many of the areas have been further subdivided and the addition of letter suffixes is completely new. I'd really like to know what those mean.

 

[JESSERABBIT]

Many years back, Xerox had a small pumper which was dispatched with the County units, probably just in Co 6's area. Not sure about that, though. I don't remember the criteria for dispatching them, maybe it was just for brush fires. I wonder if they even still have it?. I thought they called it Co 22.

 

[j2brown]

There are new boxes in effect. They are 4 digit boxes, some with a letter designator at the end. XXYYZ format, XX is the first due company, YY is the box area, and Z is the letter designator for special boxes (like non hydranted areas are K - for tanKer I guess?). There's no hyphen that I'm aware of. I don't have many details yet, or any other information. I don't even have a map yet, and I'll be responding to them tomorrow night. Yes, they also added the 22 area boxes in anticipation of the Landsdowne station. I'm not sure if they're all covered by 6 at the moment, or if 1/20 and/or 18 get in on some. I'll try to add more information as I'm able.

jeff
sdg

 

[j2brown]

I also found out that new boxes are assigned by the first unit due/lowest numbered unit. For example, some of the old 1 boxes, which would have become 20 boxes, are actually 13 boxes.

jeff
sdg

 

[rirri]

There are new boxes in effect. They are 4 digit boxes, some with a letter designator at the end. XXYYZ format, XX is the first due company, YY is the box area, and Z is the letter designator for special boxes (like non hydranted areas are K - for tanKer I guess?). There's no hyphen that I'm aware of. I don't have many details yet, or any other information. I don't even have a map yet, and I'll be responding to them tomorrow night. Yes, they also added the 22 area boxes in anticipation of the Landsdowne station. I'm not sure if they're all covered by 6 at the moment, or if 1/20 and/or 18 get in on some. I'll try to add more information as I'm able.

jeff
sdg

From casual listening I've learned two other suffices:
H - Hotel
M - Multi-unit dwelling

Anyone else figure others out?

 

[freqhopping]

I don't think M is for multi-unit dwelling. I've heard calls to apartment complexes that are not M boxes.

So far all the M boxes I've heard have been assisted living facilities- Sunrise of Countryside, Meadow Glen of Leesburg, Johnson Health Center/Falcons Landing, Wingler House in Ashburn. 0110M=Heritage Hall

I think H may be for high rise. The Lansdowne complex is the only one I know of so far. I don't know of any taller building in the county.

 

[JESSERABBIT]

Maybe the up the response for those types of occupancies due to the necessity of extra crews to evecuate them, if necessary?

 

[rirri]

I don't think M is for multi-unit dwelling. I've heard calls to apartment complexes that are not M boxes.

So far all the M boxes I've heard have been assisted living facilities- Sunrise of Countryside, Meadow Glen of Leesburg, Johnson Health Center/Falcons Landing, Wingler House in Ashburn. 0110M=Heritage Hall

Hmm... You may be right. I'll have to pay closer attention to apartment calls.

I think H may be for high rise. The Lansdowne complex is the only one I know of so far. I don't know of any taller building in the county.

I have to disagree there. The only H box I've heard was not Lansdowne and was most certainly a hotel.

 

[Stick0413]

Hmm... You may be right. I'll have to pay closer attention to apartment calls.



I have to disagree there. The only H box I've heard was not Lansdowne and was most certainly a hotel.

Just reading here, have no clue whats going on up there. With the "H" though maybe it is a high rise hotel. So H could be for high rise.

 

[freqhopping]

I'm going through a recording of dispatches from a few days ago and plotting them.
Box 22-17H Leisure World Riverbend building. 11 stories tall and not a hotel.
23-21 Homewood Suites hotel in Ashburn

Which hotel did you hear them respond to? I'm wondering how many stories it takes to be considered a high rise.

The other new suffix is "L". I heard one a while back, 64-01L on Rt 28 in the area of Rt 606.
On the recording I have 20-02L at S. King St/Rt 7 in Leesburg.

 

[JESSERABBIT]

I may be wrong but I believe the Uniform Building Code as ammended by the Commonwealth of Virginia assigns different requirements for structures four stories or less and structures above four stories. That MAY be the difference that Loudoun uses for their response codes on dispatch. It has been a while since I had to deal with that. Only monitoring the response codes for differences of the actual buildings will indicate that to be true or not. It indicates by the above named structures that it is.

 

[rirri]

I'm going through a recording of dispatches from a few days ago and plotting them.
Box 22-17H Leisure World Riverbend building. 11 stories tall and not a hotel.
23-21 Homewood Suites hotel in Ashburn

Which hotel did you hear them respond to? I'm wondering how many stories it takes to be considered a high rise.

I heard the Leisure World call and agree it's definitely a high-rise. Homewood Suites sounds like the first H box I heard, but I don't know how tall that building is.

The other new suffix is "L". I heard one a while back, 64-01L on Rt 28 in the area of Rt 606.
On the recording I have 20-02L at S. King St/Rt 7 in Leesburg.

I heard an L box recently, too. Rt 28 and the toll road. Could L = Limited access?

 

[j2brown]

I think I recall something about high rises, medical (think nursing home too), non-hydranted, limited access, and also a high hazard designator. I think we're close already. I'll try and verify over the weekend.

jeff
sdg

 

[JESSERABBIT]

In the USBC, as ammended by Virginia, Class H is High Hazzard. R is Residential. I believe that nursing homes are designated as an R type of residency, hence R as is Homewood Suites, as I remember. I may be on the wrong track on this. Loudoun may have different box codes based on something else. The more information on what actual boxes are dispatched as ie: prefix and to which actual buildings they are dispatched to like stores, residences, churches etc will tell for sure. Leisure World is classified as an R type under the Code. If Loudoun has their own system different than this, it will soon become clear as more information is received from posters here. I do know that Loudoun will assign tanker(s) in non-hydranted areas when dispatch is made. j2brown, check your pms.

 

[adamleff]

For those that heard the L-boxes, did the response seem larger than before? I heard an MVA On 28/Sterling Blvd (L box) that in the past used to just be Co 11/15, but this time they started 23, also, possibly to cover the S/B lanes while 11/15 covered the N/B lanes. Seemed very similar to how Fairfax handles calls on the other divided highways like the beltway, 66, and the other calls they generally put on 4I.

So maybe L is for multi-Lane or as previously suggested, Limited access...?

 

[freqhopping]

I'm thinking "L" is for limited-access highways. Responses are the same, i.e. dependent on the nature of the call. Yesterday I heard another call at S. King/Rt7 but it was box 13-04L instead of 20-02L like the previous time. I thought that was odd.

Rt 7 in Sterling is multi-lanes (6) and not an L box at least in the vicinity of Lakeland Drive.

 

[j2brown]

Could the 20 and 13 boxes been different directions, N/S or E/W? That might explain the difference.

jeff
sdg

 

[j2brown]

Here's what I have from a semi-official source:

C - Complexes (Dulles Town Center, for example)
E - High hazard location
H - High rise
K - Non-hydranted
L - Limited Access Highways
M - Residential Medical
R - Ramps
U - Unique (Don't ask, I don't know)

jeff
sdg