Phoenix Fire Station Nicknames

[CTWaters]

Hey all...

Anyone have a listing of all the Phoenix Fire Station nicknames?

When the automated system goes down, there's two guys that do manual dispatch and crack me up.

One of them starts his calls with the old "Emergency" Tone-Out from the TV show, and then goes on to dispatch.

Both of these guys use station / vehicle Nicknames when dispatching, and some of the nicknames these stations have, I'll tell ya!!!

Does anyone have a list of the PFD Nicknames, or know where to get a complete listing?

Here's what I have been able to gather this evening so far:

Engine 3: The Asylum
Ladder 4: The Badd House
Engine 7: The Duke
Engine 8: The 8 Ball
Engine 9: The Shark Tank
Engine 10: The Hard 10
Rescue 15: The Caboose
Engine 18: The Hammer
Rescue 18: The Sledge Hammer
Ladder 22: The Rosier Dogs
Engine 23: The Lemon Express
Engine 24: Godzilla
Engine 27: Ride The Red Eye
Ladder 33: The Cactus Truck Company
Engine 35: They Are Northbound Hound
Engine 42: Panda Express
Squad 44: The Ghost Squad
Engine 103: 103 Man
Medic 103: The 103 Ride
Station 106: Breaking Bad
Engine 131: The Fighting Unicorn
Engine 145: The Animal House
Engine 152: The Zoo Crew
Engine 156: Jurrasic Park
Ladder 157: The Big Town Mayhem
Engine 191: The Wolf Pack
Engine 192: The Soup Kitchen
Engine 278: The Black Sheep
Engine 602: The Night Train
Engine 609: The 9 Ball
Engine 706: The Black Pearl
Engine 918: The Crazy Train

 

[KB7MIB]

E151: The Vortex

It's not necessarily when "Samantha" goes down. A couple of the dispatchers just prefer to voice it themselves, rather than let "Samantha" do it. And at least one of the female dispatchers will also do it.

John
Peoria

 

[Kevlar1703]

Engine 50: The Desert Eagle

Engine 41: The Wolf Pack

Engine 132: The Night Owl

(Sorry for sending these all as separate comments, I'm writing these as I go haha

 

[rpgaun]

Engine 133: The Rock

 

[JohnSpartan]

I've been compiling a list of these as well, but I lost my notes. I've taken what you all have here and put them in a spreadsheet. If a nickname is used more than once, the instances listed will be highlighted:

Fire Unit Nicknames

 

[JohnSpartan]

I updated my list above with some of my own notes, the stuff here and some notes from friends, got a total of 147 entries now:

Fire Slogans

 

[mbnv992]

Good post !

 

[AzTac]

Cute names, I guess, but not on the radio. I've actually heard them used a couple of times on the air and it sounds incredibly unprofessional and a waste of air time. It's reminiscent of CB radio traffic to me. I would also have questions about the comm center protocols, if it's in fact true, that some dispatchers can take it upon themselves to opt not to use the automated dispatch system. Procedures exist for a reason and deviation from them is how departments and personnel find themselves in bad situations. Google "Bret Tarver." (OK, go ahead and beat me up now for being an uptight curmudgeon.)

 

[KB7MIB]

Sometimes, the automated voice has to be taken down for maintenance
So, it's a good thing to stay in practice by voicing the dispatches, at least occasionally.
It could be argued that the dispatchers who choose to do so, are the curmudgeonly ones, wanting to do it the old fashioned way

John
Peoria

 

[mass-man]

Pretty cool...I’ve listened to Dallas FD for years and never heard a nickname!!!

 

[n0doz]

Station nicknames seems to be done in places all across the country. FDNY even has morale patches for most, if not all, houses. Pretty cool, too. I know Denver FD had nicknames as well, but they weren't well known outside of the department and the usual fire "groupies" and freelance photogs.

 

[Foresigt]

I can tell you that those "old cermodgeonly ones",one of whom was a freind of mine, could dispatch more calls with more information than Samantha ever could. But then, he was the last of the real dispatchers when they did it without the CAD system. He was fast AND understandable. The new way isn't always the best way. If you ever listen, Samantha custs corners when it get's busy. The old timers are the ones who have the experience of manually dispatching on Channel 1.

By the way, I work with a lot of retired ranking fire staff and they all hate Samantha and would prefer the human dispatchers. They all claim they are much easier to listen to. I agree with them.

Sometimes, the automated voice has to be taken down for maintenance
So, it's a good thing to stay in practice by voicing the dispatches, at least occasionally.
It could be argued that the dispatchers who choose to do so, are the curmudgeonly ones, wanting to do it the old fashioned way

John
Peoria

 

[KB7MIB]

I can tell you that those "old cermodgeonly ones",one of whom was a freind of mine, could dispatch more calls with more information than Samantha ever could. But then, he was the last of the real dispatchers when they did it without the CAD system. He was fast AND understandable. The new way isn't always the best way. If you ever listen, Samantha custs corners when it get's busy. The old timers are the ones who have the experience of manually dispatching on Channel 1.

By the way, I work with a lot of retired ranking fire staff and they all hate Samantha and would prefer the human dispatchers. They all claim they are much easier to listen to. I agree with them.

Oh, I have no issues at all with them going live when they want to, or even using the unit nicknames. I was actually defending them.

John
Peoria

 

[cmcgrail]

I thought Engine 43 was Panda Express since it's directly across the street from one.

 

[gilbert12thman]

Engine 4 and Hazmat 4: Big Red

Ladder 11: The Raging Queen

Rescue 13: Bad Karma

Engine 14: Fight On

Engine 16: The Greyhound Express

Engine 27: The Sweetwater Express

Engine 33: The Shaw Butte Bullies

Engine 40: The Black Sheep

Engine 48: The Happy Hammer

Engine 57: Dobbins Dawg Pound

Engine 194: The Dirty South

Engine 202: Deuces Wild

Engine 203: Midnight Express

Engine 2203 out of Station 203: The Caboose

Engine and Medical Response 218: The Curse

Engine 251: The Mall Rats

Utility 251: The Boat

Engine 253, Ladder 253, Ladder Tender 253, Medic 253, and Battalion 252 (Station 253): The Job House

Utility 283 is now Utility 2810 "The Sub"

Engine 857: The Trail Rats

Units from Stations 14, 16, 202, 203, 218, 251, and 253 either have the nickname written on the engine or it's on a decal placed somewhere on the unit. Station 253 units also have a License Plate Frame with the unit designation (i.e. M253) and the Station Nickname "Job House" on the frame.

 

[CTWaters]

Engine 4 and Hazmat 4: Big Red

Ladder 11: The Raging Queen

Rescue 13: Bad Karma

Engine 14: Fight On

Engine 16: The Greyhound Express

Engine 27: The Sweetwater Express

Engine 33: The Shaw Butte Bullies

Engine 40: The Black Sheep

Engine 48: The Happy Hammer

Engine 57: Dobbins Dawg Pound

Engine 194: The Dirty South

Engine 202: Deuces Wild

Engine 203: Midnight Express

Engine 2203 out of Station 203: The Caboose

Engine and Medical Response 218: The Curse

Engine 251: The Mall Rats

Utility 251: The Boat

Engine 253, Ladder 253, Ladder Tender 253, Medic 253, and Battalion 252 (Station 253): The Job House

Utility 283 is now Utility 2810 "The Sub"

Engine 857: The Trail Rats

Units from Stations 14, 16, 202, 203, 218, 251, and 253 either have the nickname written on the engine or it's on a decal placed somewhere on the unit. Station 253 units also have a License Plate Frame with the unit designation (i.e. M253) and the Station Nickname "Job House" on the frame.

Thank you for the update.

Didn't know that about the 25x units.

 

[tillman42]

Got a few new ones.

Engine 201: The Old Guard

Station 201: The Robson Wranglers

Station 8: The 8 Ball (Engine 8, Rescue 8, Heavy Rescue 8, Support 8)

Squad 29 is now Heavy Rescue 41 and does not have a nickname for that Unit as of now.

Squad 44 is now Heavy Rescue 44

Ladder 152: Zoo Crew

Engine 159: Bell Road Bombers

Attack 19 (Sky Harbor Airport): Big Brother

All Squad Units With the Exception of Squad 19 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Squad 278 out of Tempe, Squad 289 out of Chandler, Squad 204 and Squad 219 out of Mesa, and Squad 173 out of Avondale are now Heavy Rescues. HR44, HR8, HR159, and HR41 (Used to Be Squad 29) are now in service. Engine 929 is now Engine 72. Ladder 41 and Ladder Tender 41 are now Ladder 52 and Ladder Tender 52. Brush 72 is now housed at Station 72 in Phoenix. High Rise 1 is now High Rise Support 1 (HRS1). Brush 142 is now Brush Engine 142 out of Daisy Mountain Fire District.

 

[n0doz]

....All Squad Units.......are now Heavy Rescues......
May I ask what's the significance of calling them "Heavy Rescues" now? Bigger vehicle, maybe?
Thanks!

 

[KB7MIB]

....All Squad Units.......are now Heavy Rescues......
May I ask what's the significance of calling them "Heavy Rescues" now? Bigger vehicle, maybe?
Thanks!

Heavy Rescue indicates that they are both Technical Rescue and HazMat certified.
A Squad is only TRT certified.

John
Peoria

 

[tillman42]

Heavy Rescue indicates that they are both Technical Rescue and HazMat certified.
A Squad is only TRT certified.

John
Peoria

Thank you for the input. Yes. Heavy Rescue 8, Heavy Rescue 41, Heavy Rescue 44, and Heavy Rescue 159 are certified in both Technical Rescue and HAZMAT. Squad 19 is used for Medical Emergencies and small fires within Sky Harbor Airport and is co-manned by Attack 19. Squad 204, Squad 219, and Squad 289 are only certified in Technical Rescue. However, Squad 204 is also dispatched on HAZMAT Calls ONLY with the Engine Company from Mesa. Example: HAZMAT Call in Mesa... Engine 204 is sent with Squad 204. TRT Call in Mesa. Squad 204 is sent with Ladder 204 and Squad 219 is sent with Ladder 219.