1. 2. 3. 4-alarm

[SonicN]

What is actually a 2.-alarm?

Is it like this:
1.-alarm = one station responds
2.-alarm = two stations responds
and so on?

 

[bwhite]

Means diff things diff places.
For example, on a structure fire 2 engines, a truck, and various other equipment will be initially dispatched. The second alarm will dispatch another round of much of the same. And so on.

 

[nozzlenut83]

It really depends on where you are as bwhite said. For example in my area a first alarm is typically 3 engine co, 1 ladder co and a second alarm is an additional 3 engine co and another ladder. However in one department in the county the second alarm is only an additional heavy rescue. Larger cities tend to have simpler systems in place, but smaller suburban or rural communities tend to have to "meatball" things together to meet the needs of the current situation.

If you give the location or department you are interested in maybe someone can give you a more exact answer. Or maybe your questions have been answered by the provided information.

Hope this helps,
nozzlenut83

 

[N9JIG]

In many areas a First Alarm, Box, Still etc. will get you 2 or 3 Engines, a Truck or 2, some sort of EMS response and a Chief. Second and subsequent alarms will usually get you a couple more engines and a truck at each level and often include "Change or Quarters" units to back fill for committed equipment.

Specialized boxes or alarms might add rescue, EMS, or specialized teams (tenders, special rescue etc.) in place of trucks and engines.

 

[cavis]

At my Volunteer Fire Department in WV, a second alarm on a structure fire will typically bring a couple of engines, a ladder, and possibly a tanker (if there are not hydrants available). A third alarm for us means that all hell has broken loose and departments from as far as an hour away are enroute, and the county Emergency Services Coordinator is contacted. In my 10 years at this department (I did a 7 year stretch at another), we've called a third alarm twice: a large warehouse fire with multiple exposures, and a Dollar General Store fire with exposures (including an attached Post Office, which we saved.) The warehouse fire brought over about 100 firefighters from 11 departments, and the Dollar Store fire had about 80 firefighters from 7 departments. Lucky me... I was Senior Captain and sector command for both incidents.

Until just recently, the municipal water supply was substandard to say the least, so most 2nd and 3rd alarm callouts included tankers and supertankers (~4,000 gallons.) Like nozzlenut83 said, larger departments typically have a more standardized callout for each alarm, where smaller departments may advise dispatch what their needs are when they call for additional alarms.

 

[902]

What is actually a 2.-alarm?

Simply put, most places use it to indicate how serious an incident is. EVERY place has different response requirements, like one of these, two of those, mutual aid, etc. NO STANDARD.

My old department in the Northeast had this very rough interpretation on severity (it was never written down, but kinda translated into reality like this):

• Still alarm - someone walks into the fire station and says they need help - we handle the call with available manpower.
• First alarm - initial fire call. Everything except an ambulance job.
• Second alarm - This call is for real. Stop rolling over and resetting your pager. Get your a** out here.
• Third alarm - We can't handle this with who/ what we have at the scene. Get units and manpower from other towns. The IC would request the resources.
• Fourth alarm - HELP!
• Fifth alarm - J**** C*****!

Other places may have more organized definitions, along with pre-planned responses, but I think you get the picture. The higher the number, the bigger the charlie-foxtrot factor.