CFD Apparatus status discussion (Non-Radio Information)

[Ghostpolice24]

Apparently, station 45 is in operation...can anyone confirm this?

The temporary station is, but not the actual one yet. They had good progress on it last I checked, last month though.. I live nearby so I'll need to check it out.

 

[255-Jacobs]

Hey Lads, been a minute. I was talking to an apparatus operator off of 31E at a minor structure fire yesterday (31E and 31T and I1 were on scene for anyone interested).

I noted that CFD did the same mistake twice by putting an expensive piece of equipment at a hall that barely runs any calls, which was placing the Bronto and the Mini Bronto A1406 at Station 25. He looked at me and laughed and said that CFD loves doing the same thing and 25 already has received a new 2023 Pierce Tower.

I do not know what the SN# is (TW0223 maybe?) All I did find out is that 19 and 31 are indeed the next halls to get new Towers and that 1 will get a new Ladder. All these trucks will either go into service this week, or sometime July.

 

[Ghostpolice24]

Well I know for a fact; 1 won't get a new ladder until the non-bucket Ladders come in at the end of the year. The reason I know this is because; Station 1 currently, STILL can't fit anything bigger than what it has.

Also, I was by 45 Station's new location today, it's NOT in service yet. They haven't even started on the tarmac or dug out the center median yet. They did put the new Fire truck warning pole lights up.

I also want to point out, Yesterday's severe storm left a lot of damage and water. On top of that, CFD was sooo busy that they had Engine 28, Engine 17 and Rescue 8 responding to a working fire in the Downtown Core. Engine 28's in Edgemont and travel time is 17min by car with traffic lights, etc in consideration on average. (Probably about 10-15 max responding depending on traffic and road conditions and route, since all underpasses downtown were closed due to flooding, take that into consideration for how busy it was yesterday...)

I hope for the new Towers, that they eventually move them to Stations 23, 6 and 18. Because these three halls would strive off of Tower Ladders due to their locations.

 

[255-Jacobs]

Heard a rumor that A0406 had its last shift yesterday and that it's now gone from 31. I will eventually head out there to check if 31 has received a new tower.

 

[Ghostpolice24]

None of the Towers are in service yet. 25 Tower is still the spare 2008 Pierce and Tower 31 is still the 06 Mini Bronto.

 

[255-Jacobs]

Well I know for a fact; 1 won't get a new ladder until the non-bucket Ladders come in at the end of the year. The reason I know this is because; Station 1 currently, STILL can't fit anything bigger than what it has.

Also, I was by 45 Station's new location today, it's NOT in service yet. They haven't even started on the tarmac or dug out the center median yet. They did put the new Fire truck warning pole lights up.

I also want to point out, Yesterday's severe storm left a lot of damage and water. On top of that, CFD was sooo busy that they had Engine 28, Engine 17 and Rescue 8 responding to a working fire in the Downtown Core. Engine 28's in Edgemont and travel time is 17min by car with traffic lights, etc in consideration on average. (Probably about 10-15 max responding depending on traffic and road conditions and route, since all underpasses downtown were closed due to flooding, take that into consideration for how busy it was yesterday...)

I hope for the new Towers, that they eventually move them to Stations 23, 6 and 18. Because these three halls would strive off of Tower Ladders due to their locations.

From what I heard the new Ascendant Ladder was specifically designed to fit inside the current Station 1. I could be wrong about that, however.

 

[ENGINE_4]

Based on dispatch this evening, sounds like 25 has a Tower now. Does anyone know what happened to Boat Tow 6? It has been running a spare BB for weeks now, was it involved in a crash?

 

[255-Jacobs]

Might just be down for maintenance and there also happens to be a backlog occurring at Fleet. Also 20FRP seems to have suffered some sort of breakdown, as I spotted it on Thursday being towed to Fleet by a heavy tow truck.

25 does indeed have a Tower as I stated above, a FF confirmed this for me. Still nothing on 19 or 31 having their new Towers yet. Feel like 31 should've gotten their Tower first seeing as that Bronto is in serious need of replacement and 25 had a spare to begin. I guess the brass wanted that spare Arrow back in service, so a repeat of 2008 could be avoided. (Reasoning explained in other post)

Picture of the Station 31 rigs because, why not?

 

[255-Jacobs]

I saw on the wiki that 25 has the Tower. Is there any conformation on it having SN# TW0223?

 

[255-Jacobs]

Hey guys a few lil updates.

1. 2nd Alarm fire in Coventry Today units that responded were:

31E
31TWR (Running a spare, more on this later)
27E
27R
18E (Spare)
44E
4H
4A/L
7FRP
DC4
DC2

2. Apparently, 31 is in the East District as I found out today (Only reason DC5 didn't attend today's fire was because he was tied up at another call today)

3. According to DC Aaron Boss (DC4), DC4 will be moving to Station 21 next year leaving 40 a single Engine hall.

4. There are no K9 units at 39 and 40 according to I2. The only FD K9 in Calgary is at Station 5.

5. And now for the big news 👏

Yesterday I saw BOTH Bronto's parked at Fleet Maintenance. According to the 31E operator from today's fire that A0406 (31 Tower) after being in service for 16 years has finally, at long last, reached her much need retirement. RIP A0406, gone but never forgotten 🫡

31 Tower is now running Q0908 (The single axle Arrow XT) as it's spare.

However once the next shift begins 31 will have their new Tower in service...Finally.

Tower 19 will be the next Tower to be replaced after 31, unknown what will happen to their main Q1204.

Alright, that's all I got right now. Someone go update the wiki. Let's go, let's go, let's go! 👏

 

[ENGINE_4]

Great work 255-Jacobs! No Ladder on the second alarm assignment? Only TWR 31?

 

[255-Jacobs]

As soon as 31E left the their bay, they called for a second Alarm while en route, but once they got on scene and started hitting it with the deck gun. DC4 cancelled the second Ladder but kept the additional Engines going.
Fire was put out fairly quickly after they used the deck gun, so they no longer needed a second Ladder tied up with their call.

 

[RP201]

What is an initial response again? Report of alarms ringing, that sort of thing.

It seems to vary from city to city.

 

[ENGINE_4]

2 cats rescued from Riverbend house fire; missing dog found

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a house fire in the community of Riverbend on Thursday, saving two cats.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

first fire for the new Tower 25?

What is an initial response again? Report of alarms ringing, that sort of thing.

It seems to vary from city to city.

I think it depends on the dispatcher to be honest... the standard is 2 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescue but it all depends on what info the dispatcher gets.

 

[255-Jacobs]

What is an initial response again? Report of alarms ringing, that sort of thing.

It seems to vary from city to city.

Usually it's 2 engines a ladder or tower and a rescue on the initial alarm.

If it's already a confirmed fire before crews even arrive then it's 3 Engines, 1 Ladder or Tower, 1 Rescue, 1 HazMat, 4 A/L or 2HRS (whomever responds depends on what part of the city your in, and in terms of availability) 1 FRP and 2 DC's, one acts as Scene Command and the other is the Scene Safety Officer.

2 cats rescued from Riverbend house fire; missing dog found

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a house fire in the community of Riverbend on Thursday, saving two cats.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

first fire for the new Tower 25?

I think it depends on the dispatcher to be honest... the standard is 2 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescue but it all depends on what info the dispatcher gets.

Yeah, that's 25 in that photo. Looks pretty clean. The new 31 Tower should be in service now, but won't be at 31 much this week as they will be heading to 33 to get other crews trained on it.

 

[RP201]

Thanks gents!

Toronto, Montreal and most big cities in Canada seem to be a 2 and 1 response. I guess CFD sends the Rescue for the two extra guys.

Toronto will send a 3 and 1 to many institutional alarms; hospitals, factories or high risk facilities.

Everybody’s working fire response is different. I really like Calgary's because the first Engine goes to the door, the second secures the water source, the Ladder, third Engine, Rescue, A/L, FRP, and Haz. Finally the two DC's, one in charge and one running the fire ground.

One more question, how does CFD manage accountability?

 

[255-Jacobs]

Good question. That one I really don't know.

 

[ENGINE_4]

Accountability on the fire scene? CFD's first in Engine Captain is in command and runs the scene, they should have a "accountability board" or something similar to this - firefighter accountability board - Google Search

CFD could also have a digital one on their computer. District Chiefs for sure have something similar to what's pictured in the link. The first in Captain (unless they pass command to the second Engine) will be the Incident Commander and coordinate with the first arriving District Chief once they arrive on scene. Then the DC will then do a 360 of the scene and take command. The Captain will then become their assistant (keeping accountability, updating dispatch, etc..)
CFD does not have a lot of ff's on a scene until the working fire assignment is completely filled out.

I do imagine there is a "management" to ff ratio at an type of working fire scene.. so in theory I guess 1 Captain + 2 DC's (1 DC is a safety officer which is part of the command structure) to (currently average) 17-ish other ff's on a working fire.

Of course each unit operates on their own or teams up with other units to complete a task and there are Captains/Lieutenants in each of those teams of firefighters. These include teams like Fire Attack, Vent Control, Search, etc..
Each has again a Captain/Lieut in charge and reporting to Command.

Every fire department in North America is similar, but VERY different in how things are done and accomplished on a fire scene.
What staffing is like, what techniques are used, and sometimes what tools may be used. I find it very interesting studying what Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, LAFD, FDNY and so on do at a simple working fire scene all the way up to a 4th alarm plus fire scene

 

[RP201]

Great answer! Thanks.

Accountability and RIT are such important aspects of scene management. Ottawa Fire will assign an Engine to Accountability, then an additional Engine to RIT, so you end up with two extra Engines on scene, Ottawa also has a dedicated Safety Officer, usually a Captain.

Toronto Fire will assign a DC to Accountably, and Rescue (Rescue Pump) or Squad (Heavy Rescue) to RIT because they have 1 hour bottles and the additional training.

Buffalo Fire is really interesting. Their working assignment is three Engines, two Ladders, Rescue, Air Light, two Battalions (DC) Division Chief, Safety Officer and a third Ladder or FAST truck (RIT). I believe the second Battalion runs accountability.

I really like how CFD sends a Haz to every worker. Every fire these days is a HazMat situation and the FRPs. Firefighter safety cannot be underestimated.

Have a great day!

 

[JABoomer]

Does anyone know what preconnected hose diameters and lengths are on a typical (new) CFD engine? I guess what other non-preconnected hose is on there as well?