San Diego Fire Department

[JoeyC]

Anyone care to elaborate on the new SDFD unit designators?

I am hearing alot of new identifiers today (engine 913, engine 926 and others). New equipment and/or station/equipment renumbering?

 

[KJ6ZNS]

Reserve equipment brought online for the fires? Training academy units (I did hear Training as a designator a few times)?

Smarty pants answer - An identifier for something that moves under it's own power that can carry fire fighting personnel or equipment?

 

[K6CDO]

The 9xx units are the reserve apparatus placed into service with overtime firefighters.
"Training" units are staff assigned to the Department's Training section.

 

[inigo88]

I saw Engine 901 the other day, which is the SDFD reserve engine covering station 35. The "901" placard on the front looked pretty temporary. It looks like they put quite a few reserve engines into service, because they needed to cover all the city engines that went out on the initial strike teams to the Bernardo, San Marcos and other north county fires.

Looking at the SDFD Fire CAD website, many 900 reserve engines are still covering their districts tonight:
San Diego Fire-Rescue Dispatch Online

 

[carlt]

Still hearing 9xx units today. And the xx does not necessarily indicate which station it is assigned to?

 

[inigo88]

Still hearing 9xx units today. And the xx does not necessarily indicate which station it is assigned to?

Nope. You'd have to check the locations they're dispatched to on the SDFD Fire CAD link I shared, or drive by your local station to know which reserve engine is assigned to it.

 

[Eng74]

This sounds like a normal CAD/dispatch problem that can happen when you a big fire in your area. The CAD will only let so many units work under a number. If the dispatch center is the one for the fire then they can get lost when they here engine 7, which one is it, the one on the strike team or the one covering. Add in if they were already in a reserve engine that went on the strike team that can bring up even more. I do not know how San Diego's CAD works but this seems to happen during fire season for every department sometime.