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Does anybody have any information on the Nurse Practitioner Units. I know that around in 2015 the Los Angeles City Fire Department had put in service an ambulance with a Nurse Practitioner and a Paramedic or EMT aboard whose purpose was to respond to the EMS requests of the frequent users so they could be treated or referred to the appropriate resources on the scene instead of always taking them to hospital emergency rooms so the "Ambulances" could be used for the real emergencies. The last that I had heard the "NP" unit was on duty about 4 days a week and worked about 10 hours a day and the first one was put in service at Fire Station 64 in Watts. About a year after the pilot program had begun the city had announced it intention of adding several more "NP" units to the fleet. I had heard they were talking of 4 such units which doesn't include the "Sober" Unit which was for the use of the Alcoholic frequent users. So how many Nurser Practitioner Units are currently in service and where are they stationed and is there still a "Sober" Unit service and is it still at Station 4? The Nurse Practitioner Unit seemed to be a good idea as they were aimed at getting the none urgent or "low accuity" patients from tying up the EMS units on non emergencies and there were a few other places that were using similar units.

That's one of the great things about the Los Angeles Fire Department Light Force concept is that the Trucks can also be used as an Engine company if necessary and in effect they are a two piece Quint. That particularly comes in handy when there is an extra alarm fire or fires taking place and companies are needed to change quarters. For example in a Task Force house you could use the single Engine company to change quarters and the Light Force can still act as an Engine or a Truck company in it's district despite the Engine company being out of it's district. It would be good if the LAFD could start putting the 7 Light forces that were taken out of service during the recession ,back in service,

Emt FS 46 is the one at Station 4 the "Sober Unit" or is that some other unit? Is the Sober Unit still in service and is it at Station 4?

Thanks Casey. So it looks to me that now there is an AP unit at Stations 58.82,7, and 15 in addition to the Original one at Station 64. Whether the "Sober" Unit at Station 4 is included I am not sure. Anyhow it looks like there may now be 5 such units in service.

Speaking of Platforms , I find it odd that the Long Beach fire department has been running with a Tower Ladder at their Truck 7 for a long time now yet they seem to be the only fire department that I know of in Los Angeles County that runs with a Tower Ladder. They are the 7th largest city in California with a little under half a million people. The fact that they have been using a Tower Ladder does throw cold water on the idea and the concept that they are unable to effectively use Tower Ladders (Platforms) in the Los Angeles area. As far as Los Angeles City goes I know that up in the Santa Monica Mountains where there are narrow winding streets their Tiller Ladders come in handy and are probably the only large aerial rigs that can be maneuvered there however I don't see why a Platform or a Tower Ladder can't be used in the rest of the city ( south and north of the Santa Monica mountains) where there seem to be quite a few wide boulevards. There were at one time a couple of other fire departments that in tthe Los Angeles County area that ran with a few Platforms or Tower Ladders but I don't think they still are running with them. I am not from the area so perhaps someone might have more accurate information on Tower Ladders in that area. I am keeping the subject primarlly to Tower Ladders as I know that years ago during the (mid 60's and 70's) some fire departments were using "Snorkels" in the Los Angeles area , but that is another story.

Has anyone seen how they are doing on the project of building new fire station 39 at 14615 Oxnard. Is the target date for openng the new station still set for March of 2019 are they moving it up?

I have a few questions regarding some of the Rescue Ambulances. Is the ambulance at Station 103 a Paramedic unit or is it a BLS unit? In other words is it a 900 unit? Are there any variable staffed RA's paramedic units or are they all BLS units. If so which ones are ALS and which ones are BLS units? Are there now 4 Low acuity units (frequent flyer ambulances) in service and if so where are they located? As of the last budget request the fire department wanted to have on in each of the 4 field bureaus. Are there now also 4 Fast Respone units in service as in the budget request they also wanted one in each of the 4 field bureaus? If I am correct the original one is still at Station 91 and the second one is at Station 9 but was originally located at Station 20 correct?

Since this topic on Heavy Rescues was begun Heavy Rescue 56 has been relocated to Station 3 for a while now. So it is now Heavy Rescue 3.

I was wondering are the ambulances going to be located at fire stations and if so what stations will they be located at? I also assume that since the paramedics are employed by a private company on that they will normally be on eight hour shifts as opposed to 24 hours shifts like the fire department employees? Do you know what hours that the three "peak hour" units will be on duty? Thanks.

It's good to see that at least some fire departments near San Diego still use Aerial Platforms.

Shoub in recent years the only Platform in San Jose that am familiar with had been aasigned to Truck 29 on the north end of town which has been using a Tower Ladder for a long time . I understand that the Tower Ladder that Truck 29 had been using is no longer at Truck 29 however it may be a reserve Truck now unless it was reassigned. it was a 1993 Simon. As far as their other Truck companies go I know that before the y started purchasing and receiving their latest TIllered Aerial Ladders from Pierce they were using several some rear mounted and at least one mid mounted straight Aerial Ladder and I know that they did have a Pierce Snorkel in service which may still be a reserve unit unless it was sold by now. I also know that the Truck companies in San Jose were running as 2 piece companies for a long time and the second piece was a utility Squad that carried some Heavy Rescue Squad tools and power and Lighting equipment however I don't believe that they are still running with the second piece anymore. Could you tell me which Truck companies in San Jose were running with Aerial Platforms and when they were assigned plus the type of Platform that they were running with? Thanks.

Rescue 51 I have noticed that also and I'm not from San DIego but I am a fan of the San DIego fire department and I know that the San Diego Fire Department was one of the few West Coast fire departments that was still using some Aerial Platforms in the late 1990's and the early 2000's. At one time they did own 4 Tower Ladders and they had a Snorkel running as Truck 14. When they went to solid red fire engines and started buying their current Pierce Aerial Ladder Trucks they have seemed to forgo purchasing any Tower Ladders or Snorkels. I know that San DIego was having serious financial problems and budget shortfall's during the recession and I also know that San DIego was running behind in building new fire stations however over the last few years it is attempting to catch up with buiding some newer stations that have been called for. Perhaps they were only buying straigtht aerials because they were on a tight budget and the straight aerials were less money then a Tower Ladder. They also could have had some weight problems with thier tower ladders and they could have had some clearence problems on some of the streets or in some of the fire stations. This is only speculation however as I am not from San Diego.

Thanks for the information. I'm glad to see that San Diego does have a border drop automatic aid agreement.. I know that fire departments in the Phoenix Arizona metro area operate like that. It's also interesting to know that there still is at least one fire department in the San DIego area that is using an elevating plaform. At one time San Diego did have 4 "Tower Ladders" that were built on LTI Aerial Ladders however they had gotten rid ot them I know that in the late 1990's around 1998/99 Truck 10 and Truck 28 were operating with Tower Ladders and Station's 41 and 43 each had a Tower Ladder that were "jump companies" which meant that if called for the Engine company crew would "jump" to the Tower Ladder and become the Tower Ladder crew. Before they were relocated to Station 41 and 43 one of them had been assigned to Truck 1 downtown and the 4th one had also been assigned as a regular Truck company. The last elevating platform that I know of on the San Diego fire deparment was Truck 14 which was using a red over white Pierce Snorkel which was in the old San DIego fire departrment color scheme. I understand that it was replaced by one of the newer Pierce rearmounted Aerials in the mid 2000's.

I noticed that the Valley Bureau Headquarters is at Station 83 however when the 4 new bureaus replaced the 2 remaing fire divisions wasn't the Valley Bureau quartered at Station 88 at first then moved to Station 83 or was the new Valley Bureau always at Station 83? While I'm on the subject of the new Bureaus I was wondering why the south bureau is located at San Pedro City Hall instead of the fire station such as 48's ,112's or 36's? Don't they have room the fire stations for a Bureau Cheif? and isn't there a bureau Cheif on duty 24 hours because I was wondering if they set up a bunk room for the for the Bureau watch commander for the South Bureau at San Pedro City Hall?

I was wondering if San Diego has an automatic aid agreement with La Mesa or Heartland fire as La Mesa Station 11 was nearer to the fire then the second and third engine companies from the San Diego fire department or was it strictly San Diego city fire units that were dispatched to the scene of the fire? I know that San Diego station 10 would normally be the first in station but this in regards to the second due companies.

While I don't know if Station 17 ever had a separate Engine and a separate Ladder company currently that house has been regularly assigned a Quint.

That's a pretty good deal to be able to dispatch yourself on an alarm. Where I'm from only some of the brass gets the privilege of self dispatching.If If I'm correct the Haz Mat Squads in Los Angeles also operate as Manpower Squads af fires. I know that Los Angeles lost quite a few companies during the height of the recession which had included 11 Engines and 7 Light Forces. While several of the Engines were put back in service I understand that none of the Light Forces have been put back in service yet. I hope that they finally start putting those Light Forces back in service for a City the size of Los Angeles to lose 7 Trucks is a big deal.

What are the calls that they would nornally get dispatched on beside building collapses and major wrecks? For example do the USARS normally get dispatched on Greater Alarm or Major Emergency fires? Who is usually assigned to RIT duties at a fire? For example when Category A or a Category B fire is dispatched and it is found out to be a working fire do they call for an additional company to perform RIT duties or do they assign one of the Engines that are on the scene to be the RIT company? I know that a Category A fire usually only gets one Light Force so do they then call for a second Light force for RIT duties or do they just use one of the Engines for that. I know that many places use Trucks for RIT duties but there are some towns that also use Engines as RIT companies. When I say RIT I mean Rapid Intervention teams. Thanks.

So EMT_FS46 are you saying that USAR 88 gets dispatched to Incidents before the other 5 will get dispatched to the scene and only if a second USAR is needed will one of the other 5 go? Even though USAR 88 officially has a 2 man crew who man's it once on the scene of the incident? For example are the companies at 88's station also considered to be a USAR Task Force or does USAR 88 respond without Task Force 88?

While I don't have exact dates on all of the moves (as I am not from LA) I understand that at different times in the past Station 3 did have a Heavy Utility (which is what the Heavy Rescues were once called) did have one assigned to the station. I had read that there was a Heavy Utility that had been assigned to Station 14 from 1948 until 1960 when they were relocated Station 3. I think that the one one at Station 3 was relocated to the Old Station 6. In 1967 to my understanding Heavy Utility 6 received a new Crown Heavy Wrecker that was painted Yellow and they were relocated to Station 27 was the Old Station 6 was torn down. While I don't have any dates I have a suspicion that the one at Station 27 was Station 3. I am not sure if the one at Station 56 was relocated there from Station 27 or whether they were relocated there from Station 3 because I believe that sometime in the early 80's Station 3 did have the Heavy Rescue assigned there probably before the current Station 56 was opened. Does any one on this site have the specific dates and years that the Heavy Utilities were in service. Such as when did Heavy Utility 88 go in service and when were they taken our of service? I believe that the one at Station 88 was only in service for about 3 years as the new (current Station) was opened in 1975 and there were major cutbacks in 1978 which is probably when Heavy Utility 88 was taken out of service The one at the current Station 88 was a newer Mack Heavy Wrecker however when the one at Station 88 was taken out of service (probably around 1978) it was relocated to Station 3 and then to 27 and eventually ended up at Station 56 when the current house was opened. Perhaps someone on this site might have a more detailed or specific history.

A better way to put it is to say that they have a dedicated staff assigned to them because are they still dispatched to scene either with their Light Force or their Engine so they can have fullsized crew to operate their equipment? Or when they dispatch USAR 88 are they dispatched by themselves with only the 2 man crew? I know that the other 5 USAR units normally will get dispatched either with their Light Force or their Engine in order to have someone drive the unit to the scene as well as to have a full sized crew to operate it once it gets to the incident Is the normal practice to dispatch the USAR units with their Light Force to scene of an incident or they normally dispatch them along with their Engine company to the scene of an incident?

Pump 305 I recall when there were 2 Heavy Rescues in service one was at Station 88 and the other was at Station 6 and at the time the were known as Heavy Utilities. Where was the third one at ? Was that Heavy Utility 14 that you are talking about. I understand that they were relocated further north around 1960 so I am not sure 3 were actually being operated at the same time or whether they had just relocated one of them?

Yes when WIlliam Bamattre was the Chief of the Fire Department there was a plan to put a second Heavy Rescue in service at Station 89.

While I'm not from Houston I can tell you that Houston hasn't been using any Tillered Aerial Ladders and they have been using rear mounted Aerial Ladders and Tower Ladders for a long time. Perhaps they might have used them years ago but definitely not for at at least the last 30 years. I highly doubt that they are about to order any TIllered Aerials either as the Mayor is looking for ways to save money and Tillered Aerials from what I understand are more expensive then rear mounted Aerials. In recent years they have been purchasing Ferrara and Spartan Erv rearmounts and Tower Ladders and they also have a few Pierces and I am sure that they still have some E Ones that they had ordered in the late 1990's. Perhaps you are talking about another town in Texas. Of the 5 Largest cities in Texas only Dallas is currently using any TIllered Aerial Ladder Trucks and they hare currently running with 7 of them at the moment. They are all Spartan Ervs.

This is something that Pierce can't afford to do (meaning have so many Trucks that don't meet the specs). The LAFD city contract can be quite lucrative and Pierce was lucky to get the contract so they really better make good on it quickly. I would figure that they would have had better quality control at PIerce especially after they were able to develop a sterling reputation to become the number 1 fire apparatus manufacturer. Here KME which wasn't known for quality service and American La France going out of business I would think that Pierce would be a lot more careful that they were able to get back into the LA market with the Aerial Ladder contract. In the late 90's and early to mid 2000's LA city was getting alot of their new Engines from Pierce and to be frank I am under the impression that the reason why they started buying from KME is because the city finances were so poor that they started going with a cheaper product. The last thing that LA City and Pierce needs is a bunch of Trucks that are not in good shape.