wdho

Mid point inspection was completed on the first one 2 weeks ago at Ferrara. 

Ferrara did our 2 heavy rescue squads and is currently doing our 8 new engines. Truck bid isnt awarded yet. 2 new cliff rescue rigs are in service and 2 new surf rescue rigs within the next year or so.

Our squads here in the City are staffed by 4. An officer and 3 firemen. Historically, our squads haven't had bells. As a whole, our engines and trucks have bells as a traditional  thing and as a last ditch effort if all other warning devices fail. We elected to NOT have chevrons put on as stated above, its just a strong recommendation. We have the short wheel based rigs due to our geographical area [ hills,tight streets, etc]. Hope this helps.

Our squads here in the City are staffed by 4. An officer and 3 firemen. Historically, our squads haven't had bells. As a whole, our engines and trucks have bells as a traditional  thing and as a last ditch effort if all other warning devices fail. We elected to NOT have chevrons put on as stated above, its just a strong recommendation. We have the short wheel based rigs due to our geographical area [ hills,tight streets, etc]. Hope this helps.

Our squads here in the City are staffed by 4. An officer and 3 firemen. Historically, our squads haven't had bells. As a whole, our engines and trucks have bells as a traditional  thing and as a last ditch effort if all other warning devices fail. We elected to NOT have chevrons put on as stated above, its just a strong recommendation. We have the short wheel based rigs due to our geographical area [ hills,tight streets, etc]. Hope this helps.

We have the green lights on our trucks here to designate just that - a truck company. Many can speculate that one should be able to tell the difference between a truck and an engine but now lets factor in that this City is made up of a bunch of hills. This City also has alot of fog. You get a rig parked in front of the fire building on the crest of a hill with a mixture of fog and smoke at 0200, you'll appreciate the fact that with a split second glance, youll be able to tell what type of rig that is [ 2 rigs pulling up head on at the same time in smoke, fog, and darkness ya gotta make sure you give space for the engine to take that spot in front of the fire building ]. Hope this helps.
WDHO

Yes, during the tower, you get driver training on the engine and driver/tiller on the truck. by the time you get off probation, the expectation is that you can drive and pump at a fire and driver / tiller at a fire as well. We dont hold the position of engineer here. Everyone is accountable for all positions.
 
Heres is a more detailed list of a 6 month exam [ minus the manipulative exams specific to your  truck/engine assignment ]:
 
physical fitness evaluation - 9 events
1500 ft walk
pull up / chin up
30 axe swings
24 ft ladder raise
35 ft ladder extension raise
large line drag 80 ft
40 cycles of ceiling hook / overhaul simulator
hose bundle carry to 4th floor
85 lb dummy drag
back down the tower with bundle
 
4 fire suppression manipulative evals:
could be any of these- 50ft ladder raise [all positions ], knots /ropes, scba, 24 ft ladder raise, extinguishers, high pressure hydrant, hose bundles, make and break, or 35 ft ladder
 
150 question fire suppression written exam
 
10 EMT skills
 
125 question EMT written exam
 
50 question pump or truck written exam
 
WDHO

6 months engine   6 month test = written pump test, pump test, maybe a drive test                   * emt test, skills testing, written test, physical agility
 
6 months truck     1 year test =  written aerial test, inventory test, aerial test, maybe a drive test      * skills testing, written test, physical agility
 
you could get engine or truck time first, doesnt matter. Everything with a star in front of it is tentative. They've drastically changed it since I went through the tower but heard it is something along the lines of what I typed up after the stars. Most challenging out of all of the above is the "pump test" [ my opinion and the opinion of most ]. You have a probie book that needs to be signed off [ hopefully everyday you get a couple skills signed off ] and you'll be the center of battalion drills on weekends and you'll be taking trips down to the tower with your company to practice evolutions. Very very rare that someone gets let go but can happen. Dont be that guy!
 
hope this helps

With all due respect, the above supplied info regarding apparatus at the stations is about 90-95% correct and we do NOT have 46 frontline ALS ambulances. I just checked the computer and we only have 16 on the street. Only 1 attack hose tender left. Cliff Rescue and Surf Rescue are now called Coastal Rescue 1 and 2, we have 5 rigs used exclusively as type 1 strike team rigs that aren't on that roster, tow truck is at sta.29, no light tower unit OR attack hose tender at sta 13, PRV + 2 jetskis at sta 51, PRV + 2 jetskis at sta 9, and various other support apparatus throughout the City.
 
Have not heard anything in regards to the boxes being put back in the stations.
 
At SFO:
1 house - 1 ARFF, 1 Engine, 1 Truck, 1 medic rig, 1 relief truck, 1 relief ARFF
2 house - 2 ARFF, 1 relief ARFF, 2 jetskis, 1 airboat, 1 mooseboat [ 2 house is also responsible for the boathouse that has some of the marine division there ].
3 house - 1 ARFF, 1 engine, 1 medic rig, 2 relief engines [ one with rearmount and one regular engine ]    The captain on duty acts as the b/c for the watch. Only 1 captain per watch and they rotate between the 3 stations [ 1 assigned to each house ].
 
All in all, you provided a very detailed list.
W.