St._Louis_Fire_Department

St. Louis Fire Department

St. Louis Fire Department

Fire department in St. Louis City


The St. Louis Fire Department (STLFD or STL City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and rescue services to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The department is also the second oldest professional and fully paid fire department in the United States.[5][6] The STLFD is responsible for 69.0 square miles (179 km2) and has a population of approximately 294,890 with a daytime population of over 2 million.[1]

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St. Louis Fire Department fighting a fire, March 2021

The Fire Department Division is a division of the St. Louis Public Safety Department.

The St. Louis Fire Department is led by the Fire Commissioner, currently Dennis M. Jenkerson.[7] The Fire Commissioner and Chief is appointed by the Director of Public Safety and each bureau is commanded by a Deputy Fire Chief, who oversees the department's bureaus. Administrative Services, Fire Prevention, Operations, Support Services, Emergency Medical Services are the major operational units in the St. Louis Fire Department.

History

The first organized fire department in St. Louis was created in 1822, had several volunteer fire departments in the area. An ordinance was passed to purchase the equipment, which primarily consisted of leather buckets. When the alarm sounded, members of the department would fetch their bucket and rush to the scene.[8] On September 14, 1857, the department transitioned to an all-paid department. The St. Louis Fire Department is the third oldest fully paid fire department, behind the Cincinnati Fire Department and the Providence Fire Department.[9]

Specialized units

In addition to fire suppression and emergency medical services, the St. Louis Fire Department also has specialized units that include:[10]

Fire Administration

The St. Louis Fire Department is headed by a Fire Commissioner. Currently, the Fire Commissioner and Chief is Dennis Jenkerson, who replaced former Fire Commissioner Sherman George in 2007.

The SLFD'S's organization consists of seven bureaus. These include the following: Each bureau is commanded by a Deputy Chief or Deputy Fire Chief or Manager.

  • Bureau of Emergency Medical Services
  • Bureau of Prevention
  • Bureau of Communications
  • Bureau of Support Services
  • Bureau of Fire Inspections
  • Bureau of Fire Investigations
  • Bureau of Fire Suppression

Administration

More information Command Staff, Title and Department ...

Ranks of the STLFD

Typical rank insignia in the St. Louis Fire Department.

In the St. Louis Fire Department, helmet colors often denote a fire fighter's rank or position. In general, white helmets denote chief officers, while red helmets may denote company officers. The specific meaning of a helmet's color or style varies from region to region and department to department. The rank of an officer in the St. Louis Fire Department is most commonly denoted by a number of speaking trumpets, a reference to a megaphone-like device used in the early days of the fire service, although typically called "bugle" in today's parlance. Ranks proceed from one (lieutenant) to five (fire chief) bugles.

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  • Note: In place of bugles, ladder companies are signified by axes, rescue companies by life guns, squad companies by crossed ladders and stacked tip nozzles, and marine companies by bugles with an anchor.

Media

The firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs of STLFD are featured in A&E Network's reality series Live Rescue.[11]

Fallen Firefighters

From May 17, 1849, to Jan 13th, 2022, the Supporting Heroes Page reported that 171 Firefighters in the St. Louis Fire Department died in the line of duty.[12]

Marine Division

Jack Buck patrols the Mississippi during Fair Saint Louis
Stan Musial patrols the Mississippi during Fair Saint Louis
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As of 2013, there are four small fireboats operated in St. Louis.[13] The largest two are named.[14][15] The 27 feet (8.2 m) Jack Buck was commissioned in 2003 and the 44 feet (13 m) Stan Musial in 2013.

Notable incidents

Great Fire of 1849

On May 17, 1849, at 9:00 p.m., an enormous fire broke out in the heart of St. Louis.[16] A steamboat named "The White Cloud" sitting on Cherry Street was on fire. The Fire Department, which, at that time, consisted of 9 hand engines and hose reels, responded to the scene. The moorings holding the boat broke, and the steamer floated downstream, setting 22 other steamers on fire as it went.[16]

The flames leaped from building to building, sweeping everything on the levee for four blocks.[16] The firemen were exhausted after fighting for over eight hours. The entire business portion of the city appeared lost. In a last-ditch effort to save the city, six buildings were spread with explosive powder and blown up. When the fire was finally contained after 11 hours, 430 buildings were destroyed, 23 steamboats along with over a dozen other boats were lost, and three people had died, including a fire captain.[16]

Stations and apparatus and Fire Boats

Below is a complete listing of all Fire Station and Apparatus Locations in the city of St. Louis by Battalion District, as of October 2019. In addition to the primary services (Fire Suppression, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Prevention, Fire Cause Determination, Hazardous Materials Mitigation, and Rescue Services) The St. Louis Fire Department also provides structural fire protection, emergency medical services, rescue response, and aircraft rescue firefighting at St. Louis Lambert International Airport from the two fire stations located there.[17][18]

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References

  1. "About". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  2. "2022 Budget" (PDF). St. Louis. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  3. "Public Safety: Department Responsibilities" (PDF). Board of Aldermen. February 15, 2017. p. 153. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  4. "Fire Suppression". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  5. "St. Louis Fire Department". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  6. "Fire Department". stlouis-mo.gov.
  7. American, Chris King Of the St Louis. "Promotions under Jenkerson heavily favor South Side whites". St. Louis American. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  8. "Volunteer Department". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  9. "History". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  10. "About us". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  11. "Saint Louis Fire Department (MO)". Supporting Heroes. April 27, 2016.
  12. Brett Blume (May 24, 2012). "New Rescue Boats To Patrol St. Louis Riverfront". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  13. "St. Louis Fire Department names newest marine unit "The Stan Musial"". Fox News. September 29, 2013. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. The St. Louis Fire Department bought the boat, because of the growth of the St. Louis inland ports, which is now the third largest port in the United States.
  14. Bob Hamilton (September 29, 2013). "St. Louis Fire Department Getting New Boat". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013. It can pump up to 7,000 gallons of water or fire-suppressing foam per minute and can fight fires even while it's moving.
  15. "Great Fire". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  16. "Station Locations". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  17. "Firehouse Locations". stlouis-mo.gov. Retrieved May 3, 2020.

38°38′39.1596″N 90°12′46.5876″W


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