OT: Any firemen, what constitutes a 3-alarm fire?

One alarm requires a basic response with equipment on hand. It's used mostly for trash bin fires, smoke situations, etc.

Two alarm simply means the need for more equipment and personnel and may mean the need for specialized equipment.

Three alarm is getting serious. Could mean rescue is needed, protection of endangered structures to prevent spread, etc.

Four alarm. If you live or work in the immediate area get out. Quite often four alarm, and occasionally three alarm, calls for mutual aid when and where available. Serious danger of fire spreading to include nearby structures.

Five alarm is rare. The Oakland Hills fire would be a good example, or the recent Southern California fires. Many structures involved with many more endangered. We lost several thousand homes in the Oakland Hills fire and several lives, including fire fighters and police.

Tom Ex-Firefighter/EMT Fifteen years

If I may, just curious as to why you gave it up after only 15 years.

It was scattered over thirty+ years.

California Division of Forestry when I was young and stupid (OK, younger and stupider). Mostly loading slurry into bombers in Santa Rosa plus a dozen or so wildland fires over two seasons.

Volunteer in Sausalito and Inverness, twenty years apart. Inverness was a Class A department with full FF1 and EMT training. Lots of mutual aid. Got a little tired of arriving on scene to find injured friends and acquantences and once my older son (fortunately minor injuries from a rollover).

In between 35 years with the American Red Cross and International Red Cross in positions from shelter manager and rescue (IRC, AMR does not have a rescue component) to PIO and instructor.

Left firefighting for two reasons. The Oakland Hills fire was so huge that I was overwhelmed. I had not dealth with that level of death and destruction since working earthquakes in Mexico. Hurricane Andrew was far worse, but Oakland was so close to home. A few years later, after I left firefighting and was working for a sports medicine company, the Inverness Ridge fire took a hundred homes, every one belonging to people that I knew.

The second reason is my son, Justin. He is needs care 24/7 and I am his caregiver. Lynne just finished her second set of teaching credentials to go with her Masters. No room for the level of commitment that firefighting and EMT work requires.

I've been flirting with the idea of joining out local FD, now that Lynne is finished with school. No hands-on firefighting, lots of hose handling, traffic control, cleaning, etc.

Just curious. Where does "longtailedlizard" come from?

Tom

I'vealways thought that the term alarm fire, as in 1, 2, 3, started in the cities where there were more than 1 fire house. If a fire was too big for one company then another was called or the alarm given.

Correct. It reached the burbs many years ago as housing and businesses filled open spaces. Rural use began about twenty years ago with volunteer departments working with county, CDF, etc. to develop professional level personnel and present widespread EMT training.

Tom