History of Fire Stations
The first data on organized forms of fire fighting come from the ancient Romans. Emperor
Augustus in the capital, Rome, which at that time was about two million inhabitants, has
organized seven units (squads) guards who, apart from providing perform tasks related to fire
protection. With industrialization, the construction of high and complex business, public
facilities became necessary to establish a professional fire service. Their main jurisdiction
was the fire, and in most cities was founded in the 19th century (Paris, 1800, St. Petersburg
1803, Moscow 1804, Berlin 1851, New York 1865, Vienna 1886th year). In late 20th and
early 21st century, tasks of fire brigades and rescue services in general are greatly changing.
Today it is the organization that can prevent and respond to all types of emergencies, in order
to save human lives, property and environment.
In the late 70's, the United Nations established a world centre of fire statistics, which
restricted its activities to the study of economic aspects of fighting the fires. A number of
countries (mostly European) sent to the centre of reports about damage caused by fire, as well
as information on how Fire and Rescue in these countries spend financial resources for its
functioning. International Technical Committee for the prevention and fire fighting (CTIF
Comité Technique International De Prevention Et Du Feu DÉxtintion), trying to collect and
process data fire statistics. Integrating and analysing data from fire statistics to create images
of the state fire safety activities and FAR.
The main problem in the work CTIF the fact that many countries do not send the necessary
statistical data on fires and data that are sent vary in content and character.
The main causes of fires all over the world are the same: the careless handling of open
flame, neglect when smoking and technical deficiencies in electrical equipment and
installations. Statistics also show that a large part includes fires in residential buildings.
Introduction
Fire is defined as any instance of uncontrolled burning, including combustion explosions and fires
out on arrival according to The National Fire Protection Association - NFPA (2003, p.119). Fire is one
of the emergency situations with its sudden and fatal character. Providing immediate and effective
response to fires is important because emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to
health, life, property or environment.
Response means activities designed to address the immediate and short-term effects of the disaster
and/or emergency or with its second meaning the deployment of an emergency service resource to
an incident (NFPA, 2003, p. 288). Location of the emergency facilities has an impact on immediate
response.
Emergency facilities have a unique characteristic in the way they measure benefits. Typically, the
objective of facility location problem is either to minimize costs or maximize benefits. In the case of
emergency services, the objective is often stated as the minimization of losses to the public (Aly and
White, 1978; Mahmud and Indriasari, 2009, p.87).
Fire-Fighting Operations including rescue, fire suppression, and property conservation in buildings,
enclosed structures, aircraft interiors, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, or like properties that are involved in
an emergency situation (DoDI, 6055.06, December 21, 2006, p 16). Within the scope of this thesis,
structural fires, which usually appear in urban space, are considered rather than wildfires such as
forest fires.
Fire and rescue service is a set of practices intended to protect life and property in the event
of fires in their area, rescuing and protecting people in the event of a road traffic collision,
and rescuing and protecting people in the event of other emergencies. The fire and rescue
service is an integral part of keeping our communities safe and secure.
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety
measures include those that are intended to prevent ignition of an uncontrolled fire, and those
that are used to limit the development and effects of a fire after it starts.
Fire safety measures include those that are planned during the construction of a building or
implemented in structures that are already standing, and those that are taught to occupants of
the building.
Threats to fire safety are commonly referred to as fire hazards. A fire hazard may include a
situation that increases the likelihood of a fire or may impede escape in the event a fire
occurs.
Fire safety is often a component of building safety. Those who inspect buildings for
violations of the Fire Code and go into schools to educate children on fire safety topics are
fire department members known as Fire Prevention Officers. The Chief Fire Prevention
Officer or Chief of Fire Prevention will normally train newcomers to the Fire Prevention
Division and may also conduct inspections or make presentations.
Basically fire station can be defined as one of the landuses within an urban space, which is
responsible from fire scene placed in another urban space called coverage area. Emergency fire
response consists of accessing from a fire station to a fire scene in its coverage area within the
targeted time period called response time.
Fire Station
Fire Stations are designed and intended for the sole purpose of housing Fire Department Field
Personnel (Firefighters) and their applicable equipment to allow the fastest response possible
to customers within their specific response area. Although Fire Stations are funded with
Public Tax money, they are not intended for public use unless specific areas, like Community
Rooms, are indicated as such.
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a
structure or other area for storing fire fighting apparatus such as fire engines and related
vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire hoses and other specialized equipment. Fire
stations frequently contain working and living space for the fire fighters and support staff.
A fire station supports the needs of the fire department and the community in which it is
located. It must accommodate extremely diverse functions, including housing, recreation,
administration, training, community education, equipment and vehicle storage, equipment
and vehicle maintenance, and hazardous materials storage. While it is usually only occupied
by trained personnel, the facility may also need to accommodate the general public for
community education or outreach programs (Mion, 2009). Likewise Poerbo (2001, p.203)
states that a fire station serves many purposes such as garage, classroom, dining hall, fitness
centre, training area, community centre and mixed-use facility.
Fire station will at a minimum have a garage for housing at least one fire engine. There will
also be storage space for equipment, though the most important equipment is stored in the
vehicle itself. The approaches to a fire station are often posted with warning signs, and there
may be a traffic signal to stop or warn traffic when apparatus is leaving or returning to the
station. (morphy, 2016)
Fire stations have often been built with a tower, for purposes that have changed with time. A
drill tower is used for practicing high-rise rescue, while a hose tower is used for hanging
hoses to dry to prevent rot. Historically, towers were lookouts for spotting fires. (morphy,
2016)
Activities at a fire station include regular inspection and cleaning of the apparatus and
equipment, and training drills in which the fire fighters practice their skills. Some fire
companies also host public activities at the fire station during events such as a "fire
prevention week", and the facility may also be used for fund-raising by the "firemen's
association", "fire buffs", or "fire auxiliary". (morphy, 2016)
Facilities in fire station
A fire station will at a minimum have a garage for housing at least one fire engine. There will
also be storage space for equipment, though the most important equipment is stored in the
vehicle itself. The approaches to a fire station are often posted with warning signs, and there
may be a traffic signal to stop or warn traffic when apparatus are leaving or returning to the
station.
Fire stations have often been built with a tower, for purposes that have changed with time.
A drill tower is used for practicing high-rise rescue, while a hose tower is used for hanging
hoses to dry to prevent rot. Historically, towers were lookouts for spotting fires.
Activities at a fire station include regular inspection and cleaning of the apparatus and
equipment, and training drills in which the firefighters practice their skills. Some fire
companies also host public activities at the fire station during events such as a "fire
prevention week", and the facility may also be used for fund-raising by the "firemen's
association", "fire buffs", or "fire auxiliary".
Types of Fire station
Occupied stations
If the station is occupied full-time by career firefighters, it will contain living quarters and
work areas, where they wait until a callout comes through. Career firefighters are usually able
to sleep during a night shift, so these stations will also have dormitories. There will be an
alarm system to alert them of an emergency call, and to give some indication of where and
what the emergency is. In some small fire departments, the only alarm may be a telephone for
receiving calls.
Many fire stations were built with the living quarters above the garage. This arrangement is
common for fire stations built in a crowded city. The fireman's pole was invented to allow
fire-fighters to quickly descend to the garage. In modern times, agencies such as the National
Fire Protection Association have argued that these pose a safety hazard. [2] Modern fire
stations are often built with the living quarters on the same level as the garage.
Unoccupied stations
Some fire stations are not regularly occupied, with the fire fighting carried out
by volunteer or retained fire fighters. In this case, the fire-fighters are summoned to the fire
station by siren, radio or pagers, where they will then deploy the fire engine. These fire
stations may still have office space for the fire-fighters, a library of reference and other
materials, and a "trophy wall" or case where the fire-fighters display memorabilia.
