St. Louis Fire Department

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 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 319,294 with a daytime population over 2 million and with events going on.[1] The department is a division of the Public Safety Department - City of St. Louis.

St. Louis Fire Department

"Justifiably Proud"
Operational area
Country	United States
State	Missouri
City	St. Louis
Agency overview[1][2]
Established	September 14, 1857 (1857-09-14) (163 years ago)
Annual calls	116,000 (2020)
Employees	777 (2020) 586 - Uniformed 191 - Civilian [3]
Annual budget	$82,000,000 mil.USD [FY 2020] [3]
Staffing	Career
Commissioner	Dennis Jenkerson
Fire captain	Garon Mosby
EMS level	ALS & BLS
IAFF	73
Facilities and equipment[4]
Battalions	7
Stations	30
Engines	25
Trucks	95
Platforms	6
Quints	20
Squads	2
Rescues	3
Ambulances	10
Tenders	0
HAZMAT	3
USAR	1
Airport crash	2
Helicopters	2
Fireboats	2
Rescue boats	4
Light and air	2
Website
Official website
IAFF website

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 Mayor 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.

Departmental 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 second oldest fire department, second only to Cincinnati.[9]

Specialized units

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

• Aircraft Rescue Firefighting at St. Louis Lambert International Airport
• Hazmat Task Force
• Marine Operations with a Boston Whaler called the "Jack Buck, & Stan Musial" which is permanently moored on the Mississippi River, along with five other small *Rapidly deployable boats.
• Dive & Swift Water Rescue
• High-Angle Rope Rescue
• Trench & Collapse Rescue

Fire Administration

The St. Louis Fire Department is headed by a Commissioner of Fire . 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

Command Staff	Title & Department
Michael Arras	Deputy Fire Commissioner - Bureau of Fire Suppression
Steve Kotraba	Deputy Fire Chief - Bureau of EMS
Charles E. Coyle	Deputy Chief - Bureau of Prevention
Michael Richardson	Battalion Chief - Bureau of Communications
Ray Daniels	Fire Captain - Bureau of Fire Inspections
Adam Owens	Chief Fire Investigator - Bureau of Fire Investigation
Steve Simpson	Battalion Chief - Bureau of Airport Fire

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, but 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 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.

Title	Insignia	Badge color	Notes
Fire Commissioner (rank of Fire Chief)		Gold	Appointed by the Director of Public Safety. Highest rank in the St. Louis Fire Department.
Deputy Fire Commissioner (rank of Deputy Fire Chief)		Gold	Appointed by the Fire Commissioner. Second in command in the Fire Department.
Deputy Fire Chief		Gold	Commander of a Bureau within the fire department
Battalion Chief		Gold	Commander of a battalion within their district
Captain		Gold	Is in charge of a crew of Firefighters in the fire station
Lieutenant		Gold	Is responsible for the administration and supervision of a fire company for fire suppression operations, hazardous material response, rescue operations.
Engineer/Technician/Sergeant	No Insignia	Silver	Responsible for firefighting vehicles, such as fire engines, that transport firefighters, carry equipment and pump water at fire scenes.
Firefighter	No Insignia	Silver	Is a rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and animals from dangerous situations.
Candidate firefighter	No Insignia	None	The primary responsibility of a probationary or rookie firefighter is to learn how to be a firefighter, and they are both mentored and closely inspected by other senior firefighters and the officers.

• Note: In place of Bugle(s) Captains and Lieutenants assigned to: Ladder Companies are signified by axe(s), Rescue Companies by Life gun(s), Squad Companies by crossed Ladder(s) and Stacked Tip Nozzle(s) and Marine Companies by Bugle(s) with 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 Jul 12th, 2017, the Supporting Heroes Page reported that 169 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

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

Main article: St. Louis Fire (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 down stream 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, after fighting for over eight hours, were completely exhausted. The entire business portion of the city appeared lost. In a last ditch effort to save the city, 6 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 3 people had died including a Fire Captain.[16]

Stations and apparatus

As of October 2019, below is a complete listing of all Fire Station and Apparatus Locations in the city of St. Louis according to Battalion District & 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 two fire stations located at the airport. [17][18]

Fire Station Number	Address	Neighborhood	Engine Company or Rescue (Mini Pumper) Unit	Hook & Ladder Company,Quint Company,Crash Truck or Truck Company	Medic Unit	Special Unit	Chief Unit	Battalion
1	2910 S. Jefferson Avenue	Benton Park	Engine 1			Rescue Squad 1 Collapse Rescue unit Strike Force 2	Battalion 802	2
2	314 S. Tucker Blvd	Downtown	Engine 2	Hook & Ladder 2	Medic 2	Transport Bus 888 Air Truck Support Unit 7	Battalion 802	2
4	4425 S. Compton Avenue	Dutchtown		Quint 4			Battalion 804	4
5	2123 North Market Street	St. Louis Place		Hook & Ladder 1 Truck 5	Medic 5		Battalion 801	1
6	5747 Manchester Avenue	Cheltenham	Engine 6			Marine Unit 1		3
7	2600 LaSalle Street	Gate District		Quint 7		Fire Investigation Unit 821 Unified Command Unit 900	Deputy Chief 810	2
8	1501 Salisbury Street	Hyde Park	Engine 8					1
9	814 LaBeaume Avenue	Near North Riverfront		Quint 9	Medic 9			1
10	4161 Kennerly Avenue	The Ville		Quint 10	Medic 10			1
11	2224 S. 7th Street	Kosciusko		Quint 11		Foam Truck 2, Marine Unit 2,Marine Unit 3, Marine Unit 4, Water Rescue Unit		2
12	5214 W. Florissant Avenue	Mark Twain		Quint 12				6
13	1400 Shawmut Place	Hamilton Heights		Quint 13 , Truck 13	Medic 13			5
14	3523 Magnolia Avenue	Tower Grove East		Quint 14	Medic 14			4
17	3238 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd	Grand Center		Quint 17				1
19	6624 Morgan Ford Road	Boulevard Heights		Quint 19				4
20	5600 Prescott Avenue	North Riverfront		Quint 20		Foam Truck 1	Battalion 806	6
22	1229 McCausland Avenue	Hi-Pointe		Quint 22				3
23	6500 Michigan Avenue	Carondelet	Engine 23		Medic 23	Foam Truck 3		4
24	5245 Natural Bridge Avenue	Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial	Engine 24					6
26	4520 Margaretta Avenue	Penrose	Engine 26		Medic 26			6
27	5435 Partridge Avenue	Walnut Park East		Quint 27				6
28	4810 Enright Avenue	Fountain Park	Engine 28	Hook & Ladder 5		HatMat 1, HazMat 2	Battalion 805	5
29	200 S. Vandeventer Avenue	Midtown		Quint 29		Rescue Squad 2, Foam Truck 4		5
30	541 DeBaliviere Avenue	Skinker DeBaliviere		Quint 30				5
31	4408 Donovan Avenue	St. Louis Hills	Engine 31		Medic 31			3
32	3500 S. Grand	Tower Grove East	Engine 32		Medic 32 Reserve			4
33	8300 N. Broadway	Baden		Quint 33	Medic 33			6
34	8227 S. Broadway	Patch		Quint 34				4
35	5450 Arsenal Street	Southwest Garden		Quint 35 ,Truck 35		Battalion 803		3
36	5000 S. Kingshighway Blvd	Princeton Heights		Quint 36, Hook & Ladder 3				3
North Fire Station	6171 Aviation Drive	St. Louis Lambert International Airport	Rescue 42 (Mini-Pumper)	Crash Truck 45		Haz-Mat. Unit 47 , Battalion 808	Battalion 808	8
West Fire Station	4578 Fee Fee Rd	St. Louis Lambert International Airport	Rescue 49 (Mini-Pumper)	Crash Truck 52 & 53 , Hook & Ladder 40		Stairwell 53	Battalion 808	8

References

1. "About". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
2. "2015 Budget" (PDF). St. Louis. Retrieved 26 May 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 26 May 2015.
5. "St. Louis Fire Department". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 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 10 July 2019.
8. "Volunteer Department". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
9. "History". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
10. "About us - St. Louis Fire Department". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 27 Nov 2016.
11. "St. Louis Fire Department to be featured on A&E's 'Live Rescue' Monday night". KSDK.
12. "Saint Louis Fire Department (MO)". Supporting Heroes. April 27, 2016.
13. Brett Blume (2012-05-24). "New Rescue Boats To Patrol St. Louis Riverfront". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
14. "St. Louis Fire Department names newest marine unit "The Stan Musial"". Fox News. 2013-09-29. Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. 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.
15. Bob Hamilton (2013-09-29). "St. Louis Fire Department Getting New Boat". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2013-09-30. 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.
16. "Great Fire". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
17. "Station Locations". St. Louis Fire Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
18. "Firehouse Locations". stlouis-mo.gov. Retrieved 3 May 2020.