FIRE DEPARTMENT WALKIE TALKIE CALLSIGNS / DESIGNATORS
Note - HT = Handie Talkie = Walkie Talkie = Portable Radio = Personal Portable Radio
Here are some callsigns / designators used by various public safety agencies.
Phoenix AZ - "Engine 10" is the officer on Engine Company 10 - "Pump 10" is the pump operator / driver / chauffeur / engineer - (25Jan01 - from the Phoenix FD website - each (?onduty) member has a portable radio - "Engine 10" is the officer - "Pump 10" is the driver - "Ladder 10" is the officer on Ladder 10 - "Truck 10" is the driver of Ladder 10 - "Engine 10 Smith" is Firefighter Smith on Engine 10 - "Engine 10 Gonzales is Firefighter Gonzales on Engine 10)
?Tempe AZ - "Mobile Engine 721" is the officer of Engine 721 who is assuming Command and entering the structure/participating in emergency operations while still directing operations (Jan01 - per Phoenix AZ FD website - this might be Glendale)
San Francisco CA - "Engine 1 A"
San Jose CA - "mobile Engine 1" is the officer on the HT from Engine 1
Southern CA - Engine 46 HT - Truck 9 HT
Coweta County GA - "portable 3" is the portable on Engine 3
Peachtree City GA - firefighters have 3 digit IDs
Savannah GA - "portable Engine 1" is the officer on the HT
Chicago IL - "78X" is the driver of Engine 78 on his HT
Boston MA - "Engine 2 portable" is the officer of Engine 2 on the HT - "Engine 2's pump" is the pump operator on the rig radio - "Engine 2" is the officer on the rig/vehicle/mobile/main radio - "Ladder 2 roof" is the 2nd HT on Ladder 2 - (Jan01 - I have recently heard "Engine 28 Hydrant" + "Tower ChaufFeur" + "Rescue 1 Roof")
Washington County MD - "Portable Truck 26 to Headquarters"
Saint Louis MO - "131" is the HT on Engine 31
Saint Louis area - "9457A" and "9457B" are HTs on rig 9457 (see below for more info)
Vicksburg MS - "Echo 4" is the HT on Engine 4
New Jersey - "H2" and "H3" are the HTs on Eng 2 and Eng 3
New York City - "Ladder 2" is the officer of Ladder 2 on his HT - "Engine 4 Alpha" or "Engine 4 Chauffeur" is the Motor Pump Operator on Engine 4 - "Rescue 1 OV" is the outside vent man on Rescue 1 - "Rescue 1 Roof" is the roof man on rescue 1 - engines have 3 HTs - ladders and rescues have HTs for all on duty firefighters
Tulsa OK - "E32W" is the HT/walkie-talkie on Engine 32 - "L31W" is the Ht on Ladder 31 - "Main" is the dispatcher [I am unsure if it is "Engine 32 W" or "E 32 W"]
I have more to dig up - I will enter them when I can - Take care - Peter S - [email protected] - 7/8/98
The URL for this item is www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3327/htcallsigns.html
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Additional info - July 13, 1998
Southern California - "Engine 46 HT" is the HT on Engine 46
Broward County FL - "Medic 11 Alpha" is the HT on Medic 11
Daytona Beach FL - "Talkie 6" is the Ht on Engine 6 - the pump operator is "Engine 6" - each firefighter has a 300 series number but names are usually used if extra HTs are in use
Chicago IL - "73X" is the engineer on Engine 73 - "Engine 73" is always the officer on Engine 73 - 681 and 682 are Jet Ranger helos
Indianapolis IN suburbs - each firefighter has a # - Sta 2 has firefighters 201,202,203,etc
Northern Ohio - Engine 123 portable - Engine 123 Lieutenant - Company 123
Charleston SC - "Medic 1W" and "Truck 1W" are HTs - medic units have 2 HTs - units operate on the county 800T system
Abilene TX - Engine 4 has 2 HTs ("T4" + "T4A") - "K1" is the HT on Truck 1
Austin TX - "Engine 2A" + "Medic 5A" are HTs
Dane County WI - "Engine 2 portable" - "Engine 8 officer"
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Continuing - April 7, 1999
Indianapolis IN - "Ladder 13 A" is the officer on Ladder 13 on his portable - other portables on Ladder 13 are - "Ladder 13 D" or "Ladder 13 David" for the engineer/driver - "Ladder 13 B" and "Ladder 13 C" for the two other firefighters on Ladder 13
Naugatuck CN - "Engine 4" = the officer on Engine 4 - "Engine 4-1" is the driver - "Engine 4-2, 4-3, 4-4" are the other portables on Engine 4
South Plattsburgh NY - "Portable (Truck #)"
Henderson AR - FD member # = portable #
Somerset PA - firefighters pager # or function are used to ID the portable
near Ann Arbor MI - portables on 141 are "141X" and "141 Double X"
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This next batch are taken from www.firehouse.com under the ?Dispatchers Forum
April 17, 1999 -
College Station TX - "L1" is Lieut on Eng 1 - "L2" is Lieut on Eng 2 - "L3" is Lieut on Eng 3 - "Ladder 1" is Lieut on Ladder 1
Bryan TX - "121A" + "121B" are the portable radios on Unit 121
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July 14, 1999
Orlando FL - 1 portable radio per onduty firefighter - "Engine 1 Officer" - "Engine 1 Engineer" - "Engine 1 Right Seat" - "Engine 1 Left Seat" - "Rescue 1 Driver" - "Rescue 1 Rider"
Dallas TX - 5 portable radios per rig - 1 per firefighter plus 1 spare in the glove box - "Eng12A" is driver/engineer - "Eng 12B" is officer - "Eng 12C" is 3rd man/hydrant man - "Eng 12D" is 4th man/nozzle man - "Truck 12A" is driver - "Truck 12B" is officer - "Truck 12C" is 3rd man/tools man - "Truck 12D" is 4th man/ladder man
San Diego CA - 1 800T HT + 1 VHF HT per rig
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July 1999 - Federal Way WA - 3 portables per engine - A is the officer - B is the driver - C is the hydrant man
Buffalo NY - new 423Mhz radio system - 4 HTs per rig - L13 Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta
Baltimore MD - per July 1999 Firehouse - each company now has 2 portable radios following implementation of a new 800T radio system - on the Engine companies, the officer and driver have the HTs
I have Atlanta GA somewhere - let me find them (?not in fireradio archives - 19 May 2001)
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Pinnelas County FL - Feb 2001 - from the [email protected] list
"L" is short for Lieutenant, as in "L9".� This would be the officer on Engine 9.� "T9" would be the officer on Truck 9.� And to make things even more confusing... if the officer on either the truck or the engine is a Captain, he still gets called either L9 or T9.
� "LR" units are in fact, Rescue Lieutenants.� They are the line officers directly supervising the Rescue personnel on the street.
----- Original Message -----
I started hearing the L recently too.� I'm guessing it means the Lieutenant is talking or they want to talk to him. LR is a Lieutenant Rescue which I'm not sure what the function really is.� I think they correspond with EMS X units in Orange county.
----- Original Message -----
Can anyone tell me what the "L" units are in reference to Pin Co FD? I know what a A.L.S. unit is, keep hearing L, LR, and LS.
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February 2001 - DC FD started to use its new 800TRS.
Each firefighter in D.C. has a radio. On Engine 10, they would identify as Engine 10's lineman, officer, layout, and wagon man. A truck would be officer, driver, tillerman, barman, and force-entry man. Rescue squads are often broken into teams such as search teams 1 and 2 and/or vent teams 1 and 2.
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February 2001 - Providence RI - Engine 1 A + B + C + D - A is officer - B is driver - C + D are jump seat firefighters
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19 May 2001
Arlington County VA - from their online Comms SOP - Engine 103 + Engine 103 Driver + Engine 103 Alpha + Engine 103 Bravo
Los Angeles City - Engine 78 Captain + Engine 78 Engineer + Engine 78 Nozzle Person + Engine 78 Hydrant Person
Detroit - no special ID for portable radio that is used by the officer - 154.40 is the primary fireground radio channel - some portables are now being equipped with 153.83
Montgomery County Maryland Fire uses the word "portable" in front of the unit number since most of the apparatus has only one portable radio. Those that have two, like trucks & squads, use "A" or "B" after the unit number. I recently read in our PS 2000 update info that there will be at least 3 radios on fire apparatus [on the new 800TRS]. They will use (If I remember correctly.) Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Tango (for tiller ladder trucks).[from Scan-DC May 2001]
Baltimore County Maryland - We use the Unit ID when all crew are present on apparatus ("Engine 1"). On the fireground, the Officer "Engine 1" and the drivers are either "Engine 1 mobile" or "Truck 1 operator". In accordance to IMS then the officer or crew would become the location that they are in: Roof Division - Charlie Division. Also the officer may secure a command section: Interior, Operations, etc. Basically it all depends on the situation. At my volunteer station my engine carries 2 portables, one for OIC and one for crewmember. The truck carries 3, 1 for OIC, 1 for Driver, 1 for crew member.
Hartford Connecticut - Hartford Engines have two or ?three portables. "Engine 12" would be the officer, then you will hear "Eng 12 pump", might be a portable or could be the pump panel handset (not sure), finally "Eng 12 hydrant". Usually company stays together so all that is heard is Eng 12 and 12 pump. Ladders use "Ladder 6" (officer) and "Ladder 6 roof". Two teams of two. Tac unit uses "Tac 1, Tac 1A, and Tac 1B". District Chief would be "District 2 and District 2A" (aide).
Ventura County CA : Each person on the engine has an HT, and when they step off the engine, their call becomes "Captain 51" "Engineer 51" and "Firefighter 51" respectively. The same thing with a truck... "Truck Captain 51" "Truck Engineer 51" "Firefighter Truck 51 A" "Firefighter Truck 51 B".
Los Padres Natl Forest CA : Just like every USFS engine, everyone has a radio, but only the captain and engineer have the 210 channel Bendix King (BK) radios. The crew members have 14 channel BKs. On the hotshot crews, there's 2 210 channel for the squad bosses, and 4 for the FF2's.
Los Angeles City FD - more - for the fictional Truck Company 22 : Truck 22 Captain, Truck 22 A/O (Apparatus Operator), Truck 22 Inside Person, Truck 22 Top Person, Truck 22 Tiller Person. "Battalion 2" plus "Battalion 2 Staff Assistant" or "Battalion 2 S/A".
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June 2001
Lawrence County Ohio - Rome Township apparatus are: Engine 13-2 + Engine 13-5 + Pumper 13-10 + Rescue 13-6 + Tanker 13-4 + Brush 13-8. "1300" is our Station - Proctorville is 1200, Chesapeake 300, on through the list in alphabetical order.� Aide Township is 100...there are 17 depts in the county. The one paid dept is "900",�a 24 man dept that covers within Ironton City limits. County Dispatch knows that 13-2 is a 5 man unit w/1000gpm pumping capacity.� And they know that Rescue 3-5 carries a mobile air station & is used for recon, Engine 12-2 is a E-one w/a deck gun...etc. Other Rome units are : 13 - zero 1 is the Chief, 13-02 is the Asst Chief, 13-03 is Deputy Chief.� Units 4 thru 10 are Capt, 10 thru 15 are Lts, higher than 15 are firefighters. All depts. use the same system through County 911.� The County FFs Association designed the system way back before 911 when we had an 800# dispatch called Fire Com. Now, on our local "fireground" channel, who knows .... that is a channel all our own, in our radios, or part of them, we havent' gotten them all converted yet. But usually it goes, "Hey Mike, give me more pressure" :o)� Setting up the scene, when we are still ON LINE [on the primary countywide repeater channel], the whole county can monitor, so "Engine 2" is asked to hit the hydrant [in other words - callsign usage is less formal on the local fireground channels]
In the St. Louis Metro Area the numbers are as follows: The numbering scheme for fire agencies within St. Louis County employs a four digit identification. The first two numbers identify the agency. The third digit indicates the station where the apparatus is housed. The last digit indicates the type of apparatus as idicated below: 0 - Pumper 1 - Pumper 2 - Aerial, Pumper/Aerial, or Quint 3 - Tanker or Pumper/Tanker 4 - Rescue Pumper 5 - Pumper/Rescue/Aerial 6 - Rescue Squad 7 - Ambulance 8 - Brush Unit 9 - Specialized Equipment. All reserve equipment is identified with a 9 in the third slot. Apparatus with an 89 in the third and fourth slots are Air Cascades. Boats are identified with an 99 in the third and fourth slots. The walkie talkies are identified by using "A" for the Officer,� "B" for the Driver, "C" for the Firefighter and so on.� The letters go in the counter clockwise order. Please check out the website below for more information on the St. Louis Metro Area Fire Departments. http://stlmetrofire.8k.com/
Pitt County North Carolina - as an example - FD # 12 has Eng 1201, 1202, 1203 + Tanker 1204, 1205 + Equipment Trucks 1206, 1207, 1208 + Brush Trucks 1209, 1210 + Chief 1220 + First Assistant Chief 1221 + 2nd Assistant Chief 1222 + 3rd Assistant Chief 1223 + Captains 1224, 1225, 1226 + Lieutenants 1227, 1228, 1229 + Firefighters 1230 to 1257 (firefighters only transmit on local / tactical channels) - Rescue Squad 12 would have Captain 1260 + First Lieutenant 1261 + Second Lietenant / Training Officer 1261 + Crash truck 1270 + others.
Minneapolis MN - Generally it's pretty KISS. Here's the radio complement: Engine - 1 portable (carried by Capt) + 1 base unit on rig. (Lately only been riding 2 FF + Capt) : Ladder - 2 portables (1 carried by Capt, 1 carried by Till Driver) + 1 base unit on rig. (3 FF + Capt) : I believe the new Rescue-One truck has three portables. I think they ride 4 or 5 FF's, so they still don't have one per FF.
As far as radio callsigns, usually it's just "Engine 1 to Engine 1 portable".
In the case of the Ladder (with more then one portable), they're doing it like this:
"Ladder 3" - base unit on rig
"Ladder 3 Alpha" - Capt
"Ladder 3 Bravo" - Till Driver
The scene commander is always refered to on the radio as the "IC". Recently they added a new safety person - "ISO" - Incident Safety Officer, this was done after the FF fatal's in Mass and Keokuk Iowa.
In large structure fires - multiple alarms, they'll have a "Interior Sector commander" and exterior "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta sectors" corresponding to the 4 sides of the building.
Don't know much about St Paul, but I think it's pretty similar. One difference is that St Paul regularly uses it's 3 channels. Rig's responding to a fire will switch to channel 2 for fireground.
Mpls pretty much only switches to 2 channels if it's a muliple alarm. The new 3rd channel ("chan 5") they added is very rarely used.
Kern County California - In Kern County, the county fire has a UHF and a VHF mobile radio in each piece of equipment. They also have 1 VHF H/T and up to 4 UHF H/T's depending on how many people are on the apparatus. UHF is county dispatch, and the VHF are for talking to Bakersfield city fire and for mutual aid.
Los Angeles County California - Each L.A. County Fire apparatus has 2 mobile radios, 1 UHF, and 1 VHF. They are programmed with all LA Co frequencies and most of the other So. Cal. fire frequencies for mutual and auto aid use. There is 1 UHF handheld radio and as many VHF handhelds as there are post positions (positions regularly assigned to that particular apparatus, i.e. Capt, Engineer, and FF (s). The company is identified by the type of apparatus and the station where it is housed; "engine 44, squad 32, truck 29" etc. When companies are talking amongst themselves they are identified by their rank and company; "firefighter 44 from engineer 44".
26 June 2001 - Milwaukee WI FD - 2 portables per Engine - "Engine 1" and "Engine 1 HEO" (heavy equipment operator / driver)
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Tucson Arizona - from the 26 March 01 [email protected]
How many portable radios per rig? What callsigns are used? (Eng 1A + Eng 1B + Eng 1C? etc)
Answer - Typically, three. One rig mounted and two portables. The captain or the crew as a whole is IDed as Engine 1 or Ladder 10 as examples. On-scene the captain stays with the Engine 1 or Ladder 10 call sign, but the Engineer (driver/pump operator) is Pumper 1 or Truck 10. The remainder of the crew (2 firefighters) use Engine 1 Crew or Ladder 10 Crew as a call sign. There are exceptions to the # and types of radios carried. HazMat and Technical Rescue crews carry additional handheld radios. Battalion Chiefs carry 1 rig mounted and 2 handhelds. Crews in urban interface areas also carry VHF wildland radios w/ primarily state freqs. All vehicles have a rig mounted VHF radio connected to GPS receivers for the AVL system and an 800mhz radio for the MDT system.
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Seattle FD - from their Procedures Manual on their website - Engine 2 - Engine 2 Apparatus - Engine 2 Team A (officer plus firefighter) - Engine 2 Team B (2 crew members) - Ladder 6 - Ladder 6 Officer - Ladder 6 Driver - Ladder 6 Position 3 - Ladder 6 Position 4 - apparently the driver on the rigs uses the mobile radio on the rig and not a portable radio
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Denton County Texas - Double Oak FD - For day to day communications, everyone has a unique ID number that we use on the radio...ex. "Firefighter 569 to Captain 552." When on a call, we use the apparatus id number plus a letter pertaining to what seat we are riding it...ex "Engine 552A (officer), Engine 552B (firefighter).
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North County FPD in San Diego County CA - each Engine has 3 VHF portables - each Medic units has 2 VHF portables - each unit also has 1 800 Mhz portable - VHF portables are now Bendix King (they are in the shop a lot) - future portables will be Kenwoods - 800 Mhz portables are primarily used by Medic units to talk to Hospitals - the portable radio on Medic Engine 1111 is called Portable 1111 (other HTs have no special IDs)
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Anne Arundel County Maryland - since the local volunteer fire companies have to buy their own radios, each Engine has just 1 portable 800 Mhz radio. There is no special ID / callsign for the portable radios.
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Pinellas County Florida - each FD has different numbers of portable radios per vehicle - some units have 2 - some have 3 - some have 4 - the officer on Engine 38 would call himself "L38" when on his portable radio (short for Lieutenant 38) - "Engine 38 Driver" (or maybe "E 38 Driver") would be the ID for the driver / operator / chauffeur / motor pump operator / engineer on Engine 38
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Orange County California -
A regular 3 man BLS engine or truck has one portable that the captain carries. It's name is the unit and the word "portable". For example, if engine 31 wanted to contact their portable they would come up on the freq and say, "engine 31 portable from engine 31".
A 4 man paramedic engine or truck has 2 portables, one for the captain and one for the paramedics. The captain's radio is used the same as above. The paramedics only use their radio for communicating with the hospitals and their name would be the unit. For example, "Mission Hospital from engine 31".
A 2 man van has 2 portables and they can be used both ways that are describe above. For example, medic 31 could have one paramedic talking to fire dispatch about needing additional fire units; and the other medic could be treating the patient and talking to the hospital. Both are called medic 31 because they are on different frequencies.
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Last Update - April 17, 1999 - 7/15/99 - 25Jan01 (Phnx + Mesa) - 15Feb01 - Pinn Co FL - 29Feb01 - DC + Prov RI - 19May2001 - Arl Co VA + Detroit MI + Los Angeles + Mont Co MD + Balt Co MD + Hartford CN ++ - June 2001 - Minneapolis + Los Angeles County + Kern County + Milwaukee - July 2001 - Tucson + Seattle + Denton Co TX + N Co CA + Pinn Co FL + AA co MD + Or Co CA
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