What do firefighters say when there is a fire?

Answer 1

Firefighters use a variety of words and descriptions when they arrive at a fire. Each department uses different protocols and words or 10 codes to report a fire.

When a fire is dispatched, some departments generally use phrases such as "structure fire", "residential fire", "commercial fire", or "auto fire" and very blatantly describe what is on fire. Other departments use color code based phrases that are very general and say for instance "code red." The "code red" acknowledges there is a fire and upon arrival the first people on scene will give more detail back to their dispatch or command. Coded colors are very common and are used by many different organizations so many people quickly know what is going on. The most common known code is a "code blue" when a patient is in cardiac arrest, "code red" meaning a fire. Other departments use 10-codes to state there is a fire. For example in many departments a "10-75" spoken as "ten-seventy-five" is sating thee is a working structure fire.

Once on scene National Fire and Protection Agency (NFPA) standards state that upon arrival to the fire a "scene size-up" should be given. Details of what is included in the size up change depending on the department, however the most common things reported are as follows. 1) Is smoke or fire showing? 2) How involved is the fire and general description 3) Is it residential or commercial. 4) What type of structure including building materials and numbers of floors.

An example of this would sound like the following:

Chief 1 is on scene reporting heavy smoke and fire pushing from the second floor of a residential wood frame triple decker house.

Every department is different and has different protocols however these are some general descriptions of firefighting operations.

Answer 2

They go on scene in a big RED truck with sirens and lights on sure they can get by cars fast enough....