Safety in our Neighborhood Children's Web Site: Welcome

A Montgomery County Maryland Web Site

Explore the Firehouse

The alarm sounds. Firefighters hurry into their turnout gear, helmets, and boots. Fire trucks respond to the fire... every second counts! But this is not where the important job of a firefighter begins or ends. Before firefighters ever respond to an alarm, they have spent months in training. Climbing ladders, navigating thru thick smoke, temperatures in the hundreds and using special equipment- it's all just part of a regular day for firefighters in Montgomery County, Maryland.

In Montgomery County, we have both career and volunteer firefighters who do a lot more than just put out fires. All of our firefighters are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). They respond to emergency situations and perform complex, and often lifesaving medical procedures before a patient even gets transported to the hospital. Since 80% of our 911 calls in montgomery County are for medical emergencies, EMTs and paramedics are busy men and women with very important jobs.

Ever wonder what happens inside a fire station in your neighborhood? Come inside and visit!

Instructions

Use your mouse to select a room inside the firehouse for more information!

Kitchen

They live together, work together and cook together! Every firehouse has a kitchen and some of the
best food in town is cooked here. The kitchen is always bustling with activity and just like your house,
dinner is where everyone comes together. And just like your family, firefighters have chores and they
all work together to get everything done. They clean, shop for food, and do dishes all between
running calls and working in the community.

Workout Room

Firefighting is a physically demanding job and firefighters are placed under extreme physical demands to perform at peek performance. All fire stations have workout
rooms so that firefighters can exercise and stay in shape between calls, training
and other duties.

Bunkrooms

Since most firefighters and paramedics in montgomery County, maryland work a 24-hour shift, it's important that they have a place to rest at night between calls. While it is rare that they actually 'sleep' thru the night, rest is very important for these hardworking men and women between night time calls.

Who else lives at the firehouse besides firefighters?

At some firehouses, you may see a dog! Dogs are very important members of the fire department team and training begins when they are just puppies. These dogs are especially trained to be arson or search and rescue dogs. They go to school just like you to learn new skills. Only about 8-10 dogs are qualified to be part of this elite fleet of canines. These dogs are very talented and hardworking heroes of our fire department.

Locker Rooms

Men and women have separate locker rooms at the firehouse. Since firefighters work in all kinds of weather and situations, they often need to get cleaned up. Sometimes they need to jump in the shower to clean up after a big fire or training exersize. Showers have to be quick because you never know when the bell will ring and you will be back on the road.

FireFighter Gear

Firefighters often have to navigate through thick smoke in temperatures in the hundreds of degrees. their equipment and gear ar edesigned for the work they do and constructed to protect against extreme heat, flames, and smoke. Usually reffered to as "turnout gear," it consists of gloves, jackets, pants, heat protected hood, air pack, and helmet and is designed to withstand high temperatures.

Training Rooms

Firefighters and paramedics are always learning. Some fire stations have classrooms and others have dining rooms that double as training rooms. Here, personnel watch training videos, learn new skills, or study for tests.

Firefighters do a lot more than just put out fires. In Montgomery County, Maryland all firefighters are also EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians).

EMTs have various levels of training. Some drive ambulances, assist in rescues and perform basic emergency care. Paramedics are EMTs with the highest level of training. They respond to emergency situations and perform complex, and often lifesaving medical procedures before a patient even gets transported to the hospital. They use radios to communicate important information about the patient to hospital physicians. Since 80% of the 911 calls in Montgomery County are EMS/medical calls, EMTs are very busy people with very imporatnt jobs.

Ready, set, go!

Firefighters usually have 60 - 90 seconds to get in their gear and out the door. Fire trucks and ambulances do not leave the station until everyone on board has fastened their seatbelts - just lioke when you leave home!

Interesting Fact:

Fire poles are not as common as they once were. Initially designed to speed the response of firefighters but concerns about safety, faster ways to get to the ground floor, and construction trends involving single story fire stations have resulted in the elimination of most fire poles.

Watch Office

The Watch Office is the heart of the firehouse. This is where all calls are monitored, reports are filed for each call that the fire station responds to, a calendar of all activities are kept and log books containing firehouse and community events are maintained. Firefighters get a lot of mail, and it's all sorted here.

How do firefighters know
when to respond?

When a call comes into the Emergency Operations Center, the call taker listens carefully to quickly determine what type of emergency it is. They then consult computers to determine the best, and closest ,unit(s) to respond to the emergency. With a click of the mouse, station alerting goes into efect and the fire station's bells and buzzers ring. Even the lights in the fire station go on if it's nighttime and it's impossible to sleep through all that! At the same time, a report is sent to the printer at the Watch Office and a copy is sent electronically to the computer in the fire truck or ambulance so they know where they are going and any details about the emergency they are responding to.