The Louisville Division of Fire, commonly known as the Louisville Fire Department or Louisville Fire & Rescue (abbreviated LFD or LFR), is the sole

fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

agency for the city of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and is one of nineteen

fire department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

s within the Louisville-Jefferson County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

metropolitan area. The Louisville Division of Fire is the second largest fire department in

behind Lexington Fire Department. The Louisville Division of Fire responded to 31,836 incidents in 2013. the Chief of Department was Gregory Frederick.

History

The Louisville Fire Department is the third oldest all-paid staff fire department in the nation. The first

fire brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

s established in Louisville were in 1780, two years after the city's creation. The first

firehouse __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective eq ...

s in Louisville were

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

s scattered throughout the city until June 1, 1858, when the city took control and replaced the hand engines with five

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s and

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

s with paid staff. There were initially three

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

s, 65 full-time

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s, and 23

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

Operations

The Louisville Division of Fire currently operates out of 21 fire stations, located throughout the city in 4

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s. Each battalion is commanded by a

battalion chief A battalion chief is the rank and title of a subordinate fire chief or commanding officer in the firefighting command structure. The title of battalion chief is usually synonymous with firefighting in the United States and Canada. A battalion chi ...

. The 4 battalions are under the command of a citywide tour commander each shift. The Louisville Division of Fire operates 18 engine companies, 8 truck companies (including 3 quints), 2 rescue companies, 3

HazMat Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...

units, 3

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

s, 1

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a ma ...

unit, 3 utility mule ATVs, and numerous special, support, and reserve units. Rescue Company 2 (housed with, and staffed by, the crews of Engine 2 and Truck 1) provides high-angle and dive rescue services. Rescue Company 11 (housed with, and staffed by, the crew of Quint 7) provides trench and structural collapse rescue services.

Hazardous materials Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...

incidents are handled by Haz-Mat Companies 1, 19, and 21. Haz-Mat Company 1 is housed with Engine 1 adjacent the

Louisville International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport , formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers and has three runways. Its IATA airport code ...

, Haz-Mat Company 19 is housed with Engine 19 in the city's west side, near the Rubbertown area, which is home to many industrial plants, and Haz-Mat Company 21 is housed with Engine 21 on the city's northeast side, near downtown.

Stations and apparatus

Below is a list of stations and apparatus in use by the Louisville Division of Fire.

References

{{Kentucky fire departments

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

Fire departments in Kentucky Organizations established in 1858 1858 establishments in Kentucky

History

Operations

Stations and apparatus

See also

References