The Reading Fire Department provides

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

and

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

to the city of Reading,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The department is responsible for approximately with a population of just under 100,000 .

History

The Reading Fire Department was formed on March 17, 1773 as a volunteer fire department known as the ''Rainbow Volunteer Fire Company''. By 1914 the department had grown to include 14 separate volunteer companies. Today, the department operates out of 7

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 ...

s, including 1 EMS Station. Beginning in April 2011 Engines 13 and 14 were disbanded due to budget cuts. Starting June 30, 2015 the city will also be disbanding its non-emergency transport division which had been available to assist in transporting those confined to a

wheeled chair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries (paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebral pa ...

. As of January 1, 2016, the department is now a fully career department. As of February 12, 2020 the volunteer SCUBA team has been disbanded.

Stations and apparatus

, below is a complete list of the stations and apparatus. Staffing is only two (2) firefighters per apparatus.

References

{{Pennsylvania fire departments Fire departments in Pennsylvania Reading, Pennsylvania