Harrisburg Bureau of Fire (HBF) is a firefighting agency that is located in and serves Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is a career firefighting agency with at least 15 firefighters and fire officers on duty at any given time, supplemented with volunteer staffing as well. Everyday duties for the Bureau include fire suppression, emergency medical services, tactical rescue, urban search and rescue, water rescue, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, fire codes enforcement, and public safety educations.

History

Governor Wolf Attends Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Association Meeting

Though a volunteer

bucket brigade A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next. The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...

was established in 1791 (and several other temporary ones existed throughout the 19th century), the first hose companies with carriages were formed in 1841 following the installation of the city's

water system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...

. On December 1, 1913 following the passing of Clark Act to restructure Pennsylvania cities, the Bureau was named so under the Department of Public Safety (headed by the Mayor). Despite this technicality, it is not uncommon to hear "Harrisburg Fire Department" instead of "Bureau." In 2018, the city approved a budget of 10.1 million dollars, along with a ''Future of Fire'' report stating the need for updated equipment and apparatuses in the next 10 years. In January 2019, the city announced its plan to purchase 12 new pieces of apparatus from 2020 through 2035.

Operations

Specialty units

* HAZMAT unit; the HBF is the home station for Hazmat 77 which is housed at Station 1. HAZMAT 77 was recently moved to Dauphin county hazmat teams new station and the team moved HAZMAT 77-3 to station 1. Hazmat 77 is a part of the Dauphin County Hazmat team. * Urban search and rescue unit; Harrisburg is mostly urban with small patches of wooded areas and parks throughout. In 1983 the HBF formed an urban search and rescue unit with two

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marked trucks. This team is made up of numerous department employees as well as dozens of civilian volunteers. * Marine rescue unit; the marine rescue unit is make up of one

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 equipme ...

and three smaller rescue boats. Due to Harrisburg's proximity to the Susquehanna River the HBF often respond to emergencies in the water. Majority of which include missing swimmers/sportsmen and vehicles which entered the water. This unit is made up of department volunteers and is located at station 8 due to its proximity to the waterfront. The marine unit can respond anywhere along the cities waterfront within 15 minutes of a call.

Stations and apparatus

* Station 1: 1820 N. 6th Street * Station 2: 140 N. 16th Street * Station 8: 9 S. 13th Street * Department of Public Safety HQ/de facto Station 4: 123 Walnut Street (

Vance C. McCormick Vance Criswell McCormick (June 19, 1872 – June 16, 1946) was an American politician and prominent businessman from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He served as mayor of Harrisburg from 1902 to 1905 and as United States Democratic National Committee ...

Public Service Center) The Bureau has over 30 apparatuses, trucks, and vans. The HBF fleet contains

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and

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firefighting apparatus and Freightliner ambulances. The truck and SUV brands used by the department include

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and Chevrolet.

Fallen firefighters

References