Reading Fire Department
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Reading Fire Department provides
fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially Conflagration, destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, Compartmentalization (fire protection), compartmentalisation, suppression and inve ...
and
emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...
to the city of
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. 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 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 respo ...
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 apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...
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. 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