St. Louis Fire Department

The St. Louis Fire Department provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and rescue services to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The department is the second-oldest professional and fully paid fire department in the United States. The STLFD is responsible for and has a population of approximately 294,890 with a daytime population of over 2 million.
The Fire Department Division is a division of the St. Louis Public Safety Department.
The St. Louis Fire Department is led by the Fire Chief & Commissioner, currently Dennis M. Jenkerson. The Fire Chief & Commissioner is appointed by the Director of Public Safety and each bureau is commanded by a Deputy Fire Chief, who oversees the department's bureaus. Administrative Services, Fire Prevention, Operations, Support Services, Emergency Medical Services are the major operational units in the St. Louis Fire Department.

History

The first organized fire department in St. Louis was created in 1822, had several volunteer fire departments in the area. An ordinance was passed to purchase the equipment, which primarily consisted of leather buckets. When the alarm sounded, members of the department would fetch their bucket and rush to the scene. On September 14, 1857, the department transitioned to an all-paid department. The St. Louis Fire Department is the third oldest fully paid fire department, behind the Cincinnati Fire Department and the Providence Fire Department.

Specialized units

In addition to fire suppression and emergency medical services, the St. Louis Fire Department also has specialized units that include:

Aircraft Rescue Firefighting at St. Louis Lambert International Airport
Hazmat Task Force
Marine Operations with a Boston Whaler called the "Jack Buck" which is permanently moored on the Mississippi River, along with five other small rapidly deployable boats including the "Stan Musial".
Dive and Swift Water Rescue
High-Angle Rope Rescue
Trench and Collapse Rescue
Office of the Fire Chief & Commissioner

The Fire Chief & Commissioner serves as the senior sworn member of the STLFD. Prior to 1857, the position was known as the Fire Chief The Fire Chief & Commissioner is the overall person in charge of the Fire department.
Commissioner Dennis Jenkerson is the 10th individual to hold the post as Fire Chief & Commissioner.
The SLFD'S's organization consists of seven bureaus. These include the following:
Each bureau is commanded by a Deputy Chief or Deputy Fire Chief or Manager.

Bureau of Emergency Medical Services
Bureau of Prevention
Bureau of Communications
Bureau of Support Services
Bureau of Fire Inspections
Bureau of Fire Investigations
Bureau of Fire Suppression
Administration

Ranks of the STLFD

In the St. Louis Fire Department, helmet colors often denote a fire fighter's rank or position. In general, white helmets denote chief officers, while red helmets may denote company officers. The specific meaning of a helmet's color or style varies from region to region and department to department. The rank of an officer in the St. Louis Fire Department is most commonly denoted by a number of speaking trumpets, a reference to a megaphone-like device used in the early days of the fire service, although typically called "bugle" in today's parlance. Ranks proceed from one to five bugles.

Title	Insignia	Badge color	Notes
Fire Commissioner		Gold	The Fire Commissioner holds the rank of fire chief and is appointed by the Mayor of St. Louis. Highest rank in the St. Louis Fire Department.
Deputy Fire Commissioner		Gold	The Deputy Fire Commissioner holds the rank of Deputy Fire Chief and is appointed by the fire commissioner. Second in command in the fire department.
	-	-	-
Assistant Chief		Gold	The assistant chief is the commander of a bureau within the fire department.
Battalion Chief		Gold	The battalion chief is the commander of a battalion of fire stations and apparatus within his/her district.
Captain		Gold	A captain is in charge of a crew of firefighters in the fire station.
Lieutenant		Gold	A lieutenant is responsible for the administration and supervision of a fire company for fire suppression operations, hazardous material response, rescue operations, etc.
Engineer/Technician/Sergeant	No Insignia	Silver	Engineers/technicians/sergeants are responsible for firefighting vehicles, such as fire engines, that transport firefighters, carry equipment, and pump water at fire scenes.
Firefighter	No Insignia	Silver	A firefighter is a rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and animals from dangerous situations.
Candidate firefighter	No Insignia	-	The primary responsibility of a probationary or rookie firefighter is to learn how to be a firefighter. They are both mentored and closely inspected by other senior firefighters and the officers.

Note: In place of bugles, ladder companies are signified by axes, rescue companies by life guns, squad companies by crossed ladders and stacked tip nozzles, and marine companies by bugles with an anchor.
Media

The firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs of STLFD are featured in A&E Network's reality series Live Rescue.

Fallen Firefighters

From May 17, 1849, to Jan 13th, 2022, the Supporting Heroes Page reported that 171 Firefighters in the St. Louis Fire Department died in the line of duty.

Marine Division

image	name	commissioned	retired	dimensions	pumping capacity	notes
	Jack Buck	2003		27 feet	4000 gpm
	Stan Musial	2013		44-foot	7000 gpm

As of 2013, there are four small fireboats operated in St. Louis.
The largest two are named.
The Jack Buck was commissioned in 2003 and the Stan Musial in 2013.

Notable incidents

Great Fire of 1849

On May 17, 1849, at 9:00 p.m., an enormous fire broke out in the heart of St. Louis. A steamboat named "The White Cloud" sitting on Cherry Street was on fire. The Fire Department, which, at that time, consisted of 9 hand engines and hose reels, responded to the scene. The moorings holding the boat broke, and the steamer floated downstream, setting 22 other steamers on fire as it went.
The flames leaped from building to building, sweeping everything on the levee for four blocks. The firemen were exhausted after fighting for over eight hours. The entire business portion of the city appeared lost. In a last-ditch effort to save the city, six buildings were spread with explosive powder and blown up. When the fire was finally contained after 11 hours, 430 buildings were destroyed, 23 steamboats along with over a dozen other boats were lost, and three people had died, including a fire captain.

Stations and apparatus and Fire Boats

Below is a complete listing of all Fire Station and Apparatus Locations in the city of St. Louis by Battalion District, as of October 2019. In addition to the primary services The St. Louis Fire Department also provides structural fire protection, emergency medical services, rescue response, and aircraft rescue firefighting at St. Louis Lambert International Airport from the two fire stations located there.

Fire Station Number	Address	Neighborhood	Engine Company or Rescue Unit	Hook & Ladder Company, Truck Company or Crash Truck Units	Medic Unit	Special Unit	Chief Unit	Battalion
1		Benton Park	Engine 1			Rescue Squad 1 Collapse Rescue unit Strike Force 2	Battalion Chief 802	2
2		Downtown	Engine 2	Hook & Ladder 2	Medic 2	Chemical Unit 1 Air Truck Support Unit 7		2
4		Dutchtown		Truck 4			Battalion Chief 804	4
5		St. Louis Place		Hook & Ladder 1 Truck 5	Medic 5		Battalion Chief 801	1
6		Cheltenham	Engine 6			Marine Unit 1		3
7		Gate District		Truck 7		Fire Investigation Unit 821 Unified Command Unit 900	Deputy Chief 810	2
8		Hyde Park	Engine 8					1
9		Near North Riverfront	Engine 9		Medic 9			1
10		The Ville		Truck 10	Medic 10			1
11		Kosciusko		Truck 11		Marine Unit 2, Marine Unit 3, Marine Unit 4, Water Rescue Unit		2
12		Mark Twain		Hook and Ladder 6				6
13		Hamilton Heights		Truck 13	Medic 13			5
14		Tower Grove East	Engine 14		Medic 14			4
17		Grand Center		Truck 17				1
19		Boulevard Heights	Engine 19					4
20		North Riverfront		Truck 20		Battalion Chief 806		6
22		Hi-Pointe		Truck 22				3
23		Carondelet	Engine 23		Medic 23			4
24		Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial	Engine 24					6
26		Penrose	Engine 26		Medic 26			6
27		Walnut Park East		Truck 27				6
28		Fountain Park	Engine 28	Hook & Ladder 5		HatMat 1, HazMat 2	Battalion Chief 805	5
29		Midtown	Engine 29			Rescue Squad 2,		5
30		Skinker DeBaliviere		Truck 30				5
31		St. Louis Hills	Engine 31		Medic 31			3
32		Tower Grove East	Engine 32		Medic 32			4
33		Baden	Engine 33		Medic 33			6
34		Patch		Truck 34				4
35		Southwest Garden		Truck 35		Battalion 803		3
36		Princeton Heights		Hook & Ladder 3				3
North Fire Station		St. Louis Lambert International Airport	Rescue 42	Crash Truck 45		Haz-Mat. Unit 47, Battalion 808	Battalion Chief 808	8
West Fire Station		St. Louis Lambert International Airport	Rescue 49	Crash Truck 52 & 53, Hook & Ladder 40		Stairwell 53	Battalion Chief 808	8