Firefighting in the context of Fire station

A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) is any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services.

A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations in a fire drill. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.

Many fire engines are based on a commercial vehicle chassis that is further upgraded and customized for firefighting requirements. They are generally considered emergency vehicles authorized to be equipped with emergency lights and sirens, as well as communication equipment such as two-way radios and mobile computer technology.

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

Fire departments are most commonly a public sector organization that operate within a municipality, county, state, nation, or special district. Private and specialist firefighting organizations also exist, such as those for aircraft rescue and firefighting.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is a uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services, and coordinates national civil defence programme.

A conflagration is a particularly large and destructive fire. In the built environment, this may describe a fire that spreads via structure to structure ignition due to radiant or convective heat, or ember transmission. Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A conflagration can begin accidentally or be intentionally created (arson). A very large fire can produce a firestorm, in which the central column of rising heated air induces strong inward winds, which supply oxygen to the fire. Conflagrations can cause casualties including deaths or injuries from burns, collapse of structures and attempts to escape, and smoke inhalation.

Firefighting is the practice of extinguishing a conflagration, protecting life and property and minimizing damage and injury. One of the goals of fire prevention is to avoid conflagrations. When a conflagration is extinguished, there is often a fire investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Monaco is a firefighting and civil defense department of Monaco. The Department is responsible for fighting fires and risks of all kinds, providing personal assistance and protecting property on the territory of the Principality of Monaco and neighboring French municipalities (Cap d'Ail, Beausoleil and part of Roquebrune Cap Martin) on the basis of a 1970 bilateral Mutual Assistance Agreement.

A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in public safety and emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical emergencies, road traffic collisions and other emergencies that threaten life, property and the environment, as well as to rescue persons from confinement or dangerous situations and preserve evidence.

Firefighters may also provide ordinance regulations, safety requirements, and administrative public functions for the communities and areas they are subject to jurisdiction to. Male firefighters are sometimes referred to as firemen (and, less commonly, female firefighters as firewomen).

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that occurred in central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.

The fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of removing structures in the fire's path, was critically delayed by the hesitation of the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over nearly the whole city, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall Palace. Coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously getting underway. The battle to put out the fire is considered to have been won by two key factors: the strong east wind dropped, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks, halting further spread eastward.

A fire command vehicle, also called a fire chief car, battalion chief vehicle, or fly car, is a vehicle used by a senior officer of a fire department to respond to firefighting incidents. Its markings typically indicate the rank of the senior officer.

In the 19th century, fire chief vehicles were horse-drawn, and known as a chief's buggy. With the advent and rise of the automobile, most fire departments retired their chief's buggies for automobiles with proper markings.

Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the available fuel, the local atmospheric conditions, the features of the terrain, and the size of the wildfire. Because of this wildfire suppression in wild land areas usually requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas. Working in conjunction with specially designed aerial firefighting aircraft, fire engines, tools, firefighting foams, fire retardants, and using various firefighting techniques, wildfire-trained crews work to suppress flames, construct fire lines, and extinguish flames and areas of heat in order to protect resources and natural wilderness. Wildfire suppression also addresses the issues of the wildland–urban interface, where populated areas border with wild land areas.

In the United States and other countries, aggressive wildfire suppression aimed at minimizing fires has often protected and saved significant wildlands, but has sometimes contributed to accumulation of fuel loads, increasing the risk of large, catastrophic fires.

Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) is a type of firefighting that involves the emergency response, mitigation, evacuation, and rescue of passengers and crew of aircraft involved in aviation accidents and incidents.

Airports with scheduled passenger flights are obliged to have firefighters and firefighting apparatus on location ready for duty any time aircraft operate. Airports may have regulatory oversight by an arm of their individual national governments or voluntarily under standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such as in crowded harbors or narrow canals, or cannot move at all, such as barges, disabled ships, log rafts, or oil platforms. Some are ocean-going, and some are icebreakers or salvage tugs. Early models were powered by steam engines, which were later superseded by diesel engines. Many have deluge gun water jets, which help in firefighting, especially in harbours.

A rescuer is a person who saves something from harm or danger. They are trained in some combination of technical rescue, diver rescue, mountain rescue, extrication rescue, and advanced firefighting. The term is commonly used with people who are doing a rescue and in some careers use "Rescuer" as the job title.

The main job of a rescuer is to save lives in a dangerous environment.

A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which has reached the ceiling, endangers the user (i.e., no escape route, smoke, explosion hazard, etc.), or otherwise requires the equipment, personnel, resources or expertise of a fire brigade. Typically, a fire extinguisher consists of a hand-held cylindrical pressure vessel containing an agent that can be discharged to extinguish a fire. Fire extinguishers manufactured with non-cylindrical pressure vessels also exist, but are less common.

There are two main types of fire extinguishers: stored-pressure and cartridge-operated. In stored-pressure units, the expellant is stored in the same chamber as the firefighting agent itself. Depending on the agent used, different propellants are used. With dry chemical extinguishers, nitrogen is typically used; water and foam extinguishers typically use air. Stored pressure fire extinguishers are the most common type. Cartridge-operated extinguishers contain the expellant gas in a separate cartridge that is punctured before discharge, exposing the propellant to the extinguishing agent. This type is not as common, used primarily in areas such as industrial facilities, where they receive higher-than-average use. They have the advantage of simple and prompt recharge, allowing an operator to discharge the extinguisher, recharge it, and return to the fire in a reasonable amount of time. Unlike stored pressure types, these extinguishers use compressed carbon dioxide instead of nitrogen, although nitrogen cartridges are used on low-temperature (–60 rated) models. Cartridge-operated extinguishers are available in dry chemical and dry powder types in the U.S. and water, wetting agent, foam, dry chemical (classes ABC and B.C.), and dry powder (class D) types in the rest of the world.

Northern Scotland was an administrative division of Scotland used for police and fire services. It consisted of Highland, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, and the Western Isles. The police service (Northern Constabulary) used Northern in its name, but the fire service used the name Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. In 2013, the services were merged into Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, respectively.

57°42′N 4°50′W / 57.700°N 4.833°W / 57.700; -4.833