Did the rairoad have a fire department?

[ex-tc driver]

I saw a picture of an Altoona Works fire engine would like to have more info plus pictures

[Statkowski]

Did the railroad per se have a fire department? No, not in the same sense that they had a police department. Large facilities, however, might have their own in-house fire departments, as in your Altoona Works example, not unlike other large manufacturing facilities or airports.

[eddiebehr]

I'll guess that PRR had a fire department. The much smaller Boston & Maine had one for years at its Billerica, Mass. Shops and a 1946 or so a new pumper was purchased and the fire engine and the firemen were pictured in an issue of the Boston and Maine Employees Magazine. The fire engine lasted into the 1970s although I don't know if it had been used for years. Today it probably would be very difficult for a private industry to maintain a legitimate fire department. The Dennison Manufacturing Co. in Framingham, Mass., a paper products company, had a fire department, to which one of my uncles belonged.

[Statkowski]

I'll guess that PRR had a fire department. The much smaller Boston & Maine had one for years at its Billerica, Mass. Shops

Technically the "railroad" (which owned and operated the shops) did have a fire "department" (which was more really some fire-fighting equipment and employees trained to operate same). However, to be more correct, the locomotive shops had the fire "department" (since the "department" did not operate system-wide).

Today it probably would be very difficult for a private industry to maintain a legitimate fire department.

Today it would be much more expensive for a private industry. but not more difficult. Training and equipment costs money, money that could be used elsewhere in the industry.

It all depends on the size of the operation and how close (or far) "professional" fire services (municipal fire departments or more rural volunteer fire companies) are from the facility. Does the need for such fire protection outweigh the expense of same? Don't forget, when such things were started and used many years ago, the roadways weren't always available to support a rapid response from outside and the fire threat was more real.

[jgallaway81]

Don't forget, when such things were started and used many years ago, the roadways weren't always available to support a rapid response from outside and the fire threat was more real.

That's not exactly true. The threat from fire is always real, and true. Like a wild animal, fire consumes food to grow bigger and can spawn more of itself. No, the threat from fire is very real.

The difference is today that few if any of our industrial buildings are built from wood. Less fuel, means less risk from the fire, but that doesn't mean the risk isn't there, especially with all the hazardous chemicals that are stored in today's industrial structures.

[Statkowski]

Let's see, you had steam locomotives shooting burning embers through the stacks, more wooden buildings, and people smoking pipes, cigars or cigarettes where it would never be tolerated today. Nowadays you've got built-in fire suppression systems, fire resistant buildings, and no smoking signs installed all over the place. Sure sounds to me like the threat was more real back then. Nowadays it's less real - it doesn't mean it no longer exists, and it's still there, but not to the same degree.

[wis bang]

Some modern industries could have [or did have] some form of fire brigade. Attending the University of Scranton ['72-'76] we were watching one sunny day as a fire erupted out of Chamberlain Corp, the munitions manufacturer located in the north end of the D L&W shops, and just as fast as we spotted the flames and smoke; streams of water appeared. The fire was out long before Scranton's Finest got near.

Remembering all the cars w/ explosive placards the EL brought them, I imagine they needed to be better than the city Fire Dept....

[the sarge]

Some companies still have fire departments to this day, they are mostly in refineries/chemical plants. As was mentioned already, the threat of fire is real, but with more stringent safety rules, materials, and fire suppression systems, the probability for needing an instant response fire department is not needed for most industrial plants today. For the refineries, the departments are needed because instant suppression is a must to contain the damage; especially collateral in the surrounding community. At some plants, the members of the department are augmented by workers who are trained in special rescue operations - like high angle and confined spaces.

Another example of a self contained fire department are airports that are not under the local fire company, some are totally indigenous to the airport operating authority.

[Statkowski]

Back when I was in the Army, stationed at a small seaport (we had tugboats and other assorted watercraft), even us landlubbers received training on shipboard fires. Then one day we all got called out to assist on a shipboard fire elsewhere. Water cannons on tugboats shoot a lot of water.

But, back to the railroad. Even railroad tugboats had water cannons. When required, I guess they served as a railroad fire department, too.

[the sarge]

Water cannons on tugboats shoot a lot of water.

Fire hoses, and even most turrets, use nozzles that aerate the water when opened; kind of like a kitchen faucet. Tugboats commonly used smooth bore cannons with no resistance and are known as deluge guns. These cannons are mostly found for mariner and urban/industrial situations when you need to apply tremendous amounts of water in a short time and not worry about damage caused by the water stream. I've seen these guns take down brick walls. As a an example, if you take a 1 1/2" hose nozzle at 150 PSI and hit someone with it, you knock them on their rear-ends. If you did the same with a smooth bore - you will most likely seriously cripple someone.