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 Why do
fire trucks respond to motor vehicle accidents?
Fire trucks respond to accidents for two reasons.
First, automobile accidents present other hazards such as
potential fire, ruptured fuel tanks, and/or the presence of
hazardous materials. Second, Polson firefighters are trained as
Emergency Medical Technicians or First Responders. They assist the
ambulance with patient care or assist in extricating (removing)
trapped occupants of the vehicle and driving the ambulance.
Why do so many fire trucks respond to simple
incidents?
Fire Department units are dispatched according to
information received by the 9-1-1 operators. The Polson Fire
Department responds with adequate resources when they react to a
citizen in need of help. In other words, the firefighters are
prepared to deal with the worst that could happen. Discovering
that we need more units once we arrive is often too late. We have
learned from experience that it is better to have too much help
than not enough.
A structure fire requires a number of people to do
all the assigned tasks almost simultaneously. Firefighting teams
are assigned certain responsibilities such as fire extinguishment,
search and rescue, ventilation, salvage, safety, accountability
and rapid intervention teams.
Why do fire trucks with full lights and sirens go
through a red light at intersections and then, after they go
through, they turn off their lights and slow down?
As explained in the previous answer, sometimes
several units are dispatched to the same incident. The first unit
may have arrived on the scene, assessed the situation and informed
the dispatcher that the situation was under control or that a
single unit could handle the emergency. All other responding units
were cancelled and put back into service, ready to take another
call.
Most likely, when you see an emergency vehicle
with red lights and sirens go through an intersection and then
slow down and turn the emergency lights off, they have been
cancelled from the call to which they were responding.
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