The backside of my neighborhood caught fire

[youdotoo]

We had 5 fire departments respond and the forestry service on scene and a helicopter  on fire. 

A 87 year old lady burned a burn pile and left the fire unattended. She didn't notice the size of the fire till the police knocked on the door.  We had 5 brush trucks, 2 tractors, 4 tankers, 5 engines, two ambulances, 3 tenders....I didn't see the rest of the units.

Approximately $160,000 in damage.

Damages:

2 sheds destroyed

1 damaged car

2 damaged house siding

1 houses roof

4 sheds damaged

 

[Fred03]

Ok so 4 tankers and 3 tenders? That's either a mistake or a gross misuse of resources.

[youdotoo]

There are no fire hydrants in the area.

7 homes were endangered. The fire was over a half mile. There would of been more fire departments on scene if there was not a bomb threat at one of the schools the same day. Also, fire was spreading in to the forest and jumped the road.

[Fred03]

But out west doesn't "tanker" mean something along the lines of a slurry bomber? I know in my area vehicles that exist only to resupply attack trucks are called "tankers" but I read somewhere that out west "tankers" are what the USFS airplanes are called and the trucks are called "tenders"...

 

And the area has sidewalks but no hydrants? That's weird, I would think California would be putting hydrants everywhere seeing as half the state catches fire every year it seems.

[EmergencyFan97]

What do you define as the difference between a tanker and a tender?

[Fred03]

I THOUGHT it was a matter of vernacular, like "Soda" and "Pop" it appears I may have been mistaken...

[CFDDIVE11]

Out west "tanker" is the plane that drops retardant for fires. By me in northern Illinois we call the water trucks tenders some people may call them tankers.

[Fred03]

Out west "tanker" is the plane that drops retardant for fires. By me in northern Illinois we call the water trucks tenders some people may call them tankers.

Which is why I'm confused because he said 

 

 We had 5 brush trucks, 2 tractors, 4 tankers, 5 engines, two ambulances, 3 tenders....I didn't see the rest of the units.

 

And it seems like 4 tanker aircraft would be a bit excessive for a brushfire this small.

 

[youdotoo]

This is in North Carolina not California.  Second, there are no sidewalks, those are driveways. Tanker is referring to a water truck. The tenders are like tankers, however they are designed to spray water on the fire and not pump to the firetrucks.

[Fred03]

Oh, I see. I had never heard that distinction of tanker-tender. In my area we call them both tankers, even with attack capabilities.

[squamishfire]

Its the same between a Engine and a Pumper where I live.  When I was on the fire department back home on the west coast we used to call our Engines, just that a Engine... But out East here they call them Pumpers for some reason.

 

Mind you Greater City of Sudbury Department also sends a Rescue, Pumper, code 3 to an accident and then the Areial truck follows routine.  I know Vancouver BC used to run with a Engine code three and a Rescue, which they call medics now, routine unless there is confirmed entrapment then both run code 3.

 

That's the one thing I find festinating and yet a bit frustrating with the service.  Same thing with EMS... British Columbia Ambulance Service calls their units Cars back from the old days when they used to be actual cars, and then you look at NYFD they call them Buses... it is soooo strange.

 

But again look at Greater City of Sudbury... They no longer have a Fire Chief, it is now intergrated with the EMS and the position is called Emergency Service Director or something stupid like that.

[Fred03]

Same thing with fire stations, fire halls, fire houses whatever.

[squamishfire]

Ok so 4 tankers and 3 tenders? That's either a mistake or a gross misuse of resources.

 

Actually not really... We were always told that it is best to call what you might possibly need... It is better to stand someone down that are on their way then to call them to late in the game.  This happened a lot with a neighboring fire department on highway rescue.  Their is a bit of a Grey area for dispatching so the two Dispatching agencies would dispatch my department and another department together when they were unsure exactly where the MVI was. 

[Fred03]

Yeah I understand that now that I know what the difference between a tanker and a tender is (at least in South Carolina). I originally thought he meant the airplanes, which calling in 4 airplanes for a little brushfire like this might be a bit excessive

[EmergencyFan97]

Yeah, here in SC a tanker is a truck, and so is a tender.  Planes are also tankers, but they're not tenders.  Neither tankers nor tenders have master streams or a pump.

[Ace]

Nice pictures