Indianapolis Fire Department


The Indianapolis Fire Department provides fire and rescue protection and emergency medical services to the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. In total the department serves.

History

The first fire department in Indianapolis was not founded until June 20, 1826. It was a volunteer department that had to use a church bell for alarms, and had only ladders and leather buckets to fight fires. This was seventeen months after the first recorded fire in Indianapolis occurred on January 17, 1825, which took place across the street from the county courthouse in a tavern.
In 1835, a law was passed requiring the purchase of an engine, along with better equipment, to be partially funded by the state and partially by the city, in order to protect the Indiana statehouse. From this, the Marion Fire, Hose, and Protection Company was established. An additional volunteer company was founded in 1841 and there were eight total volunteer companies in Indianapolis by 1859. Collectively, 600 men were volunteers in these eight companies, and although unpaid, they did receive perks such as immunity from being called on juries or militia duty, and not having to pay poll taxes or taxes for roads.
The volunteer companies were rather political, and tended to express their views freely. They were also known to break into brothels and freely use their hoses on the clientele and the interior walls, wrecking the places; this was done not for moral reasons, but rather, to amuse themselves. As a result, Mayor Samuel D. Maxwell and the Indianapolis City Council established a paid force on November 14, 1859, so that the council could have control over Indianapolis' fire protection, which it did not have over the volunteers. The Indianapolis Fire Department began with a hook and ladder company and two hand engines, but would in 1860 gain their first steam engine.
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The paid firemen had no days off, were not allowed to leave their post except for one meal, and were seldom allowed to leave the firehouse unless on fire business or a family emergency. An ordinance in 1859 made it illegal to give firemen alcoholic beverages. Their clothes were irregular; uniforms were not worn until 1874, with a regulation uniform established in 1928. Firemen had to buy their own uniforms until 1943, when a $60 clothing allowance was established. An attempt to remove politics from the fire department was not very successful; it was necessary to mandate that the department staff be half Republican and half Democrat, and the role of fire chief was based on political affiliation and family contacts.
The first dog to discover arson for the Indianapolis Fire Department was acquired in July 1993.

Mergers with township fire departments

Since 2007, several the fire departments in the eight townships in Marion County other than Center Township that were not previously part of the IFD coverage area have been absorbed by IFD., five of the eight township fire departments have merged with IFD:
The three townships retaining their own fire departments as of 2019 are all on the west side of Marion County.
There are currently fourteen Divisions of Operations within the Indianapolis Fire Department: Communications, Emergency Operations, Emergency Medical Services, Executive Services, Finance and Pension, Fire Investigations Section, Fire and Life Safety, Homeland Security/Special Operations and Training, Quartermaster, Information Technology, Media Relations, Safety, Support Services, and USAR Indiana Task Force One.

USAR Task Force 1

The Indianapolis Fire Department is the founding member of one of the 28 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Indiana Task Force 1 is made up of members of multiple fire departments in Marion County.

Indianapolis EMS

911 Ambulance services in the city of Indianapolis are provided by Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, a division of the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County. In 2010, the Indianapolis Fire Department decided to discontinue the operation of the transporting ambulance assets acquired from the consolidation of Washington, Lawrence, and Franklin Township fire departments into IFD. Wishard Ambulance Service absorbed the civilian staff released from the decommissioned IFD ambulances and in December 2010, the newly enlarged Wishard Ambulance Service was rebranded as Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services. IEMS operates 42 ambulances, with 32 of them deployed during peak hours. Fourteen of these ambulances are co-located at IFD fire stations. While IEMS is not a part of the Indianapolis Fire Department, the two agencies work closely together in daily operations and long term EMS system planning. IEMS also provides educational and logistical support to IFD's EMS operations. Members of IEMS may choose to join the IAFF Union 416.

Stations and apparatus

Fire StationNeighborhoodEngine CompanyLadder Company Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services Medic UnitSpecial UnitCommand UnitBattalion
1HaughvilleEngine 1Ladder 1Tactical 1 7
2MitthoeferEngine 2Medic 24
3Fountain SquareEngine 3Battalion 55
4GreenbriarEngine 4Ladder 4Medic 41
5Methodist HospitalEngine 5Medic 5Tactical 5 Battalion 1
Safety Central		1
6NoraEngine 6Ladder 6 Tanker 6
Boat 6		2
7Renaissance PlaceEngine 7Ladder 7 Squad 7
Tactical 7
Boat 7		Car 10 7
8MillersvilleEngine 83
9CastletonEngine 9Ladder 9Medic 9Tactical 9 2
10BrightwoodEngine 10Ladder 10 Squad 10Battalion 33
11Irish HillEngine 11Medic 11EMS Duty Officer South5
12Crooked CreekEngine 12Medic 121
13Canal DistrictEngine 13Ladder 13 Squad 13
Tactical 13 		Battalion 77
14Kenwood ForrestEngine 14Ladder 14Medic 99Squad 14
Tactical 14
Boat 14		1
15Christian ParkEngine 15Ladder 15 5
16ActonEngine 16Medic 16Tanker 166
17Avelon HillsEngine 17Medic 17Battalion 22
18HawthorneEngine 18Medic 18Tactical Support Unit 18
Hazmat Support Unit		7
19Near Southwestside "The Valley"Engine 19Ladder 19 Tactical 19
Foam 19		7
20Little FlowerEngine 20Ladder 203
21ClearwaterEngine 21Medic 21Rehab Support UnitEMS Duty Officer North
Safety North		2
22MartindaleEngine 22Ladder 22 3
23SouthdaleEngine 23Medic 23Battalion 6
Safety South		6
24DevingtonEngine 24Medic 243
25IrvingtonEngine 25Tactical Support Unit 25 3
26Perry MeridianEngine 26Medic 266
27BrooksideEngine 27Ladder 275
28West GeistEngine 28Boat 282
29Garfield ParkEngine 29Ladder 29Medic 29Squad 29
Tactical Support Unit 29
USAR Trailer 29		5
30EagledaleEngine 30Ladder 301
31FairgroundsEngine 31Ladder 31Medic 31Tactical 31
Tactical Support Unit 31 		1
32Broad RippleEngine 322
33West EagledaleEngine 331
34West EdgewoodEngine 34Ladder 34Tactical 34
Major Incident Response Vehicle		6
35SouthportEngine 35Ladder 35 6
36Geist EastEngine 36 Ladder 36Medic 36 2
41Washington SquareEngine 41Medic 414
42Raymond ParkEngine 42Medic 42Tanker 424
43EastgateEngine 43Ladder 43 Tactical 43 Battalion 44
44EastsideEngine 44Ladder 44Medic 44Tactical 44 4
45Far EastsideEngine 45Medic 984
53Bunker HillEngine 53Medic 53Grass 536
55WanamakerEngine 55Ladder 55Tanker 554

Notable incidents

Ramada Inn Air Crash and Fire

The Ramada Inn Air Crash and Fire was an aircraft accident that occurred at the Airport Ramada Inn in Indianapolis, Indiana when a United States Air Force pilot failed to reach the runway and the plane crashed into a nearby Ramada Inn. On the morning of October 20, 1987, a United States Air Force A-7D-4-CV Corsair II, serial 69-6207, sustained some sort of engine failure about southwest of the city at around 31,000 feet. The pilot survived after ejecting but 9 people were killed in the hotel when the aircraft smashed into the side of the building.