City of Quincy ILLINOIS

I often hear on the news that a fire was a 3rd or 4th alarm blaze. What does that mean?

The use of "Alarms" is a Fire Departments way of telling the Dispatch Center to send a standardized amount of help to a scene. Each alarm represents a specific amount of people and trucks. Below you will find a guide to the Quincy Fire Department's alarm system.

Still Alarm: One Engine Company. General Alarm: Two Engine Companies, the Rescue Squad, the Aerial Platform and the Incident Command Vehicle. Second Alarm: A General Alarm response plus two additional Engine Companies. Off-duty personnel are recalled to man one reserve Engine and Emergency Response Unit (E.R.U).

Third Alarm: Same as a Second Alarm plus one additional Engine Company is sent to the fire scene. Additional off-duty personnel are called in to man the second reserve Engine.

Fourth Alarm: Same as a Third Alarm plus the remainder of one off-duty shift personnel are called to the incident scene.

Fifth Alarm: All off-duty personnel are summoned to the incident scene.