# Antarctica has a fire department **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214 "2018-08-24T20:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214/1 "2018-08-24T20:32:09Z")
The [BBC have published](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45246840) a nice little article about an Antarctic firefighter. > [@](#): > > Flights landing at the base must, by law, have a fire crew on hand, but McMurdo is also a fully functioning town. > > As for any town, building fire safety is important. Even more so when outdoor temperatures only inch above freezing at the height of summer. > > “There’s a lot of heavy machinery, a lot of chemicals and toxic substances, a lot of people… and humans are prone to error.” says Branson. > > This more than warrants McMurdo’s own firehouse and team of fire-fighters. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214/2 "2018-08-24T20:46:36Z")
A colleague at my former job worked as a dispatcher for the Antarctic Fire Department. Not a lot to do in in winter, but standbys for flights during summer kept them busy. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214/3 "2018-08-24T20:47:52Z")
Yeah, it could get serious in the winter when there is no way to get help, no way to get home, and nowhere to go. Here is a great site all about the Amudsen-Scott South Pole Station from an insider. It is so serious that the station has a refuge area called “the lifeboat” completely sealed off from the main station with fireproof walls and doors, and has its own power plant, fuel supply, food, etc. Check all the pages at the bottom of this page for a fascinating look inside: > **[The South Pole Power Plant](https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2012/12/the-south-pole-power-plant/)** > > Our lives are governed by 600,000 gallons of AN8 jet fuel. That’s what literally everything at the station runs on, and without it, the south pole would be a cold, dead place. AN8 Jet Fuel is… The page titled “Living and Working at the Amunsen-Scott…” has links to all the areas of the station. Here is the one for the lifeboat: > **[The South Pole Emergency Lifeboat](https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2013/02/the-south-pole-emergency-lifeboat/)** > > During the summer at the south pole, there are regular airplane flights, skiier expeditions, and all sorts of transportation to and from the station. If an emergency happens, it’s relatively … Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214/4 "2018-08-25T00:38:28Z")
Cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antarctica-has-a-fire-department/820214/5 "2018-08-25T00:39:35Z")
No doubt. Sort of like a ship or submarine. Fire is one of your biggest dangers when you got no where else to go.