Fire Police: What are they?

Recently, I have come to see this phrase “Fire Police” posted on official looking vehicles. Sounds like something out of Bradbury’s “451 F” book.

Who are they? What authority do they hold?
Is this a relatively new concept?

I have an idea. In some municipalities, the police are cross trained in Fire rescue and EMT. For example, when my in-laws house caught fire in Highland Park Texas this summer, Five or Six police SUV’s showed up, the police jumped out, stripped, and put on Fire gear. The firetrucks appeared shortly there after. One of the Police/Fire men explained to my mother-in-law that all are crossed trained.

Just a guess.

Possibly the same as fire marshalls.

If you’re in a small town or otherwise thinly-populated area, perhaps the same group does both duties. The hole in that theory is that I think thinly-populated areas tend to be covered by volunteer firemen, not professionals at all.


…but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!

I should clarify a bit. My choice of words about “official looking vehicles” is very misleading. The “fire police” I see are driving oridnary cars with a “trouble light” fixed atop the roof. They look like volunteers of some type.

Shouldn’t the public be advised as to who these people are? Then again, it is kinda hidden that EMS and paramedics are not equal.

I think “Da Ace” has hit the nail on the head. I think they could have picked a less ambiguous name, don’t you?

Okay. Well…all a bit off the mark. The deal is this: Members of Fire Police Units perform duties at and around fire scenes. They typically set up flares, arrange for traffic flow/detouring, direct the movement of emergency vehicles, etc. They are typically firefighters who are no longer serving in an active firefighting capacity.
Their contributions cannot be overestimated. When EMS personnel and firefighters are focused on the SCENE, Fire Police are taking care of all of the periphery. No active fire scene, and many EMS scenes cannot function without them. :slight_smile:

Cartooniverse


If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.

A little advice for Virginians (and probably other jurisdictions): firemen can issue parking tickets.

We had a nearby power lines fall near my office building once. For whatever reason, one fire truck was positioned in the cul-de-sac of our office complex. Normally, people parked along it if they just had real quick business. After the truck stopped, most of the crew took to handling the downed lines. But one man began writing citations for all the cars in the fire zone of the cul-de-sac.

I found out later that if the need for space were urgent, they had the legal authority to move the cars out of their way any way they could, meaning ramming if need be.


Judges 14:9 - So [Samson] scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

You hit it right on the nose. Fire Police perform police functions such as traffic and crowd control at emergency scenes. Some states grant them more powers than others (New York’s have much more power than Rhode Island’s), and some states don’t have them at all (Massachusetts).


Jeremy
MB Resident Fire Service Expert

Seems like Cartoon got that one right. Has anybody else seen “Post Office Police”? I see them in all parts of town in their “official” cars. Sedans with the lights on top and sirens.They are in uniforms with guns and cuffs and all. I always picture “postal inspectors” working in offices on mail fraud and such. Who are these guys? Why do they need cop cars? “Car 54,perpetrater attempting to mail package with insuficient postage!!!” Sirens howling and lights flashing they rush to the scene. If there is a crime in a post office do we gotta call these guys and wait for them to show up? Do they get into a high speed chases with people who violate the “no postage needed business reply” rules? Just cruising around hoping to spot someone they saw on a poster in the post office?


“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx