Are fire poles sliding away? About half of new houses eliminating them

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This story is local to St. Louis, MO. It's interesting because I've read in other media how poles are back on the rise, especially with apparatus exhaust extraction systems.

It seems every article I read on this subject either has really strong pros or really strong cons.

This article suggested something unusual, slides. I've seen a photo way back, but does anyone know of a firehouse that actually uses them?

When University City’s new fire house No. 1 opens later this summer, it’ll be missing an icon of firefighter tradition.

“We won’t have a fire pole,” said Chief Adam Long. “We’re just going to use the steps.”

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/are-fire-poles-sliding-away-about-half-of-new-houses/article_3952be68-7afb-5bcf-85b7-14368836266f.html

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I wonder if insurance has anything to do with it. Fewer sprained ankles walking down the stairs.

The response protocols these days seem to consist of 'hurry up and slow down' so what's the rush from bunk to apparatus bay?

[gamewell45 258]

My old house has a fire pole in it although it hasn't been used for alarms in probably 50 years or more. I think they were afraid of injuries occurring to those using the pole. It's more of a museum piece now more then anything.

[tommyguy 104]

One of my vivid childhood memories was rushing in to WPFD Station 3 late one night in 1964 (about 1 00 AM) to report a working fire a couple blocks away. The watchman was on duty and I told him there was a bad fire down the street. I showed him out the window and he could see the glow a couple blocks away. He hurried over to the radio to report it to Fire Headquarters and he sounded the alarm within the firehouse. The two other firefighters on-duty were asleep upstairs and as I watched they both came down the pole to the bay.

Something I'll never forget. The way they did it, smooth and effortless, I could tell they had done it many times.

It was a bad fire. An old carriage house converted to a storage facility for a greeting card company, located on Eastview Avenue near Lake Street (now the site is an apartment building). On my way to school the next morning I discovered Engine 3 was still there!

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You haven't lived till you slid a pole that somehow got a little wet!

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One of my vivid childhood memories was rushing in to WPFD Station 3 late one night in 1964 (about 1 00 AM) to report a working fire a couple blocks away. The watchman was on duty and I told him there was a bad fire down the street. I showed him out the window and he could see the glow a couple blocks away. He hurried over to the radio to report it to Fire Headquarters and he sounded the alarm within the firehouse. The two other firefighters on-duty were asleep upstairs and as I watched they both came down the pole to the bay.

Something I'll never forget. The way they did it, smooth and effortless, I could tell they had done it many times.

It was a bad fire. An old carriage house converted to a storage facility for a greeting card company, located on Eastview Avenue near Lake Street (now the site is an apartment building). On my way to school the next morning I discovered Engine 3 was still there!

What were you doing out at 1:00 am on a school night.

[tommyguy 104]

What were you doing out at 1:00 am on a school night.

Good question!

I remember the kid I was with but I don't remember why we were out so late or where we were coming from. I'm sure I got bawled out when I got home.

Possibly it wasn't quite that late. I don't really remember.

[wraftery 1,275]

Somebody yelled SAFETY and all the pole holes became the target. Back in the dangerous day, we used the pole for every trip down stairs...alarms, visitors, lunch or dinner's ready, answer the pay phone (I'll explain what a pay phone is another time) until the safety fairy waved her magic wand.

It's amazing that we train on things like rappelling of 6 floors, going head first out a window onto a ladder, and so on, but poles are dangerous.

Back to my old saying: "Is the scene safe?"

"No, it's not safe, that's why they called us. If it were safe , any assho#$ could handle it."

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I know of a firehouse on Long Island where the only pole in the firehouse is for the dispatchers use. The pole goes right into the dispatchers office. They use it all the time when they are doing other duties in the firehouse on the second floor and need to get to the alarm room in a hurry. The firehouse was built in the 1950's and the pole was put in for this purpose.