Toronto Fire Services

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Toronto Fire Services

Agency overview
Established	1874 (as Toronto Fire Department), 1998 (as Toronto Fire Services)
Annual calls	469,056 (2023)[1]
Employees	3,258 (2023)[1]
Annual budget	C$524.440 million (2019)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Jim Jessop[2]
EMS level	First Responder
Motto	"Courage, Compassion, Service"
Facilities and equipment
Stations	84
Engines	86
Trucks	6
Quints	26
Squads	5
Tenders	2
HAZMAT	4
Fireboats	2
Website
www.toronto.ca/fire-services

Toronto Fire Services (TFS), commonly called Toronto Fire, provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance in Toronto, Ontario. TFS is currently the largest municipal fire department in Canada and has been internationally recognized for providing world-class fire protection services.

The first fire company in what is now Toronto was the York Fire Company created in 1826, followed by the Hook and Ladder Fire Company in 1831. These early companies consisted of able-bodied volunteers that were not well trained.^{[citation needed]} A wooden pumper presented to Toronto by the British America Assurance Company c. 1837 has been preserved at Black Creek Pioneer Village.^{[3][relevant?]}

The city's vulnerability to fire was highlighted by the Great Toronto Fire of 1849 and that of 1904. After the latter fire, which destroyed much of Bay Street from The Esplanade West to Melinda Street, Toronto's Fire Department was recognized as a critical city service.^{[by whom?]}

With the amalgamation of Toronto, the fire departments of Metropolitan Toronto's six constituent municipalities were merged in 1998 to form Toronto Fire Services, the largest fire department in Canada^[4] and the fifth-largest municipal fire department in North America.^[4]

In the 2010s, Station 424 and four pumper trucks were taken out of service and Fire District 12 was disbanded, due to budgetary constraints and obsolescence.^[5] A new plan was introduced seeing to inclusion in staffing,^[6] a permanent safety task force for the needs of Toronto Community Housing,^[7] and a new station was opened in Downsview Park.^[8][9]

TFS holds accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) and the Centre for Public Safety Excellence, recognizing the organization's delivery of "world-class fire protection services". As of 2024, Toronto was the largest city in North America to receive international fire service accreditation.^[10][11]

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The fire chief (C1), as well as the four commanding deputy chiefs (C2 through C5), are all based at 4330 Dufferin Street, which is the central headquarters for both Toronto Fire and Toronto Paramedic Services. There are four division commanders (C6 through C9), each based in their respective commands: north, east, south and west.

Toronto Fire Services chiefs have been promoted from within the service's ranks – with the exception of Jim Sales, who was Edmonton's fire chief (1988–2000) and Markham fire chief (2000–2001)^[15] before serving as a bureaucrat and general manager of the City of Barrie.^[16]

Rank	Fire chief	Deputy fire chief	Division commander	Platoon chief	District chief	Captain	Firefighter
							first class	second class	third class	probationary
Insignia							No insignia	No insignia	No insignia	No insignia
Helmet colour	White	White	White	White	White	Red	Black	Black	Black	Black
Description	General manager	Second in command	Responsible for a geographic or specialist division	Responsible for a single shift across a geographic division	Responsible for a district within a geographic division	In charge of one fire vehicle and crew
Notes	Back of bunker jacket marked									Front of helmet marked "Probationary"
	"Chief"	"Deputy Chief"	"Division Commander"	"Platoon Chief"	"District Chief"

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• Innotex – current bunker gear
• Cairns 660C Metro composite fire helmet – current fire helmet (as of June 2018)
• Drager UCF 7000 thermal imaging camera
• Globe Supreme 14 fire boot
• MSA G1 self-contained breathing apparatus

Pumper apparatus (P143)

Aerial apparatus (A312)

Light and air unit (AL114)

Rescue pumper apparatus (R112)

Hazardous materials unit (HAZ332)

Platoon chief vehicle (C30)

High rise unit (HR332)

Tower aerial apparatus (T114)

Squad heavy rescue unit (S143)

Early fire companies in Toronto used horse drawn engines and ladders. The first motorized pumper, based in the College Street station, came into use in 1911. Tiller-ladder trucks were used until the 1950s, when smaller aerial trucks were adopted to operate in narrow streets. In the 1970s, the last open air vehicles were phased out and Metro's fire departments had vehicles with fully enclosed cabs.^{[citation needed]} In 2024, North America's first fully-electric fire truck was built for TFS.^[20]

The TFS inherited all the vehicles of the fire departments prior to amalgamation. The current^[when?] strength of TFS consists of 179 vehicles. Since amalgamation, apparatus assignments consist of an alphanumeric callsign, with letter(s) identifying the type of apparatus, followed by digits identifying the division, district, and station in which the apparatus is based.

The following is a list of the types of vehicles used by the TFS, with their identifying prefix letter(s):

• Frontline apparatus (staffed)
  • Pumper trucks (P) equipped with firefighting gear as well as basic rescue tools and other equipment
  • Rescue pumper trucks (R) equipped with firefighting gear and specialized rescue tools such as hydraulic cutters and spreaders, air bags, rope rescue equipment, and emergency medical equipment
  • Aerials (A) operate ladders which can reach from 23 to 32 metres (75 to 105 feet) and configured as a quint (pump/tank)
  • Ladder trucks (L) operate ladders from 30 to 32 metres (100 to 105 feet) with specialized tools and equipment but no pump.
  • Tower (T) equipped with an articulating boom ladder which can reach 35 metres (114 feet)
  • Platform (PL) equipped with an aerial ladder with attached platform which can reach 30 metres (100 feet)
  • Squad heavy rescue units (S) equipped with specialized rescue equipment such as hydraulic cutters and spreaders, air bags, rope rescue equipment and emergency medical equipment.
  • Hazmat unit (HZ) trucks are equipped for hazardous materials or dangerous goods incidents, with protective equipment, non-sparking tools, etc.
  • High rise unit (HR) trucks contain equipment for incidents in tall buildings
  • Air/light unit (LA) trucks carry lighting and other electrical equipment and resources to replenish firefighters' breathing apparatus.
• Chief units and command vehicles
  • Fire chief / deputy chief (C)
  • Division commander (C6–C9)
  • Division chief (DVC)
  • Platoon chief (PCX)
  • District chief (DC)
  • Command unit (CMD) outfitted as a mobile command and control centre
• Support apparatus (cross-staffed)
  • Hazmat support unit (HS)
  • Decontamination unit (DE)
  • Water tanker (WT)
  • Rapid attack vehicle located at Toronto Islands
  • All-terrain vehicle (ATV) used at special events, such as the Canadian National Exhibition
  • Mini pumper (MP)
  • Multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)
  • Fireboat (FB) stationed in Toronto Harbour
  • Trench rescue support truck (TRS)
  • High capacity foam pumper (FP)
  • Mechanical response unit (MRU)
• Miscellaneous apparatus
  • Training pumper (TRP)
  • Spare vehicles (X5) used to temporarily replace frontline apparatus
  • Fire investigator (FI)

TFS also operates and manages both the heavy urban search and rescue (HUSAR) team and the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) response team under contract with the Province of Ontario for deployment as required.

The Toronto Fire Department and successor Toronto Fire Services has operated fire boats since 1923. The service presently has two fireboats in service: William Lyon Mackenzie, which entered service in 1964 and is the department's main fireboat and icebreaker; and William Thornton, a former Canadian Coast Guard cutter acquired by TFS in 2015.

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As of 2014, TFS operates 83 fire stations organized into 15 districts and 4 geographical divisions. Several companies have been disbanded or reassigned over the years.^{[21][22][needs update]}

The North Command's office (Command 1) is located at Fire Station 114. There are 21 stations in the 3 districts of North Command. (District 12 was disbanded in 2013, its 4 stations absorbed into the surrounding districts.)

Station 121 serves the neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow.

Station 131 is situated on Yonge Street.

Station 143 serves the neighbourhood of Clanton Park.

The East Command's office (Command 2) is located at Fire Station 221. There are 22 stations in the 4 districts of East Command.

The South Command's office (Command 3) is located at Fire Station 332. There are 22 stations in 4 districts of South Command.

Station 312, serving the neighbourhood of Yorkville, is the oldest active fire station in Toronto.

Station 324 serves the neighbourhood of Riverdale.

Fireboats of TFS are stored at Station 334.

Station 346 is a seasonally open station based in Exhibition Place.

The West Command's office (Command 4) is located at Fire Station 442. There are 19 stations in the 4 districts of West Command. (Fire Station 424 at 462 Runnymede Road closed permanently in 2014.)

Station 425 serves the neighbourhood of Swansea.

Station 431 serves the Kingsway neighbourhood.

• List of historic Toronto fire stations
• Woodbine Building Supply fire

Other members of Toronto's Emergency Services structure include:

• Toronto (CAN-TF3) Heavy Urban Search and Rescue
• Toronto Paramedic Services
• Toronto Police Service

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toronto Fire Services.

• Official website
• Toronto Fire Services – Active Incidents (LiveCAD)