City of Knoxville Fire Department

The Knoxville Fire Department is an ISO Class 2 department that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. The department is responsible for 104 square miles (270 km2) with over 180,000 residents.[2]

Knoxville Fire Department
Operational area
Country United States
State Tennessee
CityKnoxville
Agency overview[1][2]
Established1854 (1854)
Annual calls53,600(2022)
Employees337 (2015)
Annual budget$45,647,860 (2018)
StaffingCareer
Fire chiefStan Sharp
IAFF65
Facilities and equipment
Battalions4
Stations19
Engines12
Trucks5
Quints4
Squads4
Rescues2
Tenders5
HAZMAT1
Wildland1
Fireboats1
Website
Official website

History

The Knoxville Fire Department can trace its beginnings to 1854 when Town Marshal J.D. Stacks saw the need for an organized volunteer fire department.[3] But it was in March 1885 when the city of Knoxville formed a full-time, paid fire department. By the turn of the century, the number of firefighters in the department had grown to 30.[3] With the increase in personnel came the need for more fire stations and better equipment. In the last 100 years, the Knoxville Fire Department has grown from the Headquarters station in an old livery stable building with two horse drawn engine companies and one aerial truck company to 19 fire stations, out of which 13 fire engines, 3 squads, 3 quints, 5 ladder trucks, 2 rescue units, and 1 hazmat company operate, along with 5 tankers, 1 fire rescue boat and other specialty equipment. These companies and units are under the command of 4 Battalions, each commanded by a Battalion Chief. The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local is 65.

Historic Station
Main article: Fire Station No. 5

The departments Fire Station Number 5 is the oldest active fire station in Knoxville and is on the National Register of Historic Places.[4] Opened on May 23, 1909, it has served the Mechanicsville community of Knoxville almost continuously since. The fire station was the last in Knoxville to be built specifically for horse-drawn fire apparatus. Located at 419 Arthur Street in Mechanicsville, just northwest of the downtown area the station was added on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[4]

Stations and apparatus
KFD's Engine 1 in July 2010.
Fire Station Number Neighborhood Engine Company/Squad Company Ladder Company/Quint Company Specialized Unit Battalion Chief Unit Battalion
1 DowntownEngine 1
Engine 2		Ladder 1Rescue 1, Brush Truck
Tanker 1, Fire Boat 1		Battalion Chief 11
3 Baxter AveEngine 3Ladder 32
4 ParkridgeQuint 42
5 MechanicsvilleEngine 54
6 BurlingtonEngine 62
7 LonsdaleEngine 74
9 Fort SandersEngine 9Ladder 91
10 Island HomeQuint 101
11 Whittle SpringsEngine 11Battalion Chief 22
12 Sequoyah HillsEngine 123
13 South KnoxvilleSquad 131
14 Inskip-NorwoodSquad 14Battalion Chief 44
15 Fountain CityEngine 15Ladder 154
16 Holston HillsSquad 16Tanker 162
17 Cumberland HeightsQuint 17Tanker 174
18 BeardenEngine 18Ladder 18Battalion Chief 33
19 Colonial VillageEngine 191
20 West HillsSquad 20Hazmat 13
21 Pellissippi-Turkey CreekQuint 21Tanker 213

Ranks of KFD
Rank titles Chief of Department Deputy Chief Assistant Chief / Battalion Chief Captain Master Firefighter Senior Firefighter Firefighter Firefighter Recruit
Collar insignia
Dress sleeve insignia
Helmet Color White White White Red Black Black Black Black

Notable Incidents

Million Dollar Fire
The aftermath of the Great Fire on Gay Street, April 1897.

Early on the morning of April 8, 1897, a fire engulfed two blocks of Gay Street from Commerce Avenue to Union Avenue in downtown Knoxville. The massive blaze required all the resources of KFD (listed at the time as two steam engines), as well as firefighters and equipment from as far away as Chattanooga to extinguish.[5]

By the end of the blaze, five people had perished and losses were estimated at more than a million dollars (approximately $35,176,000 adjusted for inflation).[5] The fire department resorted to using dynamite to stop the spread of the fire to other nearby buildings.

McClung Warehouse Fires

On February 7, 2007, the former McClung Warehouses in the 500 block of Jackson Avenue burned. Heavy damage was sustained to several buildings in the area. During the three alarm fire, several building collapses occurred, one of which heavily damaged Ladder 3.[6] Additionally, four firefighters were injured when they were trapped upstairs in the burning building and had to make a hasty escape through a window using a fire hose as a makeshift rope ladder. The warehouses, some of which dated back to 1893, were mostly vacant at the time of the fire.

Another portion of the McClung Warehouse building was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of February 1, 2014. This occurred less than a year after the City of Knoxville purchased the remaining warehouses with plans of encouraging developers to utilize them in urban renewal projects. Shortly after the two alarm blaze, city officials demolished another portion of the derelict structure.[7]

References
  1. "2015 Budget" (PDF). City of Knoxville. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. "About Us". Knoxville Fire Department. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  3. "History". Knoxville Fire Department. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. Larkin, Matt (23 December 2011). "Historic fire devastated Gay Street, became part of local family's lore". Knox News. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. Hickman, Hayes (12 December 2010). "Knox Know-it-all: 2-alarm blaze not uncommon, KFD says". Knox News. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  7. "Firefighters battle to subdue another fire at McClung Warehouses". Knoxville News Sentinel. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
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