Philadelphia Fire Department

Philadelphia Fire Department

The Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) provides firefighting and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

One of the oldest fire departments in the United States, the Philadelphia Fire Department began as the volunteer Union Fire Company, established on December 7, 1736. After 134 years, the City Council decided the growing city needed a professional fire department, and passed a December 1870 ordinance to create one.

The PFD, like many large city fire departments throughout the county, provides EMS to the city. It currently has one of the busiest EMS Divisions within a fire department in the United States, handling 229,709 emergency medical responses in 2011. Historically, PFD has been home to the busiest medic units in the country. One PFD Advanced Life Support (ALS) Unit, Medic 22, responded to 9,540 calls 2005.

Read more about Philadelphia Fire Department:  Organization, Call Statistics, Rank Insignias, Memorial, See Also, External Links

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