Engine Co. No. 52 “ Hit it, Get it, & Go Home “ Serving the Greater Mondawmin Community

“ Members of 52 Engine “

52 Fire 4700 Delaware Ave.

Other Co. in the 5 th.Battalion Engine Co. 52 Medic 8 Engine Co. 20 Medic 17 Engine Co. 29 Medic 14 Engine Co. 46 Ambulance 40 Squad Co. 40 EMS #4 Engine Co. 45 Battalion Chief # 5 Truck Co. 12 Truck Co. 18 Truck Co. 27

“ To Protect & Serve “ Engine Co. No. 52 is located at 3525 Woodbrook Avenue and intersects with the 2100 block of Liberty Heights Avenue. They serve the communities to the North, South, East, and West of there station location. Engine Co. No. 52 is in the Fire departments grid of the 5 th. Battalion. There are 6 Fire Battalions in the City of Baltimore. The 5 th. Battalion covers most of the West & Northwest sides of the city.

“To Protect and serve” Engine Co. No 52 has been a top 10 station in the city for many years. In the year listed as number 9 in the city. In previous years Engine 52 has been listed between 4 th. To 9 th. In the city. The fire station runs as a small corporation. There are 4 shifts which makes it all work. You have to have teamwork to get the job done. If you do not have teamwork there will be confusion, which has no place here.

“ To Protect & Serve “ There are 5 men on each shift, and each one has a different job to perform. There is a officer on each shift. The officers are 1 Captain, and 3 Lieutenants. The Captain runs the firehouse, and delegates to the other officers. There are 4 drivers who are responsible to maintain the fire engine at all times. They are to check for tools to work properly, and the operation of the pumps and cleanliness.

“ To Protect & Serve “ Each member of the station must know how to drive and operate the pumps. The firefighters have two different jobs, one is the leadoff man and the other is the pipe man. The leadoff man takes the hydrant connection off the rear of the fire engine as directed by the officer. He/she then attaches the connection to a fire hydrant, and waits for the signal for water and turns on the fire hydrant.

“ To Protect & Serve “ The pipe man is the man on the nozzle. In the olden days the hose nozzle was called the pipe. He/she is the one who puts out the fire. Each man in the station should know each others job just incase that some one is off. The way we play the game is that if someone drops the ball, somebody can pick it up and run with it. The people that you work with is like a mini family that must work with teamwork to get the job done.

“ To Protect & to Serve “ What is it like to be inside a dwelling or a building to put out a fire ? Well first of all your adrenaline is pumped up as the body is moving faster and thinking. You are thinking where you are going and if you are going to have a fire. You have your protective gear on, and as you are riding you put on your hood and throw your arms through the air mask and pull the straps down to tighten it to your back.

“ To Protect & Serve “ You have your gloves on and helmet on, and now you are ready to exit the fire engine at your destination. As you exit the engine you reach back to turn on your air bottle. At the officers direction the pipe man will grab the proper size of hose and come to the front of the building. He/she will put there face piece on and enter the building. You will hear the churning of the pumps and fellow firemen yelling commands or cautions.

“ To Protect & Serve “ The smoke gets pitch black, and you may not see your own hand 3 inches in front of you. As you are crawling along you will bump into furniture, and knock things over and hvve things fall on top of you. You will hear or say yourself…” give me some more line”. That means give me some more hose in fireman layman's terms. You will hear the axes thumping, saws running at a distance. If a water line burst from the heat, you will hear water running at a distance.

“ To Protect & Serve “ So that is somewhat of how it is inside with a fire. Do we have any volunteers…It is a job that you want to have to do. Some of the other things that we do are, hydrant inspections, fire prevention, drills & training.