What is a Ladder Company?
A ladder company is the apparatus that carries portable ladders, multiple hand tools, saws, and salvage equipment. One (1) Fire Officer and three (3) Firefighters are assigned to this unit. Their primary objective is to ventilate, search, and force entry into the fire building. The personnel assigned to a Ladder Company are usually the firefighters you see working hard on the roof of a burning structure.
Ladder Co. & Tower Unit Image Ladder companies are sometimes called “truck” companies, “hook-and-ladder” companies, “aerial” companies, and “snorkel” companies. Such labels might partially describe ladder company apparatus, but they do not even hint at the planning, personnel, equipment and training that are coordinated in an efficiently operating ladder company. A ladder truck and a driver do not make a ladder company, any more than a pumper and a driver make an engine company. The ladder company provides access to, and exits for, all parts of a fire building. Ladder company crews also are responsible for removing heat, smoke and gases to allow greater visibility and permit engine company crews to move rapidly and safely within a fire building or exposed buildings. These examples do not by any means include all the duties of a ladder company, but they do illustrate two important points about ladder company work. 1. Ladder work is required at every fire. 2. Ladder operations either acc
Ladder companies are sometimes called truck companies, hook-and-ladder companies, aerial companies, or snorkel companies. Such labels might partially describe ladder company apparatus, but they do not even hint at the planning, personnel, equipment and training that are coordinated in an efficiently operating ladder company. A ladder truck and a driver do not make a ladder company, any more than a pumper and a driver make an engine company. A very important job of the ladder company is to provide entry into, and exits from, all parts of a fire building, provide ventilation of the fire building by breaking out windows, doors and sawing through the roof. It often is misunderstood by the public what purpose is served by taking these actions; ventilation is extremely important in the successful extinguishmemt of fire. As fire burns fuel, it releases a variety of toxic gases that remain aloft in ceiling or attic spaces and open areas of the structure. These gases are incompletely burned, bu
A ladder company is the apparatus that carries portable ladders, multiple hand tools, saws, and salvage equipment. Their primary objective is to ventilate, search, and force entry into the fire building. The personnel assigned to a Ladder Company are usually the firefighters you see working hard on the roof of a burning structure.
