The links on the right side of this page list many of the different fire apparatus firefighters in Los Angeles use every day. Los Angeles is a BIG city – 469 square miles to be exact! And there are nearly 4 million people who live in the city. Los Angeles has mountains, hills covered with dry brush, a river, airports, a harbor with hundreds of ships and boats, beaches, skyscrapers, dozens of freeways and millions of homes. That means that there are many different kinds of emergencies, and the LAFD has to be ready to respond to all of them.
That’s why the Los Angeles Fire Department has so many different kinds of apparatus. Firefighters need to be able to shoot water up into hi-rise office buildings, they need to rescue people from fast-moving water, they need to fight fires on airplanes and boats. They need to help people who are hurt in car accidents, or while swimming at the beach. They need to clean up hazardous chemical spills or rescue someone from a collapsed building. All of these instances require special training and special vehicles. You can learn about many of them by clicking on the links on the right of this page.