Өрт сөндірушілердің сырғанау тірегі

Pole that firefighters slide down to reach ground level

A fireman's pole (also called a firefighter's pole, sliding pole, fire pole, or tom) is a pole that firefighters slide down to quickly reach the ground floor of a fire station. This allows them to respond to an emergency call faster, as they arrive at the fire engine faster than by using a standard staircase. In the 1870s, answering an alarm, Chicago fireman George Reid decided to use the long pole the company employed to lift horse's hay from the upper loft to slide to the ground floor, arriving well ahead of the rest of the company. Company Captain David Kenyon of Engine Company 21 then successfully petitioned the department be allowed to install a pole through the floor of the loft sleeping space to create what became the standard set up.

The firefighter's pole is found in multi level fire stations, if the firefighters' living quarters are located upstairs. When they are dispatched to an emergency, the firefighters descend to the ground floor, put on their firefighting gear, and board the fire engine as quickly as possible. The pole may run through a hole in the floor, or it may be accessed from a balcony. To use a pole, a firefighter grasps it with their hands, then clamps their legs around it, and then replaces their tight hand grip with a looser hand or arm grip to allow themselves to descend, using their legs to control the speed. This is somewhat similar to the technique used for fast roping.

Losing one's grip on the pole can result in falling from a great height; the firefighter may hit an object such as a door extending from a truck; poor speed control can result in injured or even broken legs upon impact with the floor; and burns can occur due to friction if the skin rubs against the pole. If the pole runs through an unprotected hole in the floor, there is a risk of a person falling through it, as well as exhaust fumes rising into the living quarters. The fire service in New Zealand has already removed most of them. In the United Kingdom, more modern fire stations are built with one storey negating the need for a pole and they are sometimes removed from old stations that no longer require the upper floors for operational purposes. However, due to the strong tradition, time advantages and new safety features, poles are common worldwide even in newly built stations.