@violetmadder @TeflonTrout @hellomiakoda @craignicol @aesthr @mercuryjohn That’s a common explanation, but it’s usually a bit incorrect. Stations have extremely variable sizes. Some of the bigger ones in growing suburbs could handle a two-alarm response solo (and may have the necessary support staff in the station). Lots of stations (especially in dense cities, where ground-level space is at a premium) have one or two engines and a single ladder truck, so four or five such stations might respond to a two-alarm. Ultimately, though, the point is “alarms” is a linear-ish scale of response size which isn’t well-standardized between areas.