MikesPhotos

On 3-19-2008 LAFD LF88, RA88, E88, E99, USAR88, B10, LA County Coroners, LA DOT/Parking Enforcment, LAPD and OPG (official police garage) Tow responded to a call of a possible shooting at 14724 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. Arriving on scene, they found an apparent suicide by a woman who had fallen from the top of the National Bank Building.

Hey everyone Here is the long promised LAFD post as well as a Coroner update as well since I had the unfortunate experience of being near a fatal suicide jumper call in Sherman Oaks. Let's start with the LAFD first * Chief Officers GMC 2500 Suburbans & Chevy Suburbans --MX700 on Roof -- -- Red/Clear/Red domes with center section having a red filter to the front and amber filter to the rear -- -- Clear Intersection lights -- -- 2 front red Steady burn lights in lower section (LED in newer bars) -- -- 2 amber rear flashers in lower section (LED in newer bars) --Other lighting -- -- Red/Red or Red/Amber halogen flashers over front tires -- -- Red/Red halogen flashing lights on rear doors -- -- Headlight flasher Pics: --B10 --B10 --B10 Rear --B10 all lit up --B12 side --B12 with LEDs and filters --B15 with LEDs --B17 rear --D3 --D3 * EMS Captains Crown Victoria --MX7k on roof same as chiefs --Headlight flashers Pics: EMS10 rear all lit up EMS10 front all lit up EMS12 rear EMS14 all lit up EMS14 Rear all lit up EMS14 front all lit up *Ambulances Newer style red box --MX7K on top of cab -- -- Red/Red/Red/Red with 6 rotators -- -- Red Intesections in lower level -- Front grill red steady burns --Side red flashers above front and rear tires -- Large red side flashers on box that are synced together to slow flash --White flood and spot lights on the side of the box do not flash, but are for scene lighting --Rear bar -- -- 4 red rotators on the ends -- -- 2 amber alternating flashing lights -- -- 2 Clear lights for lighting up the area in back of the rig (do not flash) -- -- 1 intensely bright brake light in the center -- On the corners of the box are LEDs that look small, but are amazingly bright. In the front they are amber and red to the rear -- Headlight flasher Pics: RA20 all lit up RA20 Rear RA827 (EMT) rear. Notice the corner lights lit up RA9 side RA107 Rear (new style with chevrons) RA88 rear RA88 Side White box ambulances -- Same except 8 (I believe) rotators to in the front bar with 1 steady burn in the center and grille lights flash. These boxes have mostly been relegated to 800 (EMT/BLS) duties and reserve rigs. Pics: RA102 front RA102 Side RA102 Rear RA88 front RA98 Front (notice corner lights) Engines and trucks are a crap shoot since they're bought en masse from different manufacturers in one order like the recent Pierce and Seagrave split. Almost all of them have MX7k's on top with red intersections and red steady burn lights in them. Most of the newer rigs also have either a halogen or LED arrow bar to the rear and are one of the few that do. On the new trucks with the LED/Strobe bar, it runs Red/Clear/Red/Red/Clear/Red in its lightheads and the red lighthead above the headlight on the drivers side is set to steady burn. Most of the 1999 Pierce Dash's like the one modeled in the game have been relegated to 2-Car status in Light forces (Engine 288, Engine 302). Pics: E273 Pierce Dash E35 Seagrave E83 Pierce E89 and 289 E88 Up close E88 E88 E288 E99 Sirens: All Fire Engines have an electrical siren (unitrol for the most part) and a mechanical FedSig Q siren as well as air horns. All Ambulances have the same electrical siren, plus a small timberwolf mechanical siren , though the new rigs being purchased will have an Electronic Q instead. They also have air horns with the older ones actually having Hi-Lo sounding air horns. All chiefs have the air horns and electronic sirens. *LA County Coroners 99% of all coroners vehicles are NOT emergency response vehicles and therefore just have amber lighting. Crown victoria slicktop - Investigators vehicle -- Flashing amber rear view mirror light --alternating amber rear deck lights Pics: Rear Front Ford Van --Amber Federal Signal Vista -- -- all amber domes -- -- 2 clear take downs, 2 amber flashers to the front, alley lights -- -- 2 rear amber flashers -- Traffic advisor on the back -- Corner strobes in tailights and front turn signals Pics: Side Rear Front They also have a few special vehicles for mass casuality incidents like a plane crash or such and those vehicles have red lights on them. I've only seen them at air shows, never on scene so I can't really comment on them. As far as the water tenders go, they're all old junkers for the most part. In regards to the Foam Tender, I haven;'t had a chance to drive to 60's so.. No idea. *LAPD addendum Unmarked cars: Newer ones have a red steady burn LED with blue flashing led next to it on the rear view mirror, and a single LED light on the rear deck. I didn't see it on, but I'm guessing it's either a solitary amber, or amber/blue combindation. Also Headlight flasher Pics: Front with blue Rear off Front with blue off Older ones have a single steady burn red halogen rear vew mirror light and large amber blue rear halogen alternating deck lights Pics: Front Rear Rear I mentioned in my last post about the new Harley bikes, as you can see, it's blue on the riders left hand and red on the right, and more lights then an xmas tree. Pics: Front with truck 88 Motor Officer Right Side Rear Left side Left Front Also in regards to the LAPD Arjent, It seems that the 2 flash patterns I've seen the most are: -- All lights on: rear amber flashes 1256 with 3 and 4 34 1256 --Front steadys and rear amber or rear amber only: 1 alternates with 6 1 lamp LAPD SUV Had a chance to see a LAPD Tahoe on the fatal suicide -- MX7000 -- -- Red/Clear/Blue -- -- Lower level 4 takedowns, 1 red steady burn, 1 blue steady burn, intersections -- -- Two amber rear flashers -- Front grille red and blue flashing lights -- Rear doors have amber/blue blue/amber flashers Pics: Front Rear doors Rear One thing I have noticed more and more is a few MX7000's with LED arrowbars: LED arrow Let me know if I missed or forgot anything.

Yes that is from the Deluxe game. One of the perks of being with a large fire department is that you meet and train with firefighters from all over the world. A good friend of mine in Germany was able to send us a copy of deluxe and a Feuerwehr shirt.

Commercial Building Fire across the street from the Hospital Commercial Building fire at the bank, Light Force assigned to interior and aerial master stream. Residential Structure Fire, Light Force was assigned to take the C side with extinguishers due to access issues. Mutual Aid RV fire in the Urban Interface zone with ANF & LAFD on scene Couple of Physical Rescue Assignments with USAR and Light Forces

First locate where your game is installed, you'll see a folder called 911 - First Responders Next, look in Mods\Los Angeles Mod v1.5\Specs and you'll see the file called fp_params_endless.xml If you are still unable to locate it, I suggest using windows ctrl-f feature in the my computer window. Mike

The file you want to edit is fp_params_endless.xml for the endless game and is found in \Mods\Los Angeles Mod v1.5\Specs Some key parts of the file to help you tailor it the way you want: <MinDurationBetweenEvents value = "200.0" /> <--I keep mine between 200 and 250, make it higher for more dead periods <MaxIdleDuration value = "5.0" /> <-- 5 seems to work good <EFPEventFall> <--type of call <Enabled value = "0" /> <--0 for off, 1 for on, this allows you to disable things you don't want <!-- AverageFrequency: average number of events per 10 minutes --> <AverageFrequency value = "0.7" /> <--play with this setting to change how often that single event happens Hope that helps, Mike

I'd like to chime in here as well. CFD, your complaint is that Hoppah used the wrong siren for the ambulance, and I will agree, that is a valid one. My question is, why would you want him to use another wrong one then? I'll be spending the day on tuesday at a city station and I'll be able to get all the details like the ones I provided for the law enforcement in my own thread. Off the top of my head, I know most LAFD units use unitrol and smart sirens, same as LAPD, with the ambulances having a timberwolf second siren and the larger rigs having Federal Q's. No one here uses Carson or SVP. Also all rigs use real airhorns, nothing electronic. Mike

And by realistic, what exactly are you referring to? The previous version was a fictitious vehicle loosely based on the Los Angeles County Fire dept squads. No such vehicle existed or exists in the Los Angeles City FD's garages which is why Hoppah decided to tweak the shape and paint scheme a bit to accurately and realistically model an actual vehicle. Capabilities are still the same as far as my memory serves, just the shape and paint were changed.

Regarding directional bars and water tenders, which has been brought up numerous times in this thread alone, I'd like to just paste my previous reply since it's as valid now as it was then: While, yes, there are BC's and Ambulances in many parts of the country with directional lighting, different siren tones, different body styles and even even some ambulances with CAFS units on them, I think the LA Mod FAQ has the perfect answer to this point: Currently the LAFD is hoping to purchase a new water tender in this years budget. With the current fleet being beyond its service life in many regards, it is something that many are looking forward to receiving. Also in this years budget are: 36 Rescue Ambulances 16 Triple Combination Pumpers 4 Tractor-drawn Aerial Ladder Trucks 1 Brush Patrol 1 Electric Cart 1 Overhead Crane w/Hoist 1 Bulldozer 1 Ten-Wheel Dump Truck 1 Low-Side End Dump Truck 1 Stake bed Dump Truck 1 Trailerable Generator 17 Alternative-Fuel Non-Emergency Sedans 22 Emergency Sedans 14 Emergency Suburbans 12 Pickup Trucks 2 Utility Service Trucks 6 Passenger Vans 6 Cargo Vans We'll see how much of that actually does get purchased though.

As you can see from the proof of concept video, while it does make them a tad bit brighter with all lights on, its is almost unnoticeable due to the fact that all lights are on, while if anything, it gives them a bit more definition so they aren't completely drowned out. The trick is to copy the parameters of the blinker and add polygons so that you arent so much casting light as the rotators do, but just lighting up. It's quite simple actually to change the entry point! I really encourage all who are requesting ad nauseum for a fire station to try this method on your own first before expecting Hoppah to put so much time and effort into recreating his amazing innovention. Forgive me for going off memory at the moment, I'm nowhere near a computer with the game but... In the editor, load the mod and then the map found in the mod/maps folder. You want to edit the first freeplay.e4m map listed. I beleive it is in the map properties under tools, but you want to find the button that says entry and exits. If you scroll to the upper left area where the FD apparatus enter, you'll see numerous green circles and 1 red one. Each green circle bassically represents a different police and fire vehicle type. You just drag and drop those circles to the south or north east or whatever side of the map you want it on, and voila, that is where they enter from! I chose to move all of the green circles and the red circle to the first east/west road in the southeast corner of the map. It really only takes 5 mins, it solves most of the issues with that area being "uncovered," and it is something everyone can do for themselves easily. AMR Ambulance at one time was a power house in the Los Angeles area as Spaloo can attest. They had a monopoly on the LA County Fire 911 contract and were the only players in the game, so to speak, for many years. In 2006 though, the county board decided that AMR was not living up to its requirements and put the contract up to bid for the various areas. AMR, Schaefer, CARE, and Westmed/McCormick ended up splitting the contract between them with AMR virtually getting shoved out to just the antelope valley and a handful of other areas. A far cry from the dominance they originaly had. While they do run some paramedic units, they are mostly in other contract counties such as Riverside and Ventura, and the ones in LA that are paramedic are used for interfacility transports and routine calls like that, not emergency calls. The ones that are part of the LA County Fire contract are staffed by two BLS EMT's instead. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing a private contract BLS ambulance in the game, but you really wont see them in LA City at all on an emergency run, just in the County. An interesting side note, in may areas like the 5 freeway near the 14 interchange, and in LACoFD FS 75s first in, the LACoFD and LAFD respond to all calls in that area mutually. Due to issues with private ambulances and response times, more often then not, the patient will be transported by an LAFD RA instead of waiting for the AMR rig.

In some areas of the US, mostly very rural areas that have volunteer fire companies, the volunteers and populace are alerted to call in the area via a loud air raid/warning siren. Rest assured this is NOT a practice found anywhere in or near Southern California. Since i'm already posting in this thread, and there is no need to have multiple posts directed at one person, allow me to diverge off track a bit here. While playing around in the editor, I've come to learn a bit more about how the light system works. The basic question I wanted to figure out was if a person could edit the lights to add steady burns and semi-realistic rear flashers to the blue without ruining the special light effects, and if there was a way to have the steady burns function during the special lights as well. I've taken the liberty of editing some of the PD vehicles as a proof of concept to see if I could edit the rear flashers as well as add the appropriate steady burn lights. What i've done is on the MX7K's, i've added red and blue steady burns to both the blue and to the special light categories, and changed the rear flashers to a pattern that doesn't conflict when you turn on the special light button. With the slicktop I added the correct rear view mirror light and edited the arrow bar, while turning off the additional lights. With the CHP vision, under blue lights the center pod is steady burn, and under special light, pod's 1 and 7 steady burn. I didn't do a very good job, as this video will attest, but it was more a proof of concept that you, and other light editors might care to see. If nothing else, I think it at least shows that it is possible, within reason, and without having to add more then 4 or 5 lights, with half of them possibly being off depending on personal usuage. Los Angeles City Fire Engine 81 is one of the new Pierce Arrow XT's, of which 13 were bought and delivered recently. It isn't anything special, in so far as compared to any of the engines in the game right now. I'd have to check to see if that one is Paramedic/Paramedic Assessment or just a straight BLS engine company if that is what your question is.

LAPD, LASD, and LAFD on scene of a traffic accident involving a school bus and pickup truck

I'm a bit swamped at the moment, so please pardon the abruptness of this suggestion, but have any of you who want a second station considered just moving the entry point for the apparatus to the south/east side? The main issue, as I see it, is that the entry point for fire apparatus is very close to the in-game fire station. By moving the entry point to the far side, you effectively gain a 2nd station via the F1 key and HQ button and no additional complicated scripting and no complaining over what goes in there.

In short, No. As you can see in these two pics, they're all visions. Pic 1 Pic 2 The Vision series has 7 smart pods which allows for the CHP to have such a varied degree flash patterns. The Smart Vector has 2 smart pods, and the regular vector has none. El Segundo PD uses the vision as well, and Anaheim uses the Vector, I believe smart vector, on some of their units.

The main difference between the two is simply a smaller lower section, the rest of the bars equipment is interchangeable between the two models. As you can see in this picture of an LASD Norwalk unit, the setup is but a mystery compared to their normal MX7K which can be seen here As for the Port Police, I've seen their vehicles with a mix of jetstreams, Code 3 MX7Ks and a mish mash of other lights as well. Since I rarely spend any time down at the ports, I've never seen their lights on to tell their flash pattern or setup. As for the Airport Police, they use the same style Arjents and MX's as the LAPD. The cars are virtually identical when put to bid. Oh and before I forget, the County Coroner is not a Law Enforcement branch nor an Authorized Emergency Vehicle. The only lights they have are amber. I'll update this thread tonight with Fire/EMS info as well. Mike

Hey everyone, With so much discussion about lights and sirens and changing them for personal use and the next version, I thought I'd add some info starting with the Police units. I'll be adding the fire info probably tomorrow night. Some basics: All Emergency vehicles, regardless of police, fire, ems, or whatever will have a red steady burn lamp to the front. Steady burn means just that, not flashing, not blinking, not pulsing, not anything, just burns steady. To the rear you'll almost always find at least one amber light flashing. The only exception is for a few "special duty" vehicles like upper echelon LAFD and LAPD staff cars that might just have the red steady burn. Also, most Law Enforcement vehicles will have an accompanying steady burn blue light in the lightbar as well. LAPD - - Lights - - - Code 3 MX7000 The basic set up for the MX7000 is Red Left Upper dome with 2 rotators, Center Clear dome with fast rotator with red and blue front inserts and amber insert in the rear, Blue right upper dome with 2 rotators. Lower level is two intersection lights that sweep horizontally at 90 degrees, Drivers side steady burn red light, 4 takedown (steady burn clear to light up an area, not used when driving usually), Blue passenger side steady burn steady burn. In the rear is a Code 3 8 lamp amber arrowstick that wig wags #1 and #8 in flash mode on most bars, and 1,2,7,8 with 3,4,5,6 on others. LAPD MX7K all lit up LAPD MX7K off during the day - - - Arjent The video I posted doesn't of the LASD Arjent cant be considered the be all/end all definitive info regarding the Arjent. With the LEDs flashing so fast, the pattern is impossible to accurately capture on even a camera with 30fps. The one difference between LAPD and LASD arjents is the rear amber flash pattern. LAPD wig wags #1 and #2 with #5 & #6. - - - Vista Same set up as the MX 7K Close up of the rear of the vista showing the upper dome inserts Front - - - Slicktop Older slicktops have a steady burn red halogen rear view mirror light and yellow and blue wig wag dual rear flasher light on the rear deck behind the driver. Rear lights Front The newer slicktops have red and blue grille LEDs, single red steady burn LED rear view mirror light, and a 10 lamp led arrow bar that on flash wig wags #2 & #3 with #8 and #9. 1 and 10 are red and blue respectively. Rear Rear view mirror light Grill LEDs - - - Motor Unit Unlike every other agency that I can think of, LAPD reverses the color on their motorcycles so that the blue is by the officers left hand, and the red is by his right. Also, the red is a steady burn light. They've since started to replace the older kawasaki's, and semi-newer bmw's with harley davidson bikes that sport a full xmas tree of leds all over them. - - - Additional Lights The LAPD does not flash the rear brake lights or reverse lights, nor do they have strobes in them or the corners. The only additional lighting is a wig wag head light flasher, sometimes mult-pattern, and 2 "a" pillar mounted spot lights. - - - Usage While parked and during traffic stops, you'll usually see the light bar lit up with just the steady burns and rear flashers or arrow on. If addititional lighting is required, the take downs and spotlights are added as well. - - Sirens The LAPD went from the Unitrol 480K to the Omega and is now equipping most of their units with Federal Signal Smart siren SS201 series with six button control head . Only tones available are Wail and Yelp. Piercer, hi/low and all those other funky tones you find in other states and countries are actually illegal in the state of California. LASD - - Lights - - - MX7000 LASD MX's are very similar to the LAPD's except they have the unit ID in white numbering on the rear of the center dome, and have red and blue lower level flashers in #1 and #8 positions of the arrowbar. Flash patterns can differ depending on if the bars and vehicles are a contract city or bought by the county. More often then not the rear flashing pattern is wig wag 1 and 8 and also alternate 2,3,6,7 with 4 and 5. Front Steady Burns Rear - - - Vista & Excalibur I know they have them, but I haven't seen one in the areas I work. I do have a couple of pictures of the Excalibur from Norwalk on my site, but since I haven't seen it on, I can't comment on it. - - - Arjent See the video and pics I posted in this thread. - - - Additional lights The LASD has a mix of various lighting packages due to having a mix of county units and contract city units. In addition to the lightbars, I've also seen strobes in the rear brake lights and in the front corner lights along with a wig wag head light flasher. Never any strobes or flashing in the reverse lights. - - Sirens Just like the LAPD, the LASD has used mostly the Unitrol and Touchmaster but is now switching over to the Smart Siren, specifically the SS2000-LASD. CHP - - Lights - - - Premium Vision The CHP uses the Federal Signal Premium Vision which is a VERY customizable bar. One thing to note is that the pods are not one solid color but are clear with filters in them in the following colors. Front / Rear 1. Red / Blue 2. Blue / Red 3. Clear / Blue 4. Red / Red 5. Clear / Blue 6. Blue / Red 7. Red / Blue CHP Traffic Stop When they have 1 and 7 steady burn, they'll usually have 3 & 5 jog/oscillate 180 degrees to the rear. They also have a rear only danger mode that sets pods 1, 2, 6 and 7 to oscillate to the rear with no front lights on at all. You can usually see this during COZEEP duties with sometimes pod 4 steady burning. The standard flash mode for the signalmaster arrow bar is to wig wag 1,2,7,8 with 3,4,5,6 - - - Slicktops The standard CHP slicktop has a single steady burn red rear view mirror light and an 8 lamp arrow stick with 2 dual head Fed Sig flasher units on top. The colors of the flasher units are blue outer and red inner. Front Rear The CHP has recently started to invest more money in lighting and their newer Commercial Enforcement white crown vics have dual LED rear view mirror lights with steady burn red and flashing blue, flashing red and blue led bumper lights at an angle, strobe mirror lights, and to the rear is an LED arrow stick with single LED head lights mounted above it on both the right and left side. Unknown what the color is since I've yet to see them turned on. Here is a pic that illustrates the front. CHP Commercial Enforcement Crown Vic - - - Additional Lights The CHP doesn't use any corner strobes or rear brake/reverse light flashers. Just a standard headlight flasher. - - Sirens The CHP uses the Federal Signal Smart Siren. Well, it's getting late so I'm going to end that here. Tomorrow I'll add info on the port and airport police as well as the fire info. [Edited to add pics of new LAPD slicktop as requested by pm]

Mav, I think you read to much into my reply. I was going for "as simple as possible" in that you just clear the boxes and nothing more. No scripts, nothing fancy, just an empty lot. If you want your engine to go back there, you use the "move there" command. The fire station scripts are wonder and all, but really, how hard is to just click on an engine or light force and point to a lot after a fire, and say go back there? One thing I have noticed, and a search of the forums gave me an answer for EM3 that didn't quite seem to work for EM4. If I place an engine on the freeplay map, i notice its traits are 0 transports, 0 passengers, and no one can enter the rig. Should I modify it, or am I doing something incorrectly? While more often then not, firefighters are tasked with having to do traffic control on incidents for at least a short period of time, one of the first things you'll hear over the radio is repeated calls for DOT (department of transportation) or PD for traffic control. No offense intended to the fine men and women in both departments, but firefighters have much more important things to be doing then traffic control when the city has an abundance of DOT and PD. I can, but then.. I can't. This brings up an interesting fact of the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Unlike many other departments you may be familiar with, the LAFD does NOT use a traditional alarm or box system. Each call has it's own dispatch algorithm based on type of structure and location, as well as weather pattern. For example, santa ana winds will include an observation helicopter and additional units down wind in case of tree's and embers. After the first assignment gets on scene, the IC (incident commander) will request whatever units he or she feels is neccesary. With the flexibility of the Task Force/Light Force concept, it allows them to judge their needs specifically and call for additional Engines, Light Forces, Task Forces, in whatever numbers their situation requires. A common call will be "OCD, Van Nuys IC.. Send me an additional Task Force and Engine and another BC" That would get him 2 engines, and a Light Force which can either be used as a 3 engine or a truck. Remember, except for Station 9, you'll never see a truck respond in LA without a pumper with it. The breakdown, for those interested is: "A" assignment includes not less than four fire companies and not less than 1 truck -Example: Batt 10, Task Force 88 (Engine 88, Engine 288, T88), Engine 78, Engine 39, EMS 10, RA88. "B" assignment includes not less than six fire companies and not less than 2 trucks - Dwellings, apartments, and hotel occupancies four or more stories in height. All commercial and/or industrial properties that exceed certain parameters, Schools, special schools, day nurseries two or more stories, Sanatoriums, homes for aged, hospitals, public assemblages, and churches except B?2 occupancies under 100 feet. A B2 is explained in the LA City Fire Code. Also all assemblage occupancies on second floor or above. -Example: Batt 10, Task Force 88 (Engine 88, Engine 288, T88), Engine 78, Task Force 39 (Engine 39, Engine 239, Truck 39), Engine 109, EMS 10, RA88. "C" assignment includes not less than four fire companies and not less than 1 truck -Special Assignments like Airports, Brush and Harbor, amongst others After the first units get on scene, any additional units required turns the incident into a "Greater Alarm" regardless of what is requested. After 15 fire companies are on scene, it reaches the level of Major Emergency. The way the current BC is scripted is very very similar to the way LA does things. You want more engines? You just request more engines. Another truck, well just call it in! One thing I would like to see is the "Engine 2" modified slightly by adding a 2 in front of its name as in 288 or 207, and when the Truck is called out via script, the "2 car" responds with it as a light force. I know thats foreign to many of you from other parts of the world, but I suggest you try it out for a bit. You'll see just how versatile the Task Force/Light Force concept is. Many times, depending on the area, response time, and other factors, instead of getting an Engine company, you'll get an additional Light Force as part of your original assignment since they can function as either a truck or engine company on scene. With 6 firefighters on board, they can be a significant force multiplier! As far as adding a Captain, I'm a bit reluctant to go with that. As it is right now, it's great to be able to select a group of firefighters quickly and easily to direct them to do what you need. By adding a captain, you'll always be leaving him out and having to select him separately when moving units around. On most of the calls found in the game, a BC would always be dispatched to 90% of them, in which case the Captain would be relegated not to any command position per se, but utilized as just a member of Fire Attack. Why not just leave the command and control with the Chief officers? Mike

I'm sure many people in real life and in the game would agree with this sentiment. Unfortunatly, the LAFD has decided for whatever reasons, to only equip their Engines, some of the newer Trucks, and a few other select apparatus with arrow bars. Nothing on the Chiefs, EMS Captains, Ambulances, or Brush patrols. The real life water tenders are so old, most of them are from the days where a single bubble gum light was still the big deal, and the Foam Tender doesn't have it either. I'm always fascinated by the way other departments in other areas of the US do things. For the most part, the final decision comes down to doing as much as possible within the confines of a very limited budget. This leads to unit sharing such as an "area hazmat" that is subscribed to by each local jurisdiction to spread the cost of such an expensive apparatus. Here in Los Angeles, due to our size and budget, we are blessed in many ways. Currently the LAFD has 4 Hazmat Squads at 87s, 4's 48s, and 95 plus large hazmat tenders at 17's, 38's, 43's and 75. Add to that the LACoFD and Mutual Aid Hazmat resources from neighboring departments and you have blanketed much of the city and county with hazmat resources in a quick response time. As far as our USAR squads, they too are spread out through out the city in a way that ensures quick response times when needed. Heavy Rescue 56, which is a large tow truck/heavy rescue crane, is included in this compliment and is currently stationed at 56's. But just to give you an idea of what a city station has, here are some good examples: Fire Station 102: Light Force 102 (Engine 302 and Truck 102) Rescue 102 (Paramedic) Fire Station 78: Engine 78 (I believe it is either a Paramedic or PAU now) Rescue 78 (Paramedic Ambulance) Fire Station 88: Engine 88 (Paramedic) Light Force 88 (Truck 88 and Engine 288) Rescue 88 (Paramedic) Rescue 888 (BLS - EMT) USAR 88 Swift Water 88 Dozers 1 & 2 and Heavy Equipment Command Unit USAR Cache in the rear (similar to the trailers in game) Water Tender 88 Division 3 Fire Station 60: Engine 60 Light Force 60 (Engine 260 Truck 60) Rescue 60 (Paramedic) Battalion 10 Fire Station 109 Engine 109 Rescue 909 (BLS EMT) Brush Patrol 109 (staffed by taking the rescue out of service) All of those are within about 10 minutes of each other in heavy traffic. 60's might be a tad longer, but inside that same radius are also a few other stations that I have left out. My own personal opinion is simple, if you want a 2nd station, it takes only 5 minutes to open the editor, clear a few stacked boxes in the harbor area, or a few parked cars in the NE corner of the map and voila, you now have your very own station. You can decide what goes there, which lot to use, and as soon as you have it set up the way you like, press F5 and save it so you only have to reload from that point. Then use the save camera keys below the map so you can jump between all 3 stations if you want. Mike

Since my name was brought up I will respond to this post. The question raised was whether or not I know the future. The answer is, only the immediate and near. Having spoken to many of the members on the apparatus committees and being intimately familiar with the current budget purchases, the Los Angeles City Fire Department has no designs to purchase any Crimson Fire based Engines. As far as anyone could tell me, no one has even heard of them nor has any formal or infomal contact with them been established. With a department as large as Los Angeles City's, you find that there are only a very small number of manufacturers that can deliver the quantities LAFD requires as well as agree to the support and infrastructure terms. This is why the last purchase of 26 engines was split between 13 Seagraves and 13 Pierce Arrows. In regards to directional lighting on LAFD ambulances, I can only assume you are talking about apparatus from other departments, when you say they have them in real life. The Los Angeles City Fire Department does not equip their Basic or ALS ambulances with them and their upcoming purchases do not include them either.

That number alone is just a testament to how a single mod and a community can keep a game alive long after it's release date.

Like I said, I had a feeling I'd be in the minority on this point Yeah I found that while pouring through the contents, but I'll have to check again later, I believe they're all just variations of the same incorrect wail for the modeled departments. Due to the holiday weekend, I'm not going to be in town for a bit, but next time I go to work I'll see if I can find out what model sirens are in the various units. I do know that LAFD is going to all Q's, either electronic for the RA's or full Q's for the bigger rigs. No more Timberwolf sirens in the future orders. Let me preface this by saying that I have no concrete or factual information on this topic at all. What has been explained to me over the years from various sources does go along with the general theory about keeping the Cab cooler though. I know it was greatly discussed when LAFD switched from the white over red paint scheme to the all red box that it would be a like an oven inside if left all red. When I was out in Riverside, we spec'd a new Mobile EOC that we made sure was all white as well to help reflect the heat and keep everything cooler. This was a lesson learned after using a dark green rental trailer from the USFS that was so hot it caused the radios to fail for the incident dispatchers on the Pechanga Fire. But as for it being California law or anything, I'm sorry, but no. We have every color and shape in the planet in this state including some strange colors of blue and lime. I'm sure somewhere out here there is probably a purple and orange engine too! I'd love to say that I can't wait to see the next incarnation, but the truth is, I'm having to much fun with this one, and I had a great time with 1.4. If the changes happen, they happen, if not, they don't. Either way, at least I hope this gives you the correct information to decide what you want to do when or if you do anything at all. Thankfully things like the voices can be done by the great volunteers who helped last time if they'd like to change it, and a lot of my post was just commentary to things others brought up like the LAPD arrow bar and the chevrons. By the way, my friends at the LAFD shops just let me know that a new model RA will be in service sometime soon as well. Looks like a new light package, front end, and the chevrons in the back. They're talking july to possibly late october for in-service at this point. Also all thirteen 2007 Pierce Arrow XT Engines have been removed from service at this time due to an ongoing electrical problem. Other departments have reported similar issues with the 2007 Pierces and it may end up becoming a huge issue very soon. Hopefully the problem is located and resolved quickly. Mike

LAPD does have a few converted school buses that I've seen over the years, such as this and this one which I did not take. A simple google search might be able to provide better pics, that was just one that popped into mind immediately. Mostly though, all prisoner buses and transports are handled by the large fleet of LASD buses that you see on the freeways and streets all over the Los Angeles area. The CHP ICV SUV came about due to the influx of grant money the CHP got after 9/11. The CHP utilizes a VHF-Lo band radio system throughout the state which means they are unable to talk to any other Fire or Law enforcement agency that they will be required to work with on large incidents and disasters. Throughout the state they have large incident command posts like this one but they are slow to deploy and staff. The SUV can respond quicker and with minimal staffing till the CP can get on scene if needed. I've not yet seen it in use anywhere, and asking around, few others have. So far its mostly a dog and pony show model being brought out, sheltered and babied, then scurried off quickly with about 8 in service. The unofficial word so far is that it's been plagued by electrical problems which are being worked out by the manufacturer and radio shop. Mike

Hey Hoppah, Since I have so much to say and new pics as well, I might as well not clutter up your topic but just stick to this one. I'm going to break this up into a couple of sections to hopefully keep it organized and readable as well. # Models/Graphics * First off, what an AMAZING job you've done with your models. Every little detail is captured brilliantly and I'm really in awe at your abilities as both a coder and modeler/artist. The engines, ambulances and everything look great. The new charger is slick, and who knows, maybe someday in the future we'll have a few of those here in LA. But as always, I would like to comment on a couple of things that are minor at best, and in no way detract from the mod you have created. * Motorcycle Unit o While steady burn red lights have already been discussed ad nauseum, I was remiss in not commenting on the most obvious thing. All motorcycles driven by Law Enforcement Officers in this state MUST have 2 steady burn always on blue lights in the rear. Here are a couple of example pics: + Port of Los Angeles PD + CHP + Los Alamitos + Westminster PD + Corona PD + Perris/RSO o As you can see, it doesn't matter the county, or department. They all have it due to a few embarrassing occasions when CHP and air units would go in pursuit of a speeding motorcycle only to realize it was a cop when they got closer. * LAPD Crown Vic - Slicktop o I believe it was LAPDguy who said that the LAPD slicktops do not have rear arrow bars. I hate to seem like I am picking on him, and I, in no way, have that intent, but when someone says something on here I try my best to make sure the information is complete and accurate regardless of who says it. While he is correct that many slicktops have just the Blue and Amber rear deck lights, there are quite a few with arrow bars as well. Even more are coming out with LED arrow bars to replace the halogen ones with the latest budget. In fact, I just happened to grab some pics of an LAPD slicktop with its rear arrow bar on flash. I grabbed 11 shots of it as I walked around, but as I was in a hurry and only had a small pocket cam they're not the usual quality most shots on my website are. As you can see the lighting package is 1 steady burn red LED Fed Sig where the rear view mirror goes, 2 LEDs in the grille that flash red and blue, rear LED arrow bar with red and blue end lights, and a multi-pattern wig wag headlight flasher. One thing to note that I haven't mentioned before, no LAPD or LAFD apparatus has flashing tail lights or reverse lights. If you check out the pursuit videos and such on youtube you'll see, we're quite minimal that way. I'll have to pay more attention to CHP and LASD in the near future. + Walk around + + * California National Guard o In regards to the HMMWV, is it supposed to be missing the trunk lid and it still says US Army on it. * LACoFD Squad and LAFD Brush Patrol o I've noticed a weird gray dot that follows behind both models. * LAFD Truck staffing o In 1.4 the default truck staffing was 4 men, and it now seems to be 2. The typical staffing for a Light force is 5 on the truck, 1 on the pumper, though due to space and comfort, it usually ends up being 4 and 2. * LASD Uniforms o I can't believe I didn't notice this before since I use the LASD and Squad a lot, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department uniform is Khaki shirt and Olive pants. In the game, it looks like Khaki top, and tan/brown pants. * LAFD Paramedics o Great job, though I think the color needs to be a little bit darker shade of blue as you can see in this pic: + Shirt o It's not quite the near black of LAPD, but it is a dark navy. * LAFD Engines and Ambulances o Amazing. They look amazing, and I can't phrase it any other way. One thing worth nothing is that the Engine do not carry any extrication gear. I don't know if I've mentioned that before, but only Trucks, USAR and LACoFD Heavy Squads carry them. o To the person who said the chevrons are Un-American and that their department will never get them, I have to say that I am proud to say that while tradition is a very large part of the Fire Service, SAFETY and the well being of the firefighter and the general public comes first and foremost. It is the forward thinking, and progressive attitudes that have brought forth the latest changes to the NFPA rules after much debate. Having served on an equipment and apparatus bidding commitee and taken part in NFPA changes over the years, I can guarantee you that these changes were not taken lightly and that when your department purchases it's next apparatus, it will conform to the NFPA specifications. This is not a Los Angeles thing, this is not a California thing, this is a United States thing. Looking at your profile, it says you are from Iowa. I do not know what your position is with your department or if the age you put down is correct, but here is even an engine going to Iowa with the new stripes. * USFS Apparatus and new mission o Great job on the Type 3 engine and the utility truck. Haven't finished the mission as of yet, but still getting closer. Oh how i long for a crew bus and hand crews! * Sound Files o Dispatches + I have to commend the voice actors for really doing a great job and effort. My nitpicks here are minor at best and just regarding the wording. Every department all over the world has a different way of communicating. I've been lucky that in my years as a firefighter I have been able to fight them in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Philippines and Spain and communications on its own is one of the largest differences you find throughout. # bat_ambulance.wav - To begin with, LAFD does not refer to their Dispatch as Central. The full term is Operations Control Dispatch and is refered to on the radio by its acronym, OCD. Because LAFD runs both ALS (paramedic) and BLS (emt) ambulances, requesting an additional one would get you a big question mark! For the games purpose right now, since there are only ALS ambulances, it'd be best to just request an RA which is the acronym for Rescue Ambulance. Full text would be: OCD from Battalion 1. Send an additional RA to my location. # Engine.wav - Perfect, except for comments above # Medflight.wav - I can't quite make out what he says at the end of the transmission. It's either Medflight or Metroflight. Either way the Los Angeles City Fire Department refers to their helicopters as Air Ambulances. Their radio designators are Fire 1 through Fire 6 which is how they self identify, but when requested, the typical dispatch would be: OCD from Battalion 1, Send an Air Ambulance to my location. # Tower.wav - Only thing I would change besides mentioned above might be to call it a Truck instead of a Tower. That's real nitpicky since it is a tower in the game. # pd_air.wav - In regards to the PD, as mentioned in the voice actors thread and as you can hear in the audio comms I posted, LAPD units have a way of communicating that is different then most. They never address dispatch as anything. Not LA, Not OCD, not Central. Instead they just give their unit identifier and start talking. Another key difference is that, 1A1 would be pronounced one-ay-one. LAPD does not use the standard NATO Phonetic Alphabet, but instead they created their very own which has been adopted by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO). That is how you get the old fashioned 1-Adam-12 from yesteryear. Today, only a few specialized units refer to themselves phonetically, like Xray and George units, rarely ever the standard beat unit.Also the Los Angeles Police Department operates the largest municipal police air force in the US. With something around 15 helicopters and 1 plane, they dwarf some countries military air forces! Because of this, at any given time of the day, and most of the night, you can rest assured that multiple airships are over head. Their radio designators are based off of the division they are "assigned" to, but realistically, they fly all over the city as needed. Last night I had "Air 12" overhead in the west portion of the san fernado valley which is Air 17's area. For this dispatch, the proper phrasing would be "one-ay-one, have an airship respond to my location." And yes, It is a strange quirk of LA's to call them airships even though they are not blimps. # PD_ambulance.wav - Besides the comment above, because Los Angeles has an integrated Fire and EMS program, we don't request EMS like you see in many eastern parts of this country. For this, the correct terminology might not be the best to use in game though. In real life the call would be: "1A1, Send Fire to my location for a ______" For the games sake, I'd go with something similar to LAFD's protocol in "1A1, Send an RA to my location" # PD_backup.wav - Perfect structure, 1A1 or 1-adam-1 works, though as mentioned before, adam is a rare occurence. + The only other thing i'd mention regarding the dispatches is the beeps. I'm guessing the person who made these files is familiar with his own local radio system which has terminating beeps, but LA does not. Neither for LAPD or LAFD. o Sirens + I'm probably going to be in the minority here and I'll probably ruffle a few feathers as well when I comment on this judging by other comments I've read. I cannot stress enough how amazing the original sirens were. They were nearly dead on accurate without a fault and it was one of the things I enjoyed MOST about 1.4 was how accurate they were. The ones in 1.5 on the other hand are not what you would hear in Los Angeles for police or fire. The priority siren tones are even illegal in this state as I, and others have mentioned previously. They're cool tones, and they probably reflect some other states departments perfectly, but they're absolutely wrong for LAPD, LAFD or any department in california. The wail is too high of a pitch and peaks to shortly, the Federal Q is perfect, but the electric airhorn and the priority are two things you'll never hear in LA. All LAFD apparatus except for the EMS cars have real air horns mounted on them, and I've honestly never heard an LAPD car use an electric airhorn. I spoke to an LASD deputy and an LAPD officer today and both of them looked at me weird and said they just flip between welp and yail, nothing else. Youtube is an amazing resource for this kind of information by looking at clips uploaded by news stringers. A personal favorite of mine that showcases LAPD's sirens well is . For LAFD, you can hear an Engine and RA response one a video I just uploaded . It's not the best of quality but I took it to highlight how the Timberwolf Mechanical Siren sounds on the RA. It's a bit different from the Q's found on the larger apparatus and a friend of mine was curious. As you can hear by these videos, the new sirens are wonderful for a mod in a state or dept that uses them, but not for LA.Overall it's an amazing leap from 1.4 and I'm having a blast with it. I'm still trying to get near a station with a USAR unit for some top pics, but the weather out here has been nothing short of crazy. 85 today, freezing last week. Mike

Can't wait to try it out! By the way, it's USFS which stands for United States Forest Service.

The liberty and whelen in general is very popular in the south and east compared to the west coast. Federal Signal and Code 3 have had a lock on the equipment out here for quite some time now, especially with the reluctance of many departments to go all strobe. In regards to the colored tops, all of the bars have them to distinguish the cars from similar model and style security firms. With LED, you can no longer instantly see the amber of non-police vehicles, and the red and blue of Law Enforcement which is troublesome in and of itself. By keeping the colored tops, it allows one more piece for instant recognition for the public and everyone else. Mike