About Us - FAQs
ABOUT US & FAQs
St. Tammany Fire Protection District 11 was founded in 1975 to cover the area around the Town of Pearl River including the Town of Pearl River, LA beginning with only one fire engine and a few members. Since 1975, the fire protection district has grown since then to include three stations, ten fire apparatuses, and over thirty volunteers and paid firefighters.
Number of Stations: 3
Classification: Class 4
Fire District 11 serves most of the incorporated areas of the Town of Pearl River, as well as the immediate un-incorporated area. We also cover Interstate 59 from mile marker 3 to mile marker 7. Due to an automatic mutual aid agreement with Fire District 7, we also respond to incidents on Interstate 59 from mile marker 7 to the Mississippi state line.
Q: What other responsibilities do firefighters have other than fighting fires?
Firefighting is a relatively small portion of the work of a typical fire department. The number of fires has decreased over the years due to a variety of factors including improvements in construction and a greater public awareness of the risk factors leading to fires. Fires, however, are only some of the emergencies to which we respond to. 70% of the Fire Department’s emergency responses are, mostly calls for medical aid, including illness/accidents, injuries resulting from vehicle accidents and other medical trauma. Other calls for emergency response involve hazardous materials releases, response to fire alarms and other calls for public assistance. Firefighters also spend quite a bit of time maintaining equipment, doing routine pre fire plans, training for all types of emergency responses and filling out the reports and paperwork associated with these activities.
Q: Why does the Fire Department bring the fire engine or ambulance everywhere they go?
Personnel must be ready to respond to an emergency call from the field. This is why you almost always see the personnel together as a crew and have the fire engine or ambulance with them when they are out of the fire station.
Q: Why does the fire engine respond when a request is made for an ambulance for a person with a medical condition?
All Fire Department personnel are medically trained and will often arrive before or with an ambulance. This is especially true for the areas in northern and western sections of our fire district where an amublance is currently not stationed. The firefighters will arrive and begin treatment immediately, often resulting in a better outcome for the patient. In a more complicated medical emergency, the Fire Department personnel will be needed to assist the the ambulance personnel. Our Fire Department is committed to providing the highest level of care possible and this means getting the emergency responders on scene as quickly as possible.
Q: How often do I need to change the battery in my smoke detector?
We recommend that residents change the batteries in smoke detectors every six months. A good time to change the batteries is during the spring and fall time changes. If you have any questions about the installation or maintenance of your smoke detectors, please feel free to contact us.
Q: Does the fire department service fire extinguishers?
St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11 does not service fire extinguishers. There are many fire extinguisher companies in the telephone book that have the proper equipment to service them. Please feel free to contact us with any assistance needed or questions regarding your home fire extinguishers.
Q: When an emergency vehicle is approaching that is displaying emergency lights and sirens, what should I do?
We always ask that you please pull to the right and stop. This will allow fire apparatus or other emergency vehicles adequate and clear lanes to safely and quickly continue its response. If you are in a situation where you are unable to move to the right, then do your best to yield to the emergency vehile and let them pass. Also, please keep in mind that chances are there are additional emergency vehicles responding so prepare to yield to those as well.
If you have any additional questions, we are happy to answer them. Submit your question via our Contact Us page.
© Copyright 2011 St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11
