13 Slang Terms Only a Firefighter Would Know - Page 3 of 3

1) Stretchin' In Detroit, when we get a working fire, we tell central that we "are stretchin'" on whatever it is we are going to work on. So for example, when we pull up to a house fire, we'd say "Engine 30 stretchin' on a two flat going throughout." Or when we tell someone about our night; "Yeah man, I'm beat. We stretched three times last night." It doesn't mean we woke up three times to stretch our legs. It means my company responded to three fires and stretched our lines on said fires. 2) Jobs This seems to be more of an East Coast thing, though I've heard it used by some guys around here. A job is a fire. "Went to four jobs last night". This means they went to four working fires. And it is usually said in some sort of cool accent. 3) Pipe That's the hose. We also call it the line. It's almost never called a hose. #wedontlovethemhose (If you don't catch that reference you are old.) 4) Pipeman This is one of those terms that seems to be used only by inner city firefighters. "Pipeman" is usually the guys on the engine. Or to take it a step further, the guys taking the pipe (refer to #3) into the fire to extinguish it. Yes...I said into the fire. 5) Tip The nozzle. I haven't heard this used much in Detroit, but we used it at my old department. When you had the nozzle, you had the tip. That was always the question asked by the oncoming crew. "Who had the tip?" Especially when something went wrong, or really good for that matter. 6) Jake Now this one is kind of odd. I have no idea where it actually comes from. I have read several things on it and they're all different. But I do know what it means. What it means (here in Detroit) is that you are a terrible firefighter. You do not want to be called "a Jake" here. But on the east coast, it means you are a good firefighter. Again, in a cool accent "that's a good jake right there". I don't have any clue why they are complete opposite depending on your location. 7) Deckie In Detroit we call the guys on the back of the engine a "deckie". I have not learned why yet because I am just a... 8) Trialman In Detroit, that's the term used for the new guy. Your first year on the job is your trial period. Starts with a twenty-two week academy and then you finish it out as a trialman in the firehouse. Some departments call these guys "probies." In Detroit, we also use the term "Sub" or "Subbie," referring to the fact that we are subbing in for the good deckie who had to take the detail...because trialmen don't take details. 9) Truckie A firefighter assigned to a ladder company. 10) Doin' it This one makes me laugh. I don't even really know if it can actually be called a slang term, but between me and my buddies on the job, when we get a good stretch, or go to a good fire, we usually joke and say that we were "doin it". This comes from Backdraft. 11) Senior Man This is the senior most firefighter working in the firehouse. The senior man takes a lot of the boss's responsibilities on as his own. The senior man also sometimes takes the trialmen into fires. 12) J's "He went off on J's." It means said firefighter is off work due to an injury. 13) Redline A red, 1 inch diameter hoseline that puts out 60gpm. Our engines and trucks have them. We use it on car fires, trash fires, and even sometimes on dwelling fires. It's on a reel so it is deployed and put away very quickly. "Get that red line in here, we can get it," says the Truckie.

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