Fire Callsign Types
Below is a table of crewed response vehicle callsign suffixes, against unit type.
Management and support staff personal callsigns are different to this. See the Christchurch Fire Callsigns page for examples of those.
There are three parts to a verbal callsign - Station name, Station number, and Unit Type number. Examples:
* 'Avalon 414' at Avalon Station (41), plus unit type 4 - Hydraulic Elevating Monitor (HEM) with Pump; * 'Auckland 2018' at Auckland City Station (20), plus unit type 18 - HAZMAT/Command Unit; * 'Hamilton 4121' at Hamilton Station (41), plus unit type 21 (Incident Support Vehicle).
Written callsigns are abbreviated with the first four letters of the station name followed by the station number and unit type, e.g. Auckland 2018 is written as 'AUCK2018'.
A few officers on the radio occasionally omit the Station Name all together (using say just '717') as shorthand, but this is not official, and risks confusion, as most station numbers are replicated across New Zealand e.g. Onerahi Station 20 and Auckland Station 20, (but the combination of station name (including abbreviated versions) along with the Unit Type numbers, are never duplicated e.g. Onerahi 201 and Auckland 201.
The vehicle callsign standards have been subject to local variations over many years, so whilst the below table is generally correct, there are exceptions in quite a few places, especially for less common appliance types. A common exception is the Auckland Operational Support Brigade, who are a standalone brigade and so have adopted a series of sequential callsigns (AUCKOSU1, AUCKOSU2 etc) with several other Operational Support units in the wider region having adopted a similar convention. There are also cases where vehicles have multiple functions or fit more than one type, and as such have been allocated the callsign suffix appropriate to only one of those attributes.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1st Pump |
| 2 | 2nd Pump |
| 3 | 3rd Pump |
| 4 | Hydraulic Elevating Monitor (HEM) with Pump (FENZ Type 4) |
| 5 | Hydraulic Elevating Platform (HEP) (aka Snorkel) (FENZ Type 5) |
| 6 | Turntable Ladder (FENZ Type 6) |
| 7 | Pump Rescue Tender (PRT) |
| 8 | Technical or Heavy Rescue Tender (TRT or HRT) |
| 9 | formerly Light Rescue Tender, (historic, now unused) |
| 10 | 4 Wheel Drive Unit / Rural Unit |
| 11 | Tanker (urban) |
| 12 | Hose Layer |
| 13 | Foam Tender |
| 14 | Command Unit |
| 15 | BA Tender |
| 16 | HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) Unit |
| 17 | Salvage Tender |
| 18 | Combined HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) & Command Unit |
| 19 | Other (historically unusual use-case vans, lighting units) |
| 20 | LRV (Light Response Vehicle) |
| 21 | Incident Support Vehicle (ISV) |
| 22 | Canteen Unit |
| 23 | Rescue Boat |
| 24 | Lighting Unit |
| 25 | Smoke Chaser |
| 26 | Operational Support Vehicle |
| 27 | Operational Support Vehicle (2nd) / Support Vehicle |
| 28 | General Purpose Truck (curtainsider or flatbed) |
| 29 | Van/Utility or other Support Vehicle, not exclusively used by Operational Support |
| 30 | Helicopter |
| 31 | unused |
| 32 | unused |
| 33 | Medical Co-response Unit |
| 34 | ?? Rapid Intervention Vehicle |
| 35 | Pump with Technical Rescue (historic, now unused) |
| 36 | Rural Trailer / Helicopter |
| 37 | Van |
| 38 | Rural Unit (often within an urban brigade) |
| 39 | Fire Medical Vehicle (FMV) |
| 50 | Relief Pump 1 |
| 51 | Relief Pump 2 |
| 52 | Relief Pump 3 |
| 54 | Trailer |
| 60 | Tanker 2 |
| 61 | Tanker 3 |
| 62 | Tanker 4 |
| 63 | Tanker 5 |
| 70 | Rural Pump |
| 71 | 1st Rural Pump |
| 72 | 2nd Rural Pump |
| 73 | Rural Pump |
| 74 | Rural Pump |
| 75 | 1st Rural Tanker |
| 76 | 2nd Rural Tanker |
| 77 | Rural Tanker |
| 78 | Rural Tanker |
| 79 | Rural Tanker |
| 80 | Rural Command Unit |
Note the exceptions to the usual meanings of these numbers, there may be others not shown above.