Wouldn’t it be 3-0? 3 firefighters 1 operator?
Mod-Note: This thread was pulled out of another thread that got off track. The question was to the meaning of 3-0 or 4-0 staffing, in regards to the terminology
They count the operator as part of the number total personnel assigned to the engine.
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So why do we say O? I’ve always wondered that.
It’s a carry over from back in the day. Stations were assigned personnel based on the a set amount of coverage on the engine. So some stations would get a .5 person to share with another station. That firefighter would split the shift between the two stations.
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This is what I have been told. In the old USFS days some stations had more FF’s than seats on the Engine. Lets say 6 at the station but the Engine could only seat 4. . If the Eng. responded to a fire and left 2 FF’s at the station they would report Engine 1234 responding staffed 4 - 2. That way anyone else responding that had available seats in their rig could stop and pick the extras up. If all the FF’s at the station could fit in the Engine they would report Engine 1234 responding staffed 6-0.
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See that makes sense to me now. I was always like 4-O? We are 3 fighters and only 1 O(operator) making 3-O. Thanks fellas.
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The 0 in 3/0 is the officer. 0 plus 3. At least that’s how it was in the old days. Z
Back in the previous millennium this is how it was explained to me…The engine had to go out with 4-0 staffing, if there weren’t 4 people on the engine, it couldn’t go out of county. Hence, it was 4 (or more), or “zero”
This whole “blank/0” staffing is almost an urban legend now. We used it when I was as hired as augmented 4th body on the enigine seasonal for CDF in 2001to make 4/0 staffing. I’m in LG now but we still refer to going from 4/0 on the truck to 3/0 or engine or whatever. I heard back when I was in the CDF days that it was a payroll thing to balance the books in unit. Units were allotted so many seats so they had to spread it out on the books. Whether that’s true I have no idea but kinda makes sense with the governmental shell game. I still do appreciate the verbage tho, kinda old school, like ‘grabbing the can’. Thanks for listening.
Kinda like “4:20” 
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4-0 refers to the number of full time (even if seasonal) fire personnel on an engine/truck. The second number refers to the number of reserve/volunteers on the engine/truck. In a combination department, you may see staffing of 2-1 which would mean 2 full time staff and 1 reserve/volunteer for a total of 3 personnel.
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From a buddy : One of the main uses was to describe career/full time staff vs reserve/vol/seasonal staff. 3-0= 3 career staff on app. 3-1= 3 career, 1 ‘other’ on app.
Another version has it as a budgeting/staffing term. 3.0 means three regular personnel always. Less than 3 (2.something) could mean one person was a floater/VR
The numbering “system” goes back to the days of full time and volunteer and has stuck around. 1-3 would refer to one full time and three volunteers. 3-0 or 4-0 is just an old method of stating the staffing. Remember the phrase, “240 years of tradition unimpeded by progress”!!!
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I think we have proven that 3-0, 4-0 definitively means whatever you believe it means.
P.S. I do like all the explanations tho… 
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No kidding. I think it mean 3 people vs 4 people on an engine…
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HaHa!!! This is great between fire fodder, really shows the experience of some of our posters.
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And really shows how slow this season is, so far.
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Just want to clarify here, so three is three more than zero and four is four more than zero. BUT, Four is only one more than three, and circling back three and four are both more than zero?
#pumpat150bakeat350
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In addition to that 2+2 would equal 4 as 3+1 would equal 4. But 4-1 is 3.
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