Browndale Fire Co. 
Fire Station 43 
Standard Operating Guidelines Station 43 

Date of Issue: 3-11-97 

Effective Date: 4-1-97 

Issued by Authority of: David M. Richards, Fire Chief 
S.O.G. 400-06-01 

Station rules 
I. PURPOSE 

It is the intent to establish a guideline of responsibilities for all personnel who bunk in at Station 43. 

II. SCOPE 

Any member that is staying at the station will follow this SOG or they will be prohibited from staying at the station. 

III. RESPONSIBILTY 

The fire chief is responsible to insure appropriate and timely response to all emergency calls. 

All fireground officers are responsible to insure the apparatus responds in a safe manner and is appropriately manned. 

Firefighters are responsible to adhere to the procedures established within this guideline. 

IV. PROCEDURES 

All bunkroom members are to note that these are the MINIMUM requirements for sleep-in status.  

The bunkroom is restricted to Browndale Fire Company personnel.  

The bunkroom is off limits to non-fire department personnel (men/women) at all times.  

Members from other visiting departments will be allowed to sleep if there is a bunk available and have permission from the station officer. 

The sleep-in hours are at a minimum from 2300 to 0600 hours daily on weeknights. All members planning to sleep in must be in the station by 2300 hours and be able to respond to calls for service until 0600 hours, unless they have made prior arrangements with the station officer or the senior member sleeping in the bunkroom.  

Members are not permitted to sleep-in unless they are in service to respond on calls or approved by the station officer due to special circumstances. 
Members under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance are not allowed to stay in the bunkroom.  

No eating or drinking is permitted in the bunkroom at anytime.  

There is no smoking allowed anywhere in the station’s living quarters. Smoking is permitted in designated areas only on or near the apparatus floor. 

Any member still attending high school will not be allowed to sleep-in on a school night unless they submit a letter of permission from their parents to the Fire Chief.  

Members will sign a daily log to stay in the bunkroom. By placing your name on the sign in board, you agree to follow all rules pertaining to the bunk & recreation rooms. 

Turnout gear will not be allowed in the bunkroom at any time. 

Bunks will be made when the user gets up in the morning. If the member is going to remain over the next night, they will ensure the bunk is properly made. If not staying again, the bed linens are to be stripped and cleaned. Members who stay for a week at a time must strip their bunk down at least once and wash all linens. No member will sleep in a bunk without linens. 

Clothing lockers will be kept clean at all times and all personal property will be locked in an assigned locker.  

Use of any other member’s personal property without specific permission of that member is strictly forbidden and will result in disciplinary action. 

There will be no lights, loud conversations or any other activity in the bunkroom, which may disturb others who wish to sleep between the hours of 2100 and 0900. During these hours, there shall be no loud conversations or other activity in other second floor areas (i.e. stereo, TV.) that could disturb those sleeping in the bunkroom. 

Only one person will occupy a bunk at all times.  

The senior member present will ensure that all the rules are followed. He/she will make sure all station areas are clean at all times. 

If there are any problems, the chain of command should be followed to resolve any and all conflicts. 

The bunkroom will be kept neat and orderly. The bunkroom and upstairs will be cleaned regularly by all personnel under the direction of the senior member or officer in charge. 

A thorough weekly clean up must be completed by Thursday of every week. A thorough weekly clean up will consist of but not limited to the following:  

• empty all trash, including the watch office 
• sweep upstairs and mop floor 
• clean urinals, toilets, showers and sinks in bathrooms 
• clean kitchen, food prep areas and appliances 

It will be the responsibility of each member to ensure that the duties listed below are completed as needed each and every day. 

• Member will empty trash daily before leaving the station  
• Member will ensure that all dishes are washed and put away daily 
• Member will ensure that their bunk is made and all clothes put away 
• Member will wash and dry their linens weekly 
• Member will keep grass cut weekly or as needed to keep a neat appearance of the grounds 
• Member will attend all clean ups as well as any special clean ups 

A list will be posted at the beginning of each month showing the week that each member is assigned. 

Failure to do daily or weekly clean ups may result in suspension from the bunkroom and/or department.  
    
Any reports of poor hygiene of a member using the bunkroom will result in the member being denied use  of the room as determined by the Assistant Chief and/or Fire Chief.  Members will keep the area around the bunk they are sleeping in clean, clear and uncluttered at all times. 

Members must maintain a high level of personal hygiene at all times.  
Anyone sleeping in on Friday or Saturday night and are on the clean up crew for that particular month must get up and help with the clean up of the fire station. The officer in charge of that month can request that all members get up and assist with the clean up of the fire station. 

A progressive discipline policy will be adhered to enforce these regulations. This means but not limited to, extra work details, suspension and possible expulsion from the department depending on the circumstances of the incident.  

CALLS FOR SERVICE 

The officer in charge or senior member in charge will assign apparatus riding positions to all sleep-in personnel. Members are expected to be on their assigned apparatus for all calls. If a sleep-in member sleeps through a call, the following sanctions will be carried out: 

• All in-service bunk in members will report to the first floor and critique the call for 5-10 minutes. 

• After the critique, the officer in charge will issue the member who missed the call an assignment. 

• The assignment will be dependent upon the environmental conditions and type of call (i.e., wash windows on apparatus, fill bottles, wash tools after working incident.) 

• The goal for this procedure is to promote a team concept within the bunkroom as well as throughout the station. All members are encouraged to look out for each other and wake each other up for calls. This will enable us to provide the proper service to our citizens and safety for our own people as the other members must compensate for the loss of the person sleeping during a working incident and creating a greater potential for personal injury. 

• If an individual repeatedly sleeps through calls, the station chief will evaluate that members sleep-in status which may result in a disciplinary actions. 
                         
VI. SUPERSEDED GUIDELINES 
This SOG replaced  MANNING OF STATION DURING STATE OF EMERGENCY OR INCLEMENT WEATHER  S.O.G. 400-97-1 

Reviewed  7-01-07