| Station 15 was the only station to be trained in High Angle Rescue and
originated the H.A.R.T. team. They added other disciplines later such
as swift water and trench rescue and became the Technical Rescue Team.
When a call for volunteers for the new Urban Search and Rescue team was sent
out, it was no surprise that the entire station volunteered for the
additional training. After two years of training and the addition a
new USAR 15 vehicle, the Dallas USAR team, TX-TF2 was officially put in
service in 2007. When Station #15 moved from Bishop and Davis Streets to its present location,
it carried some history with it. The flagpole in front of the current Station#15
stands on a base made from the dedication plaques of the former Station
#15.
Station #15 is a beige brick, three bay station, which opened the summer
of 1975. Engine #15 was the first large diameter hose engine in
the City of Dallas.
Firefighters at Station #15 stay busy maintaining skills for the technical
rescue team (TRT) which includes high angle rope rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue
and swift water rescue.
The district surrounding Station #15 is mostly residential, with a few light
commercial buildings.
Major fires fought by Station #15 include two five alarm lumberyard fires.
In January 1951, #15 responded to a call at Lyon and Grey Lumberyard, 400
East Jefferson Blvd. retired Capt. Jack Wright recalls, "Station #15 got
the call first, but the engine couldn't get off the approach because of
ice accumulation, so Station #23 answered instead. But, a few minutes later
we were able to move the engine off the approach and still make the fire.
The call came in at 10:20 p.m. and we were still there at 7 the next morning.
That fire covered a whole block!" Approximately 15 months later, another
five alarm blaze occurred at the Groves Lumberyard, 200 East Jefferson.
According to Wright, "That fire went from Jefferson Blvd. almost to 12th
Street, about two blocks." Additional equipment was requested at both fires.
Wynnewood Village shopping center fire at Zang and Illinois, $1,400,000.
Three men have answered their last alarm from Station #15: Capt. W. J. Jones
and Second Driver J. H. Jones died from injuries in an accident on the way
to a fire August 27, 1963. Lt. E. V. Burress was killed in an accident while
responding to an alarm, June 30, 1953.
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