Website Spotlight: FireDispatch.com

(”Spotlight on Cool Websites” is an occasional series in which I’ll highlight a particular website that I think you’ll find interesting.  Links to these websites can be found under the “Great San Carlos Websites” link at the top of the site.  Got a great website that you’d like to share?  Send me an email with the details…)

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Where are these guys going?

When you hear a cacophony of fire engine sirens, do you ever wonder “What the heck is going on??!!” If your curiosity piques every time you hear a fire engine pull out of the station, then this is the website for you:

FireDispatch.com is a very cool website for all of you closet firefighters. Not only does it give you a list of what incidents are active in 5 different counties, but one of the coolest features is that you can actually listen in on the conversation between County Dispatch and the engine while they're on a call. Simply click on the link next to the description of the incident, and you're riding shotgun. This is particularly interesting when there's a significant incident such as a structure fire, or a big traffic accident.

UPDATE:  FireDispatch is now on Twitter — follow them there!

As you can see from a sample screen-shot of the main page…

…the site tells you what the time the rig was dispatched, the radio link to listen in on, the nature of the incident, the location, and which Engine Company is responding. (In order to preserve privacy, they won't post the address for medical aid calls.) And if you're REALLY into this stuff, they even have settings and alerts for your mobile phone.

So, next time you're wondering where that fire engine is going in such a hurry, you'll know where to find the answer!

UPDATE:  You can now follow FireDispatch.com on Twitter @ twitter.com/FireDispatchSMC
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