How come I see fire trucks with full lights and sirens go through a red light at intersections and then, after they go through, they turn off their lights and slow down?

Sometimes several units are dispatched to the same incident. The first unit may have arrived on the scene, surveyed the situation and informed the dispatcher that the situation was under control. All other responding units were cancelled and put back into service, ready to take another call.

Most likely, when you see an emergency vehicle go “Code 3” (lights and siren) through an intersection and then slow down and turn the emergency lights off, they have been cancelled from the call they were going on.

Posted in: The Fire Department on the Road