A firefighter's pole (also called a sliding pole or fire pole) is a pole on which firefighters slide down to quickly reach the ground floor of a fire station. This allows them to respond to an emergency call faster, as they arrive at the fire engine faster than by using a standard staircase.

Do firemen still slide down a pole?

Due to the oftentimes unsafe speeds involved with descending fire poles, many stations that still utilize a multi-story structure are replacing the poles with fire slides. This allows the firefighters to drop from a higher floor to the ground floor quickly, but much more safely.

Do UK firemen still slide down a pole?

As the county's Chief Fire Officer said: 'Whilst every consideration regarding health and safety was taken into account, the reason a pole was not included was purely due to space restrictions. ' Poles are not banned and firefighters around the country continue to use them.