The city of Lexington is the county seat of Fayette County and the second largest city in Kentucky. Perhaps it’s best known as the “Horse Capital of the World” due to its location in the Bluegrass region of the state. The Bluegrass region is known for its highly fertile soil and makes for prime pastures for breeding thoroughbred race horses.
In 1775 the Lexington Fire Department was formed and in 1864 they became a career department. In 1973 the city and Fayette County governments merged combining the city and county fire departments. Today the department provides fire protection and prevention, emergency medical service, technical rescue, hazardous-materials, aircraft and dive rescue services to an area roughly 286 square miles.
Left: A front view of Tower Company 2; the gold leaf design on the front cab doors.
The department has five Battalions running out of 24 stations. There are 23 engine companies, seven truck companies, a heavy rescue unit, a hazardous materials unit, two air and light units, two wild fire units and one tender. All firefighters are trained to either Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics status. Many of the department’s companies around the city are trained in hazardous materials and technical rescue. The technical rescue teams often go outside the city limits to assist in large animal rescues, often involving horses due to their heavy presence in the area. The department can run everything from a high-rise fire to a grass fire in the rolling hills due to the overall diversity of their response area.
The historic Tower Company 2 firehouse.
Tower 2 is currently assigned a 2019 Seagrave 95’ Aerialscope tower ladder stationed with Engine Company 5. It’s a beautiful old two bay firehouse built in 1905. Due to their proximity to the University of Kentucky, whose mascot is the Wildcats, the stationed earned the nickname of the “Fire Cats”. Tower 2 is built on a Capitol chassis with a tilt-cab and stainles