Firehausen Gangs
The Firehausen gangs are a number of small area gangs that operate quasi-legally in Ellistown Landing as volunteer fire departments. While technically sponsored by Dominus Columbia, it is a common saying that 'nobody ever lived comfortably on the salary that the government pays them for doing a dangerous job' (and being a member of the Firehausen is extremely dangerous by the standards of Bailey Professions). Each Gang is paid by the Settlement based on fires put out and Strains rescued, a pay scale that has lead to outright conflicts and small riots among Firehausen gangs each looking to handle a given fire, with each gang entering melee against the other while the building burns behind them. Thankfully these conflicts do not happen often (as nobody but a well-insured homeowner's next of kin gets paid if noone is rescued and the building burns to the ground).
Nobody is particularly sure why the term Firehausen is used or why their leaders are called Chiefs, but a typical Firehausen gang consists one Chief and 2-10 members. In general one or two of the members will have at least some basic medical training as dead people don't pay any bonus. Typically the gangs are armed with breaker bars and fire axes, and wear specially treated armor and Deathmasks that allowed them to fight fires without too much danger (as long as they are quick about it).
Unless a gang is out roving (looking for fires), the Firehausen arrive on scene only after someone signals them with an alarm bell. As a response, the gang signals back with a siren to indicate that they are on the way and to prevent other gangs from claim jumping them (not that this this always works). When a Firehausen gang arrives on the scene the first boots on the ground will typically begin bashing in doors in order to clear the way while the remainder set up triage and begin a bucket brigade. Once a given door is open the first few members inside the house will attempt to evacuate as many living people as possible to get them outside to the triage team and then charge back in with buckets in hand.
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