Founded in 1797 and established in 1859, the Baltimore City Fire Department covers an area of 81 square miles (210 km2) of land and 11 square miles (28 km2) of water, with a resident population of over 640,000 and a daytime population of over 1,000,000.

The various companies engaged in serious rivalries, resulting in what a Baltimore mayor termed "irregularities".

Mutual aid companies from as far away as Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City were called in to assist.

The Baltimore City Fire Department operates on a 800mhz APCO-25 Phase 1 digital system.

This is a list of simulcast VHF frequencies to program into a scanner or radio to listen to BCFD radio communication:[5] During the civil unrest in Baltimore that took place from April 27, 2015 to April 28, the Baltimore Fire Department was backed up with multiple calls and also battled against rioters.