The way it was explained to me is Atlanta Fire classifies the aviation division as seperate from the rest of the department. Hartsfield airport has six fire stations alone including 10 striker crash trucks, multiple engines, squads and ladders. Atlanta Fire as a department has 40 total stations. Station numbers are issued based on the district in which the station is located on the maps. For example some counties may have a station 1,3,6,7,8. Numbers are left out because that district does not have a station in its boundaries. Something like that anyway. Numbers have something to do with maps would be more correct.
Atlanta operates five stations at Hartsfield-Jackson - 24, 32, 33, 35 and 40. They make up Batallion 7. There are ten ARFF rigs, plus reserves, four engines, two 85' platform quints, three mini-pumpers, a Haz-Mat squad, a mass casualty rig, a foam tanker, a stair unit, and a couple ambulances.
Station numbering is based on when the original station was built, up to Station 40, but then some stations were closed. Newer stations have used numbers of closed stations or companies. The original Station 24 was the only station at the airport for many years. As the airport grew, Stations were added. Stations 35 and 40 were built new at the airport, but Stations 32 and 33 were originally part of the AFD that became Fulton County FD back in 1975. When the new stations were built at Hartsfield-Jackson, those old numbers were used .
Added by Bobe on 17 November 2009.