• 16 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Firefighting Ladder

A fire service extension ladder and a roof ladder, named the way a training glossary names them.

Parts of a Firefighting Ladder

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Rung
  2. Beam
  3. Fly section
  4. Bed section
  5. Tip (top)
  6. Heel (butt)
  7. Heel plates
  8. Staypoles (tormentors)
  9. Spurs
  10. Hooks
  11. Halyard
  12. Pulley
  13. Pawls (dogs)
  14. Guides
  15. Stops
  16. Tie rods

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: a household ladder, in household words

All 16 parts on the diagram

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The whole ladder 10

  1. Rung The rungs run from one beam to the other.
  2. Beam The fire service calls the side of a ladder a beam.
  3. Fly section Also called the fly or the fly ladder.
  4. Bed section Also called the bed, the bed ladder or the main section.
  5. Tip (top) The glossaries list it as top or tip.
  6. Heel (butt) Butt is another word for the ladder's heel.
  7. Heel plates They steady the ladder and protect the ends of the beams.
  8. Staypoles (tormentors) They help to raise the ladder and hold it steady.
  9. Spurs A spur is the spike at the end of a staypole.
  10. Hooks Go over the ridge of a roof and hold the ladder there.

Where the sections meet 6

  1. Halyard Also called the fly rope.
  2. Pulley It is fixed at the top of the bed section.
  3. Pawls (dogs) Pawl, dog and ladder lock all name the same part.
  4. Guides The fly section slides through the guides as it goes up.
  5. Stops Stops are made of wood or metal.
  6. Tie rods Tie rods hold the ladder together.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two of these use it: (1) Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education, Ladders, Fire Service Certification Series, Unit FSCS-FF-7-80 (1980), handout Ladder Terms, ERIC ED221725, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153751_0463; (2) North Carolina State Department of Community Colleges, Fire Service Training: Ladder Practices, revised (1974), ERIC ED159339, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153510_0577; (3) US Department of the Army, TM 5-315, Firefighting and Rescue Procedures in Theaters of Operations (1971), https://archive.org/details/armytechnicalman003468mbp; (4) National Bureau of Standards, Technical Note 833, Fire Department Ground Ladders (1974), https://archive.org/details/firedepartmentgr833utec; (5) Wikipedia, Glossary of firefighting equipment and Ladder, text only. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's ladder, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Firefighters use their own words for a ladder: its sides are beams, its rope is the halyard and its locks are pawls or dogs. The first view is the whole ladder; the second is where its two sections meet.

Read the full guide

From the ground up, then the working parts

Numbers 1 to 10 are the whole ladder: rungs and beams, the fly section raised above the bed section, the tip, the heel and its heel plates, a staypole on each side ending in a spur, and the two hooks of the roof ladder beside it. Numbers 11 to 16 are where the sections overlap: the halyard runs up from the fly's bottom rung, over the pulley at the top of the bed and down to the hand. The pawls lock the fly to a rung; guides, stops and a tie rod complete the view.

  • Beam or rail? The side of a fire service ladder is a beam. Rails are the two strips that make up a trussed beam.
  • Pawl, dog and ladder lock are three names for one part.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a ladder in firefighting?

The beams and rungs, the tip and the heel (butt), the bed section and the fly section, and the hardware that joins them: halyard, pulley, pawls (dogs), guides and stops. A long extension ladder also has staypoles, and a roof ladder has hooks.

What is the halyard on a fire ladder?

The rope that raises the fly section, also called the fly rope. It is fastened to the fly's bottom rung and runs over a pulley at the top of the bed section.

What are the dogs on a ladder?

Dogs, pawls and ladder locks are the same part: the locks at the foot of the fly section. They hook over a rung of the bed section and hold the fly at the height it was raised to.

What is the difference between the bed and the fly of a ladder?

The bed is the lowest section of an extension ladder, the one that stands on the ground. The fly is the section above it, which slides up through the guides at the top of the bed.

What is a roof ladder?

A straight, one-section ladder with two folding hooks at the tip. The hooks fold out and go over the ridge of a roof, so the ladder stays put on the slope.

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