Revealing mistake: When Station 51 is dispatched to 'fire in the salvage yard', in the exterior shot as the squad and engine roll out of the bay, we can see the real Station 127's vehicle is still parked inside the apparatus bay, near the rear bay door.
Revealing mistake: When the critical boy who ingested the ant poison is being wheeled into the ER's treatment 3, we can see Johnny laughing, and obviously since absolutely nothing about the situation is funny, we know it's Randolph Mantooth just cutting up during the take.
Continuity mistake: After Roy's had his arm bandaged in the ER, Brackett points to the treatment room Johnny's in and says he's in 4, and Roy heads there. Then after speaking to Johnny, when Roy opens the door to leave Johnny's treatment room, we can see the treatment room facing Johnny's, and it's treatment 2, which means that Johnny is actually in treatment 1, not 4. Plus the fact that the boy with the heart problem is supposed to be in treatment 1 at that time.
Visible crew/equipment: After Station 51 is dispatched to 'man trapped at the rock quarry', when Squad 51 heads through the tunnel-like passageway on the right, it cuts to a shot from behind Mike who's driving Engine 51, and just as the engine heads through the left passageway, we see Squad 51 on the right, and can also see the top of the camera and the other cameraman covered in a dark blanket at the back of Squad 51, as he shoots the footage from that angle.
Visible crew/equipment: After the squad and engine pull up to the theater, when the manager of the band tells Johnny about the musicians wigging out onstage and then 51's guys follow him, the reflections of the camera dolly and moving crew members are visible on the surface of Squad 51.
Other mistake: After Battalion Chief tells Squad 51 to go to the elevator shaft, when Roy, Johnny and Jason enter the building, the DVD subtitles read that Captain Stanley says "Here, the elevator, it's jammed," when in fact it's the Battalion Chief who says that - Captain Stanley is not even with them. Additionally, Johnny asks, "Is somebody in here, Cap?" even though he's addressing the Battalion Chief, not Captain Stanley. Then it's Roy who asks for the oxygen, but subtitles read that Johnny asks for it.
Character mistake: When Brackett and Early are dealing with three squads at the base station at the same time, Squad 51 has two victims - father and son, Squad 18 has a pulmonary edema, and Squad 36 has only one bicycle rider with severe head injuries, because the second rider died, so the total is four out of five being dealt with. Back at the station, after Johnny asked Dixie about the condition of all the victims, he tells Roy that the father and son are both responding, so is Squad 18's pulmonary edema, and for Squad 36's bike accident, that "both" are coming out of the coma, which totals five victims. Then Roy responds, "Four saves out of five victims. That's pretty good." Johnny should not have said, "both" since it was just one rider.
Character mistake: Days after Drew's death (Roy and Johnny had two days off after Drew's death), during the meeting that Brackett has with the four paramedic units, one of 59's guys asks, "What do we do when we have this overload situation on the same frequency? Two squads, like 51 and us today?" The situation with the frequency did not happen "today" as he said, it happened at least three days prior.
Visible crew/equipment: When Johnny is in the ambulance with the boy who ingested poison, the shadow of the cameraman holding the handheld camera is visible on Johnny as he sits beside the stretcher.
Propinquity - S3-E20
Visible crew/equipment: When Engine 51 first arrives at the abandoned refinery and stops to hook up to the hydrant, the multiple location set lights are reflected on the engine's large windshield.
Visible crew/equipment: At Rampart, Johnny and Roy step out of the elevator and walk down the hallway discussing the inheritance, and when Roy bends down at the water fountain the outlines of the lav mic transmitter, wire and even the dark strap (that holds the transmitter) around his waist are visible on the back of his shirt.
Visible crew/equipment: When ready to transport the teenagers from the crash, the bulging outline of the mic transmitter is visible on the back of Roy's shirt, when Roy tells Captain Stanley they're ready to go. The outline of the mic transmitter is visible on the back of Johnny's shirt, when he looks for his HT and is bitten by the rattler.
Visible crew/equipment: When all the guys get back to Station 51 and walk quietly to see the cat on Johnny's bed, the actor's black tape mark is visible on the floor beside the bed.
Propinquity - S3-E20
Revealing mistake: When Johnny and Roy are figuring out how to free the woman trapped in her wrecked car, the flames spread and Johnny's pant leg catches fire, but as he's trying to smother that flame, the strip of fire stunt gel that was smeared on his pant leg is visible.
Visible crew/equipment: At the rock quarry, when John is pulling up the stokes Jason is standing to his left, and just as the banister bar breaks in front of John, it's amusing to note that we can see a crew member's hand gripping the back of Randolph Mantooth's pants, at the right side of the screen.
Visible crew/equipment: At the structure fire, after the security guard is safely down the ladder, Johnny follows him as Roy watches from the window, and when the fire flashes through the doors, we can see the hand of a crew member pushing the lower boxes causing them to tumble.
Visible crew/equipment: When Squad 51 is dispatched to 'person caught in a mailbox', have a look at the squad's license plates when it rolls up on scene. The plates read "70324H" which is the California commercial plate number for Squad 51, not the usual prop dept's license plate "E999007." It was the prop dept's responsibility to change from the commercial plate to the prop plate, but this scene slipped by them. It's also interesting to notice that this scene takes place at a real intersection up the block from Universal Studios, which is the direction Squad 51 came from. Note the "Black Tower/MCA Tower" in the background, which houses Universal's executive offices.
Other mistake: After getting the hermit out of the cave, Roy asks Marco to take the EKG leads "over there", but then hands them to Chet (played by Tim Donnelly) saying "here Tim", and the subtitles read that Roy says "Chet."
Other mistake: After Hector agrees to use Tractor 2 to cut a trail down to teenagers in the crashed car, Captain Stanley tells Roy and John to get their gear, then says, "Marco, Chet, give them a hand," but DVD subtitles read, "Mark it off, Chet..." Later when they're carrying the teens up, we hear the dispatcher say, "Squad 36, 10-7 to Rampart," but subtitles read "Squad 36, transport to Rampart," and when the dispatcher says, "Repair 2, Engine 163 is requesting tow truck," but subtitles read "Return 2..."
Other mistake: During the paint factory fire incident, when the Battalion Chief (Battalion 14) contacts LA dispatch over the HT he says, "LA, Battalion 14, this fire is contained," but the bizarre subtitles read "Calling Battalion 14..." Subtitles from Universal Studios 2010 DVD.
Answer: It is standard practice to wet down driveways so that they stand out in a long shot.
stiiggy