Visible crew/equipment: When Station 51 is dispatched to the traffic accident, while en route there's a shot from the POV of the top of Squad 51, and the reflection of the cameraman, who's wearing a yellow shirt, is visible on the lightbar's red dome and chrome surface.
Other mistake: When Station 51 is at the scene with the electrocuted man, he's dangling from a rope below the second stem of the letter H, in the large sign which reads "HOTEL", above the striped awning. In the shots from above the sign, looking directly down as they set up the ladder, we can see the letter H and the awning, but the dangling man is simply not there in the shots from this perspective, even though we should be able to see him.
Other mistake: When Engine 51 pulls up to the hotel with the injured man dangling from the hotel sign, Captain Stanley addresses Chet and says, "Chet, Roy and John'll need a line," but the subtitles read, "See that? Roy and Dan'll need a line, " even though there isn't anyone named Dan. Subtitles from Universal Studios 2010 DVD.
Other mistake: When the tones drop and Station 51 is dispatched to a "man injured", there is a closeup of the guys running from the kitchen into the apparatus bay, heading for the squad and engine, and none of them are actually 51's guys.
Other mistake: During the fire at the chemical plant, when Captain Stanley and Roy find the missing man and carry him out, the subtitles read that Johnny says "All right, grab his feet," when in fact it's Captain Stanley who says that - Johnny's not even in the same room with them. Subtitles from Universal Studios 2010 DVD.
Continuity mistake: At the scene of the traffic accident involving the car and the armored truck, the chrome center of Squad 51's lightbar is backwards, the solid side is facing front and the vertical slats are facing the rear.
Continuity mistake: While the boy who has cyanide poisoning is in the ER, Dixie looks through his clothing and finds carved peach pits, and when she directs Brackett's attention to all the carved pits, the items change when it cuts to the closeup. Additionally, that closeup starts out being farther, and we can see that Dixie is not beside the table before it zooms in.
Continuity mistake: When Station 51 is being dispatched to the fire and explosion at Martell Industries, the other companies called are Station 36 and Engine 14, but we see Engine 236 at the scene even though they were not called. This is before Captain Stanley asks dispatch for the second alarm.
Continuity mistake: During the fire at Martell Industries, when Roy and Johnny make a mad dash out of the building before the explosions, and midway Roy's helmet falls to the ground as he keeps running, but in the next shot when he and Johnny reach the engine and dive to the ground, the helmet is hanging around Roy's neck.
Continuity mistake: At the start, when Chet tacks the notices up on the bulletin board, the papers are tacked to the board differently between the closeups and wide shots.
Visible crew/equipment: When John and Roy help the driver out of the overturned armored truck, the bulging outline of the mic transmitter is visible on the left side of the driver's shirt, and when Roy's arm is around the man's waist, Roy even puts his palm over the mic transmitter as he bends to pickup the man's gun.
Continuity mistake: During the fire at the chemical plant, the distinctively marked SCBA tanks that Captain Stanley, Johnny and Roy are wearing, when they're searching for the missing man, change when they're inside and then finally exit. Note the different stickers, or lack of stickers, on their tanks.
Other mistake: When Johnny brings the officer who was shot into the ER, as soon as he's loaded onto the gurney Carol takes his BP then tells Brackett his BP, but she also tells him that his pulse is 120, even though she never took his pulse. Additionally, when Morton places the blood vials on the tray and tells the nurse, "I want this sent to the lab STAT, type and cross match, and CBC and differentials STAT," due to the urgency of the situation, but the nurse doesn't leave, she just stands for the rest of the scene.
Revealing mistake: While the squad and engine are en route to "possible fire", one of the camera angles is from the POV behind Roy and John, where the back of squad is located. That’s fine, but the problem is that there's bright sunlight on their backs as they’re driving, when it should not be there. Artistic license is acceptable, but with so much sunlight where it should not be it reveals that Squad 51 is not in its normal state.
Visible crew/equipment: After the ambulance arrives at the lion pit, just as the attendants reach the fence where John and Roy are standing, and the stokes is loaded onto the stretcher, we can see the two white tape marks on the ground, where the zoo employee is standing.
Audio problem: After the sniper throws down the rifle, we see Captain Stanley start talking to Chet and Marco, though at first we don't hear anything, we then hear, "Put on your air masks, " but that is not Captain Stanley's voice we hear. Oddly enough, to me it sounds like John's voice. Have a listen.
Revealing mistake: When Johnny, Roy, Vince, and the wounded officer are hiding between the bakery truck and car, before the multiple bullet holes actually appear on the side of the truck, those areas where the holes will show up have off-color markings, prepared for the stunt.
Visible crew/equipment: After the sniper surrenders, Captain Stanley instructs Engines 12 and 51 to come to the rear of the building, and a few shots later the camera moves alongside Engine 12 as it's turning the corner. In this specific shot, up ahead we are able to see set lighting (including moleeno-style array lights), equipment, crew and actors (in the blue paramedic uniforms), some sitting on chairs in front of the parking attendant's booth (which was shot at by the sniper during the scene).
Continuity mistake: When Johnny and Roy are treating the officer, while hiding between the bakery truck and car, the sniper fires at them which leaves multiple bullet holes on the side of the truck. However, when Vince talks to the Sergeant on the handie-talkie and then fires the tear gas, all the bullet holes on the truck are gone, but they soon reappear.
Visible crew/equipment: After the police officer is shot by the sniper, when Roy and Johnny run with their equipment and duck down behind the squad car, the outlines of the mic transmitter and wire are visible on the back of the Sergeant's shirt, as Johnny and Roy are given flak vests.
Answer: It is standard practice to wet down driveways so that they stand out in a long shot.
stiiggy