News Articles
|
Friday, February 05, 2010 THE LATEST: FRI FEB 5 |
In this Edition: Around Montana Update regarding Sunny Kahn Services Truck fire in Helena parking garage forces evacuation of building Great Falls residents question fire truck figure, marijuana moratorium Hydrochloric acid spills on Billings West End Update: Luther fire deemed accidental Miles City, Mt. Contractor Sentenced Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program FY 2009 Award Recipients Great Falls Tribune Letter to the Editor: Personal Retriever AAA Montana Endowment Prepared Youth Program Grant Around the Nation Casper nears deal for new Fire Station 3 Powell firefighter faces child porn charges FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – NFA Vacancy Lists Questions regarding firefighter May Day's AL. FF Burned A good 360 is a lifesaver. (10-157)
===========
Around Montana
Update regarding Sunny Kahn Services
Sunny’s family had quiet family service at 1PM Thursday at the Buffalo Hill Mortuary. They will plan to then have a remembrance / celebration of life tribute to Sunny later this spring or summer; will let you know when and where later. The later event will be where we as a fire service family would be welcome to participate with apparatus and presence. The mailing address for written support and cards is Box 5134 Swan Lake, MT 59911
===========
Truck fire in Helena parking garage forces evacuation of building By ALANA LISTOE Independent Record http://helenair.com/news/article_22cb2572-120f-11df-bbbc-001cc4c002e0.html
More than 100 employees who work in the IBM building on Park Avenue were evacuated shortly before the noon hour Thursday due to a truck on fire in the parking garage underneath the downtown office building. Officials with the Helena Fire Department responded to the parking area and found the engine compartment of a 1996 Ford F-150 fully engulfed in flames. Using heavy water suppression, firefighters extinguished the blaze without any injuries, but the truck’s owner, Alan Stroop, who works in the building, said he is certain the truck is not repairable. “I’m sure it’s totaled,” he said while he watched firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. “The flames were going pretty good.” Stroop is a programmer, and said the truck was running fine when he arrived to work about 8:30 a.m. He said he’s owned the rig for about four years and never had any threat of the engine catching on fire. “I’m just glad no one was around it,” Stroop said. “It’s better (here) than at home in my garage.” No one was injured. Kathy Herbel, an analyst who works in the building, said she wasn’t sure what was happening when the fire alarms went off, since there are fire drills in the building a couple of times each year. “They told us to immediately exit the building,” she said. “They told us it was the real thing.” Herbel said she didn’t smell smoke until she left the building. Kevin Kelly, Helena Fire Department battalion chief, said determining the cause of the fire may be difficult because of the severe damage to the vehicle. The vehicles parked on each side of Stroop’s truck were damaged by the heat, and no damage was caused to the building above the parking structure.
=========== Great Falls residents question fire truck figure, marijuana moratorium By RICHARD ECKE a Tribune Staff Writer http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100205/NEWS01/2050323/1002/rss Two issues facing the city of Great Falls stirred up a bit of confusion this week. One involved the city fire department, which proposed buying a new fire truck with an aerial platform. City resident Emil Neumann questioned the Fire Department's statement that a 40-year-old Mack Snorkel truck recently put out of service had 107,000 engine hours on it. Neumann did some math and found that translated to 2,675 engine hours per year. In other words, that meant the fire truck would have had to run for an average of 7.3 hours every day for 40 years. "To me, this just simply defies logic," Neumann said Thursday. "I can't swallow that." Assistant Fire Chief of Operations Steve Hester said the engine-hours figure is backed by records and annual inspections by Northwest Dynamics Inspection Services of Whitefish. However, Hester, who has been with Great Falls Fire/Rescue for six years, said he could not be certain that the meter is completely accurate. "That is what it says on the hour meter," Hester said. He said the truck was used heavily during the 1970s, and used regularly until the mid-1990s, when it was placed on reserve status and used less. When the truck is in use, it is left idling, so engine hours continue to mount up, he said. "When it does run, it runs for quite a while," Hester said. He added that the truck ran for 28 hours straight during a large fire last year in a downtown building housing Public Drug. A more common way to judge vehicle life is an odometer reading, which shows the number of miles the vehicle has been driven. Hester said the truck's odometer reads 47,337 miles. A listing of fire trucks for sale on the fireusa.com Web site this week showed two aerial fire trucks with far more miles on odometers than hours on the engine-hour meter. One 1995 truck sported 76,384 miles and 9,494 engine hours, and a 1991 truck was listed with 22,380 miles and 2,260 engine hours. Most of the truck listings gave odometer readings while fewer listings gave information on engine hours or pumping hours. Regardless of the accuracy of the hour-meter, Hester said Neumann's point "absolutely does not" have any bearing on the city's need to replace the vehicle. Fire trucks typically are worn out at even 5,000 or 10,000 engine hours, and the city's grounded Snorkel truck is "the oldest aerial platform in the state of Montana," he said. Financing for a new truck could come from various sources, including a federal grant, money from the city's central garage fund or from general obligation bond, which would have to be approved by voters. Neumann said he would vote against a bond issue for a new fire truck. =========== Hydrochloric acid spills on Billings West End ZACH BENOIT Of The Gazette Staff http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_ff1b55bc-1212-11df-a544-001cc4c002e0.html Billings firefighters responded Thursday night to a hydrochloric acid spill on the West End only to find a private crew had been cleaning it up for several hours. At about 6:30 p.m., a hazardous materials crew from the Billings Fire Department was called out to a possible chemical spill near the intersection of South 24th Street West and Gabel Road after a passer-by noticed a chemical smell and haze in the air. Firefighters found the spill coming from an 8,000-gallon tank that had sprung a leak at a fertilizer plant. They also found an independent crew busy at work neutralizing the spill, at 1320 S. 24th Street W., and cleaning it up. Billings Fire Capt. Greg Bochy said the crew had been on scene since about 4 p.m. Battalion Chief Ed Regele said a spokesman from Cattleman’s Choice Loomix, which owns the tank, told firefighters that it is company policy to “get containment as quickly as possible” for such spills and that it would also likely handle pickup and disposal of the affected area. The exact amount of acid spilled from the tank, which is on private property, wasn’t known, but Bochy estimated it could have been as much as 2,000 gallons. Firefighters made sure the acid was being properly neutralized and removed and cleared the scene. Regele said it is Cattleman’s Choice Loomix’s policy to have the local representatives notify its parent company in Colorado of the spill, who will then in turn contact any necessary government agencies, such as the Department of Environmental Quality or the Environmental Protection Agency, of the spill. No evacuations of nearby businesses were ordered. Three engine crews, a hazardous materials crew and a battalion chief from the fire department responded. Hydrochloric acid is a widely used commercial substance. It is corrosive to the eyes, skin and mucous membranes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Inhalation can cause coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain and respiratory tract problems. It can also cause burns, ulceration and scarring upon contact with skin. =========== Update: Luther fire deemed accidental Gazette Staff Investigators Thursday afternoon determined that a Wednesday morning fire that destroyed a Luther home was accidental. Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said a team of fire investigators, including a representative from the State Fire Marshal’s office, began their inquiry into the fire this morning and, by 2 p.m., concluded it was accidental. However, its exact cause is still undetermined. Investigators were initially calling the fire suspicious. “The evidence that we see leads us to believe that it’s accidental,” Kuntz said today. “Now we’re done with it and we’ll turn it over to the insurance company.” The blaze was reported on Wednesday shortly before 4 a.m. in the 4,000 square-foot home at 70 Upper Luther Road. Including the garage and basement, the residence was about 7,000 square feet. The house was under construction. It was about 98 percent complete, Kuntz said, and the family of five who owned it had already moved in some of their belongings. “They’re still in shock,” Kuntz said of the family, who planned on moving in next week. While the cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, it appears to have started in the garage. It took 30 firefighters from the surrounding area two hours to reign in the blaze. A damage estimate wasn’t available, but Kuntz said Wednesday that it was a total loss. No injuries were reported. Last February, a $1.2 million home being built near Luther also burned down. The cause of that fire was undetermined. =========== Miles City, Mt. Contractor Sentenced UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITY REPORT SUBJECT: Sentencing in Fraud Case/0746900032 DATE AND TIME OF INCIDENT: February 1, 2010 DATE STATE DIRECTOR NOTIFIED: February 2, 2010 DATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER NOTIFIED: OTHER AGENCIES INVOLVED: DOI/OIG LOCATION: Rapid City, South Dakota SYNOPSIS OF INCIDENT: On November 19, 2008, David Monington was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Rapid City, SD on two counts of Mail Fraud and one count of Wire Fraud. The case involves a scheme to defraud private fire contractors and the government by forging fire training certificates and task books to obtain higher paying jobs, including instructor certifications in the fire service. On October 27, 2009, Monington plead guilty to one count of Mail Fraud in exchange for the dismissal of the other two counts and future charges relating to the incident mentioned above. On February 1, 2010, Monington was sentenced to ten months in federal prison, three years supervised release, ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to one of his victims, ordered to pay for his own incarceration and ordered to receive psychiatric care. This case was jointly investigated with the OIG. PLANNED OR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: None OFFICE CONTACT: MT Acting SAC, REFER NEWS MEDIA REQUESTS TO: PAO, (406)896-5252 RELEASE IN NLEO WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT: __X Yes No Special Agent-in-Charge cc: MT SD, MT PAO, NOTE: This document may be subject to public disclosure. =========== Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program FY 2009 Award Recipients Last Updated 2/5/2010 - Round 2 Chinook Volunteer Fire Department - Personal Protective Equipment ($12,480) City of Columbia Falls Fire Department - Equipment ($996,486) Dixon Rural Volunteer Fire Department - Equipment ($13,310) Frenchtown Rural Fire District - Equipment ($53,000); Personal Protective Equipment ($147,000) Roosevelt County Volunteer Fire Department - Vehicle Acquisition ($274,000) Superior Rural Fire District - Personal Protective Equipment ($29,405) West End Volunteer Fire District - Vehicle Acquisition ($236,842) West Kootenai Fire Protection Company - Equipment ($2,197); Personal Protective Equipment ($20,000) Wolf Point Volunteer Fire Department - Equipment ($220,000) =========== Great Falls Tribune Letter to the Editor: Personal Retriever Phillip M. Faccenda, Chief Missouri River Fire Rescue, Black Eagle Regrettably, the recent drowning near Cascade mirrors a scenario repeated all too often. Rescuers becoming victims account for half of all drowning in the U.S., approximately 4,000 per year according to the American Red Cross. Ice related incidents are especially tragic because of the uncertain conditions inherent with ice. What appears to be adequate load bearing conditions can change within a few feet and concentrated loads produced while standing on ice are not evenly distributed. Most experts subscribe to the water and ice rescue Golden Rule: "Reach or Throw, but Don't Go." Until recently, only throw bags and ring buoys were available to rescuers. Two U.S. Coast Guard rescue officers have developed the first new technology throw device in 100 years for use in water and ice rescue. The "Personal Retriever" is deployable up to 100 feet and unlike conventional throw bags, has 12 pounds of flotation. The "Personal Retriever" is the only such device approved by the U.S Coast Guard. This device can, and has saved lives and should be placed in all first responder vehicles. It has even proven effective in K9 rescue. If you live, work, recreate, or provide emergency services in an area containing water risk exposure you need this potentially life saving inexpensive technology. Visit the website, www.life-safer.com, or call us at 727-6670 to obtain more information. =========== AAA Montana Endowment Prepared Youth Program Grant THE MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - all about Montana's future AAA MountainWest, through its endowment at the Montana Community Foundation, is making one time grants of $500 available to Montana Volunteer Fire Departments. The purpose of the grant is to support safety education programs for children ages K-12 offered through Volunteer Fire Departments. Awards will be based on age appropriateness, scope of training, and the likelihood that training will continue in the future. Applications must be postmarked by February 15, 2010. Grants will be awarded by March 15, 2010. If you have any questions about the application please contact Nicole Rush at (406) 443-8313 or e-mail nicole@mtcf.org. Montana Community Foundation Attn: Nicole Rush PO Box 1145 Helena, MT 59624 Fax: (406) 442-0482 ===========
Around the Nation Casper nears deal for new Fire Station 3 PETE NICKEAS of the Casper Star-Tribune CASPER — The city of Casper is nearing a deal to construct a new fire station on the city’s east side. Fire Station 3, located at Fourth and Beverly streets, will be replaced by a new station at 12th and Beverly to accommodate growth on the city’s south side, Fire Chief Mark Young said. “By moving it, we’ll be able to meet the four-minute emergent response time (to new areas) and still get into north Casper in four minutes,” Young said. Fire Station 3 is the city’s oldest, Young said. “It was built for a lot smaller vehicles back then and does not accommodate our needs,” Young said. “It’s our most inefficient and costly station as far as maintenance and repairs go.” The $2.7 million bid on the project still has to be approved by the Casper City Council. The city had budgeted about $3 million for the project, and engineer estimates pegged the cost at more than $3 million. The city unsuccessfully sought federal stimulus money for a larger fire station to be built at Fourth and Beverly. The construction slated for approval by the council at the Feb. 16 meeting will be for the scaled-back station. Young said GSG Architecture, the firm that handled the design work, projected the building to take 11 months. “It just depends on when they stick the first shovel in the dirt,” Young said. “If they start in spring, then right after the first of the year in 2011 it could be ready to open, if everything goes to plan.” =========== Powell firefighter faces child porn charges Gazette News Services POWELL — A Powell volunteer firefighter has been accused of using a fire hall computer to access child pornography. Doug Leichner is charged with 19 felony counts of possession of child pornography. Leichner, 43, is being held on $100,000 cash bail and has been suspended from the Powell Volunteer Fire Department. Leichner’s court-appointed attorney, Travis Smith, questioned the evidence linking Leichner to the child porn on the computer, saying police are relying only on the word of a former girlfriend of Leichner’s. Smith also noted that many others had access to the same fire hall computer. Police say a preliminary review of a personal computer and portable memory drive owned by Leichner found no illegal content. =========== FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – NFA Vacancy Lists Why are there vacancies at the National Fire Academy? Are enrollments down? Enrollments in the National Fire Academy (NFA) are actually up. Last year, in cooperation with our State training partners, our on-line training at NFAOnline, and in our resident and off-campus delivery program, the NFA reached 120,000 fire service professionals. In 1995 we trained just 15,000. Like every college, we plan our academic year based on last year’s enrollments, the number of new courses on the schedule, waiting lists for current courses and the calendar and our best estimate of the demand for courses the following year. It’s not an exact science. Vacancies occur for any number of reasons – some classes have low demand because the number of fire department members doing that job is low (e.g. public educators, data analysts, training, plans review, budget), but these courses are in many ways critical to the success of fire and life safety and the administration of the fire department! Other times we may overestimate the demand. When that happens, we cancel a low-demand course, move the enrolled students into another delivery of that course and use the funds to run an additional high-demand course. It seems that I’m hearing more about vacancies than I ever have in the past. Why is that? Well, you are. Before widespread communication using web sites and email, the NFA relied on last minute telephone calls to fill seats. We couldn’t announce the vacancies in sufficient time to get the students here to campus. Now, with improved communications, the increased membership and support of the Alumni Association and the participation of many of the fire service organizations, we distribute vacancy announcements in a matter of minutes. It is working very well. What you are seeing, though, is only the vacancies. We never send out the list of classes that are already filled and have a waiting list. The lists show only the few vacancies we have. I don’t apply during the application period, I like to wait to see what classes have vacancies before I apply, is that a good idea? NO! The first requirement for a student’s eligibility to attend the NFA is their current job responsibility (Box #16). If you wait, it is likely that the courses you qualify for will be filled by others in the normal application process. When that happens, you lose the best chance you had to attend the NFA. Worse, if applications are low, the class you seek may be cancelled. The most useful and valuable course for you may never show up on a vacancy list. The better strategy is to apply during the normal application periods (April 15- June 15 and Oct 15 to Dec 15). Remember, if you qualify, you may apply for two different courses in the same semester (using a separate application for each); however, you will only receive a stipend for one trip per fiscal year (Oct 1 through Sept 30) Why are there waiting lists and vacancy lists at the same time? Our courses are academically rigorous, and every class is considered mid- to upper-level college course work. It is important to ensure that each student is capable of success in the course before being admitted. Students are accepted to the NFA based on the ‘target audience’ criteria listed in the catalog. We want to make sure that the course is a benefit to both the fire department and the students when they return; and is of sufficient complexity to advance the student’s knowledge to improve local service delivery. Students who do not meet the ‘target’ criteria would slow the class down, and expose the student to possible failure. It is more important to fill a seat with a qualified student than it is to simply fill a vacancy. This ensures success for the department, the student and the rest of the class. What is the most frequent cause of application rejection? 1. Used the wrong application. For resident courses, applicants should submit the long form (75-5) application which requires the chief’s signature 2. Didn’t fill out the application completely 3. Didn’t sign the application, or have the Fire Chief sign the application 4. Failure to describe your activities/responsibilities as they relate to the course for which you are applying and identify how you will use the information obtained from the course. (Box 16). Any suggestions to increase my chances of success? On our website, there is a document that provides eight “tips” for completing a successful application. It only takes a minute – but will dramatically improve your chances for success: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/about/attend/apply.shtm All vacancies are filled on a first come, first served basis and qualified by using the Student Selection Criteria listed on our Website: =========== Questions regarding firefighter May Day's I am doing some research surrounding firefighter May Day's and the actions of the departments Communication Center. I am looking for some information and I am hoping you can provide me some information.
P.J. Norwood Training Officer / Deputy Chief East Haven Fire Department East Haven, CT (203) 627-6920 =========== AL. FF Burned Thanks Billy G from The Secret List @ www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com A Duncanville (Alabama) Volunteer Firefighter is in the burn unit following serious injuries he received while operating at a dwelling fire Wednesday night. Firefighter Casey Hinsey, 29, was burned on his hands, arm, neck and face and remains at the UAB Burn Center in Birmingham as of this morning. Smoke was showing when Firefighters entered the house around 1800 (Wednesday night) and it reportedly flashed over while members were operating inside. FF Hinsey became disoriented and had to be pulled out of the house by other firefighters. Updates to follow on our home page. =========== A good 360 is a lifesaver. (10-157) Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System This week's ROTW is 10-157. Excerpts from the event narrative appear below. The size up is the first step an officer or crew performs when they arrive on the scene of an incident, large or small. One key component of the size up is information gathering. The crews in 10-157 gather lifesaving information during the 360 they conducted. "We were dispatched to structure fire forty-five minutes before shift change. We had personnel from both shifts on the scene. When we arrived on the scene, we found a restaurant on fire and we did a 360...I noticed several HVAC units on the roof and noted their relation to our entry point. When we entered the building, the visibility was only about three feet. We entered the kitchen and started attacking the fire. A gas line was apparently feeding the fire and we were not making much progress. There was heavy fire underneath the HVAC units, so I advised the crew to move back. We heard the air horn on the engine sound off three times, so we immediately left the building. As we left the building..." Conducting a swift but comprehensive 360 of a structure or other incident scene is an absolute necessity for making good emergency scene decisions. Some officers will dash around a structure on a dead run so that they can say they conducted a 360, however they would have expended energy better spent elsewhere. Cues about the hazard(s) of the scene need to be noted and registered in the officer's strategy, tactics and tasks decisions. A deliberate, focused evaluation of the structure, conditions and resources, at the very least, are essential before operations can actually begin. After you have read the entire account of 10-157 and the related reports below, consider the following.
Related Reports - Topical Relation: Performing a 360. Has a 360 made a difference on a scene? Let your brothers and sisters know how a 360 made a difference in your service. Submit your report to www.firefighternearmiss.com today. Note: The questions posed by the reviewers are designed to generate discussion and thought in the name of promoting firefighter safety. They are not intended to pass judgment on the actions and performance of individuals in the reports. Rynnel Gibbs Firefighternearmiss.com is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. Founding dollars were also provided by Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. The project is managed by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and supported by FireFighterCloseCalls.com in mutual dedication to firefighter safety and survival. |
MSFCA is a member of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, a division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs
www.firerescue-gpo.com
New Video
Group Purchasing
