Ask the Fire Chief
Capital City Fire Rescue is a department in the city that is totally customer service based. The fire department receives some common questions all the time about what we do or why we do certain things. The days of old of hanging around the fire house waiting for a fire are long gone. Your fire department is extremely busy with training, emergency responses, emergency planning, equipment preparation, community service and responding to public requests. If you have questions about our services or want to learn more stop by your local station or call the department headquarters.
Why does a fire engine go to ambulance calls?
Fire engines and ambulances respond as a team. Complex medical incidents require several medics. As we move patients it reduces the risk of injury to the medic’s backs and to the patients. CCFR also receives several medical incidents at the same time and an ambulance may not be immediately available. Fire engines carry most of the same equipment that is available on an ambulance and are at times the first medical response.
What is the difference between a fire engine and ladder truck?
“Fire engines” carry hoses, water and are tasked with supplying water to put the fire out. “Fire Trucks” carry ladders and tools to ventilate buildings, conduct searches and rescues. They also have the large 75 foot or 100 foot ladders mounted to them.
Why do so many engines and trucks respond to a simple fire?
Each piece of apparatus has a very specific assignment on an emergency. There are also requirements of how much water and pumping capacity has to be on scene. Along with the initial fire attack there needs to be a rescue team to assist firefighters that get trapped or lost in a structure. There is also a command staff that responds to ensure a well managed operation with a safety officer and someone to account for all personnel so a firefighter is not trapped and forgotten about.
Why do firefighters cut holes in the roof and break windows?
Heat and smoke rise to the highest point in a building. Typically that will be the attic space. Black smoke is extremely hot, combustible, and explosive. Black smoke will spread a fire through the entire building in seconds. The only safe way to remove it, is to vent it through a hole in the roof.
Are all firefighter’s professionals?
All firefighters at Capital City Fire Rescue are professionals. The definition of professional has nothing to do with collecting a pay check. Career and volunteer firefighters receive the same training and are held to the same standards. Most fire fighters receive 200 to 600 hours of training per year.
Do firefighters live in the stations?
Juneau has two stations with a full time career staff that live in the stations and rotate on 24 hour shifts. The remaining three stations are staffed with volunteers. Currently all of our stations are staffed with volunteers that live in the stations and have assigned duty nights.
What sort of incidents does CCFR respond to?
Capital City Fire Rescue responds to all 911 calls that are not law enforcement related. We respond to fires of all types, public complaints on potential hazardous situations, fire code complaints, carbon monoxide alarms, fire alarms, medical calls, swift water rescue calls, low angle and high angle rescue calls, ice rescues, trail rescues, medical incidents, hazardous materials incidents or suspected hazardous materials incidents, open burning complaints, assisting people that have fallen or cant get up, public education requests, station tours, standing by at public events, fire investigations, reported unsafe structures, air medevacs, medical transports, airport and aircraft emergencies, boat and vessel disasters, and anything else that comes down the pike.
Do I have to pull over for a flashing blue light?
Firefighters displaying a blue light are responding to an emergency incident. These are usually reserved for structure fires, CPR, and major medical emergencies. The blue light is a request to yield the right of way to them. They do stop at all red lights and stop signs and make sure it is safe to proceed through them. We respectfully request the public yield to them, the emergency they are responding to may be someone close to you or you residence.
What am I supposed to do when an emergency vehicle pulls up behind me?
“Pull to the right for sirens and lights” doing anything else greatly increases your chances of being involved in or causing a collision with emergency vehicles. Regardless of your lane of travel; “Pull to the right for sirens and lights”
What can the public do to help emergency services out?
The number one thing people can do is to make sure there are addresses on all buildings clearly visible from the road. Address numbers are required to be a minimum of 4-inches. If they can’t be read from the road they need to be larger.
How many calls does CCFR respond to?
Capital City Fire Rescue responds to 3,400 to 3,500 incidents per year. 70% of these are medical related. We respond to approximately 100 fires every year with 12 of these actual structures.
Am I to old to become a volunteer?
We have no maximum age restrictions to be a fire fighter. We regularly see male and females join the department in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. This is a valuable demographic to the department. They bring a level of life experience that can not be taught in an academy.
Are there female firefighters?
There are females in the department at all levels such as Division Chiefs, paramedics, EMT’s and Firefighters. Males and females are treated equally and encouraged to join the fire/ems services.
How can I tour the fire station?
Contact our Fire Marshals Office during business hours to set up a day and time. They will ask which station you would like to tour, how many people and what type of tour you are interested in. We ask for as much notice as possible so the shift can plan around your visit. (907) 586-5322.
Can I stop my car and wait in a marked fire lane?
Fire lanes are not designed as loading zones or waiting areas. Obstructing fire lanes may result in citations. There are many reasons for fire lanes not just can an engine get past you.
Do I need a permit for open burning?
All open burning in Juneau requires a permit. Permits are available on line at http://www.juneau.org/ccfr/index.php Commercial businesses are not allowed to open burn by ordinance. CCFR does not regulate camp fires or small cooking fires.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, April 24, 2009
High Expectations
I had high expectations to keep this blog up. Things have been very busy and this fell to the side. I will pick it up and start keeping up on it again. Look forward to my next update.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Looking forward to a new week
Monday starts a fresh new week. There is a lot to get accomplished this week in a short period of time. We start the 3 day training program on Anhydrous Ammonia this week. This will involve us wearing level A suits and doing a live chemical release.
This week we need to make sure the staff is up to speed on the changes that will be occurring in the department. We were advised of a 7 million dollar short fall for next year. We will be working on a plan to make sure we have the best training and equipment available for our firefighters.
Saturday we had a class on high lift air cushions and high pressure air bags. This was great training. These tools are rarely used but when they are needed they can not be beat. I am looking forward to doing a lot more training on shift with them.
I finally have the new audio visual equipment set up in the training center class room. We now have a flat screen TV mounted to the wall. This allows us to run computer programs and educational films in a format that is reliable and easy to see. This also opened up some floor space. We no longer need to have a rolling cart in the floor and a projector connected to it. It is looking very sharp! Thank you Chief Mohrmann for allowing this project to move forward.
Anyway this will be a busy week we have lots to do. Lets all be ready for Monday.
This week we need to make sure the staff is up to speed on the changes that will be occurring in the department. We were advised of a 7 million dollar short fall for next year. We will be working on a plan to make sure we have the best training and equipment available for our firefighters.
Saturday we had a class on high lift air cushions and high pressure air bags. This was great training. These tools are rarely used but when they are needed they can not be beat. I am looking forward to doing a lot more training on shift with them.
I finally have the new audio visual equipment set up in the training center class room. We now have a flat screen TV mounted to the wall. This allows us to run computer programs and educational films in a format that is reliable and easy to see. This also opened up some floor space. We no longer need to have a rolling cart in the floor and a projector connected to it. It is looking very sharp! Thank you Chief Mohrmann for allowing this project to move forward.
Anyway this will be a busy week we have lots to do. Lets all be ready for Monday.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Impressive Brothers
This was one more busy day at CCFR. We had a short appearance at the school district job fair this afternoon. I realized I must be getting old because they all looked so young.
One of the tasks of a Division Chief is to review all of the time sheets for payroll. It is not one of the more glamorous tasks but a needed one. During payroll errors are found that go both ways. Some times there are hours that are not recorded and other times it goes in the CBJ's favor.
I am exploring how to stream line the process using our computer system to help eliminate errors and make things easier in general.
It is nice to be pleasantly surprised from time to time. Today I was able to witness two people work through a very difficult situation. This showed me why I look up to these guys. I work with some of the finest people in the country. It is nice to see people care about each other and show how much they love their jobs.
I am going to work with my Captains and develop a good "play book" on how we should be running our bread and butter calls. This will improve speed and quality by getting some consistency.
We have the Paratech rep in Juneau in the morning. He will be putting on a 3 hour class 3 separate times on high lift low pressure rescue bags. This is a new tool for our department. This will work along with the rescue struts we added the last year.
Thursday is also a live fire day for the FF II class. We will also be hosting a debriefing on our last fire on Sunday. There were some things that went well and some things that did not go so well. As long as people are honest and straight forward about what they saw this should be a great learning opportunity.
We as a fire service need to look at how we are doing business. With these hard economic times creeping up on us we need to start planning for the very near future. We will have to start looking at our basic services and make sure we are doing them the best we can. We also need to evaluate the extra services we provide and see how they balance out.
I leave you with this thought of the day. If you rescue a cat from a tree, don't put him inside your bunker coat. The reason could become suddenly apparent when you least expect it.
Take care of each other and stay safe!
One of the tasks of a Division Chief is to review all of the time sheets for payroll. It is not one of the more glamorous tasks but a needed one. During payroll errors are found that go both ways. Some times there are hours that are not recorded and other times it goes in the CBJ's favor.
I am exploring how to stream line the process using our computer system to help eliminate errors and make things easier in general.
It is nice to be pleasantly surprised from time to time. Today I was able to witness two people work through a very difficult situation. This showed me why I look up to these guys. I work with some of the finest people in the country. It is nice to see people care about each other and show how much they love their jobs.
I am going to work with my Captains and develop a good "play book" on how we should be running our bread and butter calls. This will improve speed and quality by getting some consistency.
We have the Paratech rep in Juneau in the morning. He will be putting on a 3 hour class 3 separate times on high lift low pressure rescue bags. This is a new tool for our department. This will work along with the rescue struts we added the last year.
Thursday is also a live fire day for the FF II class. We will also be hosting a debriefing on our last fire on Sunday. There were some things that went well and some things that did not go so well. As long as people are honest and straight forward about what they saw this should be a great learning opportunity.
We as a fire service need to look at how we are doing business. With these hard economic times creeping up on us we need to start planning for the very near future. We will have to start looking at our basic services and make sure we are doing them the best we can. We also need to evaluate the extra services we provide and see how they balance out.
I leave you with this thought of the day. If you rescue a cat from a tree, don't put him inside your bunker coat. The reason could become suddenly apparent when you least expect it.
Take care of each other and stay safe!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Win Win / Loose Loose
Some times there just is not enough time in the day. I had a great time at the Firefighter II class. I got to teach one of my favorite topics. We spent some time in the classroom and then had a fire scene set up for people to investigate.
I discovered today that as a chief you may not always find a win win situation. There are small decisions every day that impact people on different levels. Some times the impact is minor and other times it can be life changing. You can not always make everyone happy. You will be failing yourself and your position if you try to. The only advice I can give any officer or leader is to do the right thing for the right reasons. Be fair and consistent. Even if your decisions are not popular people will respect them. Win win is nice when it works out. You always have to be ready for a loose loose or a win loose. With rank come responsibility. You should never take that lightly.
One item of interest for all of you EMS folks. There is a chance Dr. Copass may be coming to our runreview in April. For those of you that don't know he is the father of the Medic 1 program in Washington and the Medical Director for Airlift Northwest. This is a rare event, don't miss it if it comes through.
Have a great week, stay safe and look out for each other.
I discovered today that as a chief you may not always find a win win situation. There are small decisions every day that impact people on different levels. Some times the impact is minor and other times it can be life changing. You can not always make everyone happy. You will be failing yourself and your position if you try to. The only advice I can give any officer or leader is to do the right thing for the right reasons. Be fair and consistent. Even if your decisions are not popular people will respect them. Win win is nice when it works out. You always have to be ready for a loose loose or a win loose. With rank come responsibility. You should never take that lightly.
One item of interest for all of you EMS folks. There is a chance Dr. Copass may be coming to our runreview in April. For those of you that don't know he is the father of the Medic 1 program in Washington and the Medical Director for Airlift Northwest. This is a rare event, don't miss it if it comes through.
Have a great week, stay safe and look out for each other.
Monday, March 16, 2009
The weeks events and things coming up
Today was the first day of the second Firefighter II Class. There are about 10 people in the class today. This morning we covered the Incident Command System. The ANFIRS/NFIRS reporting system and some pre fire planning. Gaylen Brevick is the lead instructor in this program.
We will be offering this class two to three more times this year. There will be a class set up around the Volunteer Firefighter schedule of evenings and weekends. This is a highly recommended class and is a pre-requisite for several certifications.
The CCFR Leadership Team met this weekend with the City Manager and representatives from the Human Resources Department. This was an excellent meeting. We identified several areas that are needing improvement within the organization. A task list was developed and tasks were assigned to people to follow through on. I think we will start seeing some immediate results as we get some of these issued knocked out.
We are setting up the testing program for the Deputy Fire Marshal Position. There was a good number of qualified applicants for the position. We hope to be setting the testing date very soon.
There was a structure fire last night. It appears that there were some things operationally that could have gone better. I don’t think any of them would have changed the outcome of the incident. We will be setting up a debriefing very soon to review the call and see what we can do better next time.
8 more of the Company Officer Text books arrived today. For those of you looking to promote soon are encouraged to check out a book and study for the testing process. If you have questions for Volunteer Promotions contact Chief Weldon.
This was a very fast paced day. We have run review coming up on Wednesday night. There is a Hazardous Materials Team Drill on Tuesday. The EMS drill is on Thursday night. We will also be hosting a short training session on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the rep from Paratech on the High-lift rescue airbags. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
The Captains Promotional application period was extended by Chief Mohrmann for a short period of time. The Promotional Testing Dates will remain the same.
I am exploring how to bring a short ARFF strategy and tactics type of class to Juneau on short notice. There are a lot of issues to work out before we can set this in stone. Watch for announcements.
This is about it for a Monday. Tuesday Morning will start off with some training at the training center on Fire Scene Evidence Preservation.
Everyone stay safe and watch out for each other.
Chief Etheridge
We will be offering this class two to three more times this year. There will be a class set up around the Volunteer Firefighter schedule of evenings and weekends. This is a highly recommended class and is a pre-requisite for several certifications.
The CCFR Leadership Team met this weekend with the City Manager and representatives from the Human Resources Department. This was an excellent meeting. We identified several areas that are needing improvement within the organization. A task list was developed and tasks were assigned to people to follow through on. I think we will start seeing some immediate results as we get some of these issued knocked out.
We are setting up the testing program for the Deputy Fire Marshal Position. There was a good number of qualified applicants for the position. We hope to be setting the testing date very soon.
There was a structure fire last night. It appears that there were some things operationally that could have gone better. I don’t think any of them would have changed the outcome of the incident. We will be setting up a debriefing very soon to review the call and see what we can do better next time.
8 more of the Company Officer Text books arrived today. For those of you looking to promote soon are encouraged to check out a book and study for the testing process. If you have questions for Volunteer Promotions contact Chief Weldon.
This was a very fast paced day. We have run review coming up on Wednesday night. There is a Hazardous Materials Team Drill on Tuesday. The EMS drill is on Thursday night. We will also be hosting a short training session on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the rep from Paratech on the High-lift rescue airbags. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
The Captains Promotional application period was extended by Chief Mohrmann for a short period of time. The Promotional Testing Dates will remain the same.
I am exploring how to bring a short ARFF strategy and tactics type of class to Juneau on short notice. There are a lot of issues to work out before we can set this in stone. Watch for announcements.
This is about it for a Monday. Tuesday Morning will start off with some training at the training center on Fire Scene Evidence Preservation.
Everyone stay safe and watch out for each other.
Chief Etheridge
Very First Blog
This is my very first attempt at writing a blog. This blog is an attempt to get more consistant information out there for every in the department or anyone that has a strong interest in the department.
It is my goal to keep this updated daily or as close to daily as possible. Some days it may be a listing of the projects of the day. Other days it may planning for the future or just some deep thoughts.
As I am learning how blogs work I am sure it will morphs as we go on. I think this will be an interesting as well as entertaining project.
It is my goal to keep this updated daily or as close to daily as possible. Some days it may be a listing of the projects of the day. Other days it may planning for the future or just some deep thoughts.
As I am learning how blogs work I am sure it will morphs as we go on. I think this will be an interesting as well as entertaining project.
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