Tuesday, 7 of February of 2012
These folks recently completed their training and exams to finish a 40-hour course of advanced first aid. Congratulations to these WPFD firefighters for reaching Certified First Responder status : Andrew Brzozowski-EMT, Micheal Felton, Andy Moore, Kirk Holt, Karyn Holt, David Moody, Joseph Reeves, Dan Speerly and Scott Matthews .
Sometimes when you see WPFD respond there will be lots of trucks, manpower and activity associated with a specific emergency incident. You might be wondering just what is going on at an emergency scene but you never get to hear our conversations. Well, our folks are quite busy responding quickly and with the right equipment to manage an incident effectively. To do this, we rely heavily on communications of radio and voice pagers to coordinate this response. We ensure everyone knows what to do and where to be with quick communication. Here is a sample of a recent call involving a structure fire with responses from two station companies and several pieces of equipment (apparatus or “fire-trucks”). By the way…this was all done in the middle of the night when most of us were already sleeping quite soundly (2:22 am). With some short notice, we can be quite organized and effective….even though our sleep was interrupted. This sample is actually an entire response (what we say and hear to each other) to the structure fire but plays as a continuous recording of actual voice traffic over a 2-hour period but can be listened to within a 6-minute period.
Click this link to listen —>>> October Structure Fire- Audio
Each fall and winter season, WPFD responds to several emergency calls involving fireplaces/chimneys and home heaters. The use of combustible fuel inside a home is a traditional and effective way to battle freezing temperatures. Not only does a fireplace or wood stove feel great on a chilly night, it also take some of the pressure of your home heating system by reducing the dependence on costly electric or propane/natural gas heating units.
However, using an alternative heating source comes with some big responsibilities to ensure that they are properly maintained and operating in a safe manner. Keeping your fireplace, wood stove, pellet stove, and chimney/stovepipe clean is of the highest importance. Failure to get your homes fire fueled heat system inspected and cleaned each year can lead to prevent potential leaks of fire, smoke, and harmful gases from the exhaust system (vent or chimney) into the home or attic causing dangerous conditions. Don’t risk fire, loss of your home, or death from carbon-monoxide leaks. Get your system inspected and cleaned to ensure your home is ready for a full cold season of safe heating!
This week WPFD firefighters will visit area schools to educate our communities children about fire safety and preparedness. Our topic for this years national Fire Prevention Week will discuss “It’s Fire Prevention Week! Protect Your Family From Fire!”. Firefighters, dressed in our safety gear, will be visiting schools with working fire department vehicles to provide educational presentations, hand out safety materials, safety coloring books, and more. We hope to start the valuable conversations that educate the public about smoke alarm recommendations and motivate everyone to install smoke alarms in their homes in key locations, check them regularly/tested properly, and change batteries yearly (or every 6 months) to always have a working smoke detector.
We had a great turnout at our 2011 WPFD Fish Fry Dinner! Our crew fed several hundred hungry folks and enjoyed visiting with our friends that came out to support our volunteer fire department! We wanted to say THANK YOU again to all of you that dined with us and supported our event. We all had a great time serving a fantastic meal to our community and look forward to next year’s event.
Follow this link to see some pictures of the event : 2011 Fish Fry Dinner
Follow this link to see our business sponsors and contributors that helped make this dinner happen:2011 – Annual Dinner Flyer – Our Sponsors
12 years in the making, WPFD finally got to perform evaluation exercises for ISO testing earlier today. With newer equipment and a lot of newer folks since the last ISO test in 1999, we practiced quite a bit over the past few months to be ready for our exam. Things went pretty well as we hauled water, pumped/sprayed and refilled trucks to simulate a structure fire situation needing larger water volumes. Today’s evaluation was only a part of a several month program to gain ‘credit’ with the Insurance Services Organization that partly determines the homeowner insurance premiums of an area based on the water supply (hydrants) and capabilities (manpower, equipment, training, etc) of a fire department that services the homes area. Follow the link to for pictures of our folks in action during the demonstration:
WPFD with 9 other fire departments worked all night on Saturday thru Sunday (8pm-8am) to help transfer 170,000 gallons of water to the Paron-Owensville water system following a mainline break earlier that week that depleted water supplies to their communities. WPFD provided 3 tankers and manpower along with Bryant FD, Haskell FD, Crows Station FD, Lonsdale FD, NESCO FD, Salem FD, Shaw FD, Turtle Creek FD, Sardis FD, Williams Junction FD and Paron FD to refill the waterlines and water system supply tanks.
Continue to see some images of the event-