WPFD is excited about a newer fire vehicle that has just completed construction at  Station #2 (Kanis Road).  A truck chassis donated by the Arkansas Forestry Commission has been re-purposed as a Fire Tanker truck that will bring thousands of gallons to our fire responses. This vehicle has been designated as our new Tanker #2.

This 1993 International chassis was originally a stakebed truck used by the military for construction material delivery and will now work for us with its  2,000 gallon water tank.   After receiving this chassis in October, it was sent to be retrofitted at the ADC fabrication  facility in Tucker, Arkansas to get it in shape for its new life as a fire truck.  Four new storage compartments were added, the entire vehicle was sandblasted, painted and then the interior was refurbished.

Firefighters at Station #2 got the truck back in early January and got right to work adding the necessary components to place it in service. Lots of wiring was added to install power controls,  emergency lighting,  sirens, air-horns,  radios, work (scene) lighting,  and tools/hardware necessary to get it roadworthy as a fire vehicle.

We are always happy to upgrade our equipment to serve our community better!

Click this link below to see additional pictures that are available at our gallery page for Tanker 2- Retrofit:

http://www.wpfirerescue.org/photo-galleries/apparatus/before-and-after/

WPFD Firefighters were dispatched for an emergency patient extraction from a heavily wooded timber area recently.  Responders coordinated efforts with MEMS Ambulance, Baptist Med-flight, Arkansas Game and Fish Officers, Saline and Pulaski County Sheriff offices to access extremely remote area within timber property to mobilize and extract the patient to a hilltop landing zone for emergency medical airlift to a hospital.

West Pulaski Fire Department responds to all emergency situations in our fire district area.  At the time you dial 911 for emergency assistance,  all necessary local (and sometimes state agencies) will be summoned as needed to begin the response, no matter what the call may be.

Choose Read More to see some images of the wildland rescue>>>>>>>

WPFD firefighters, with the help of LRFD  Rescue 2,  LRFD Engine 21, and MEMS worked to extricate a fallen climber from Shinall Mountain that  suffered a broken ankle after falling 30 feet from a cliff area.  See the story below reported by KATV.

WPFD had a lot of activity this year.  Running a large volunteer organization like ours with multiple facilities is a substantial task considering your entire workforce is unpaid.  We could not function without the tireless efforts of all of our dedicated firefighters that are compensated only with the satisfaction of serving the public need and responding for our neighbors and brother/sister firefighters. Additionally, we wanted to recognize some individuals that went above and beyond in service to our organization. See the awards presented below. (more pictures will be posted later)

We truly hope for less emergency calls in the new year, but assure you we will be ready should you need us.  Best wishes to you and your loved ones from the WPFD family.

Department Firefighter of the Decade

Department Firefighter of the Year

Station Firefighters of the Year

WPFD was dispatched to a flooding situation on December 26, 2009 due to a levee break up stream from ponds and creeks that flow through drainage at an intersection of Lawson and County Line roads at the Pulaski and Saline County lines.  An 8-10 foot wall of water washed a passing car off the road without injury, but temporarily trapped the driver in the vehicle.

Even though the torrential rains had stopped for a few days before the incident, a series of levees had become rain saturated from constant water flowing into and over the retaining walls of 4 ponds in the area. As one pond broke, it sent a huge amount of water to the next in the series of ponds creating a chain reaction downstream to other water reservoirs.

Trees and power lines were down as secondary downstream levees threatened to break. West Pulaski Fire/Rescue crews were dispatch to various surrounding areas to protect property owners and evacuate danger areas until road and bridge crews from Pulaski and Saline County could assess the damage with Entergy and First Electric power crews.  No major injuries were sustained but at least one home and a few vehicles were damaged in the incidents initial levee break.  More information about this incident can be found at the following new sites as well as an interview with Chief Ronnie Wheeler.

http://www.bentoncourier.com/content/view/199559/1/

http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/Levee-breaks-near-County-Line-Rd/lSX_aOsyA0OmwepSyEKGxQ.cspx

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=96615&catid=2

What if someone in your home calls 911 for HELP!

Fire Department, Police and an Ambulance will respond, but need your assistance to find you faster!

What if:

• The weather conditions are bad and visibility is poor?
• You have let bushes, vines or weeds grow to hide the numbers?
• You have placed your numbers too low on the post and they have been covered by weeds?
• You have placed brass address numbers on your post which do not contrast with the background color and can’t be easily seen?
• You placed address numbers on the mailbox, but numbers are covered when flag is pulled down?
• You have not posted your 911 number by your driveway?
• Your address numbers on mailbox are small, obstructed and/or non-reflective?

PLEASE TAKE A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO ENSURE YOUR ADDRESS NUMBERS ARE PROPERLY POSTED AT YOUR HOME!

Imagine how and where emergency personnel would be looking to find your home. The more LARGER and BOLDER your address numbers are, the quicker and easier it will result in you getting help. If you were driving an emergency vehicle, what would you be looking for to find the residence quickly?

Read the following E-911 Standards and look at some examples that follow.

Should you need assitance or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact our business office at 501-821-9320.  Don’t wait until there is an emergency.

911 Address Standards are listed below

Mailbox Address Number Placement:

Place mailbox post three feet from the edge of driveway and 2 feet from the edge of the roadway (same as mailbox). Post your 911 Mailbox Address Numbers on both sides of the box, facing traffic from either direction with REFLECTIVE NUMBERS AND/OR CONTRASTING NIMBERS – SIZES ARE RECOMMENDED TO BE NO LESS THAN 3″ INCHES HIGH (4″  INCH NUMBERS ARE PREFERRED)

Address Post Placement:

If your your mailbox is on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD from your property, you NEED TO INSTALL A RIGID POST by the corner of your driveway, with REFLECTIVE AND/OR CONTRASTING ADDRESS NUMBERS, on both sides, to face traffic from either direction. (3 Sides if more than two access directions exist or on a shared driveway. Post should be at least 48″ inches in height to reduce avoid obstruction by grass and weeds. Post should be placed for best visibility from ANY approaching (driving) direction.

*MAIL BOX POST KITS AND REFLECTIVE NUMBERS ARE AVAILABLE AT MOST HOME IMPROVEMENT STORES.

Here is a link if you want to purchase an online kit right now!

http://safetystreet.com/buy-address-sign.htm

West Pulaski Fire Department would like you to join us in supporting the efforts of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  NCMEC, with the U. S. Department of Justice and many wireless telephone carriers,  has developed a program for free wireless AMBER Alert Notifications to your wireless phone.  Please visit the link below to the organization’s website and sign-up today for a free text message notification when an AMBER Alert is issued in your local area.  Your participation will help find our nations children that are missing or abducted.  Someone’s child needs your help!

Sign up TODAY at www.wirelessamberalerts.org

If you or someone you love needs emergency help, you would probably want help to get there as fast as possible. The best way to assist someone in need to receive emergency help is to Move to the Right for Sirens & Lights!

Some people might panic when an emergency vehicle approaches.  Please yield to emergency vehicles by pulling over (in a safe place) or stopping to allow emergency vehicles to safely negotiate  around you. Failure to yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle delays in emergency responses by ambulances, fire engines and fire trucks arriving at the scene of an emergency.

Firefighters with WPFD are volunteers that respond from their home areas in a moments notice.  We only use our flashing lights when dispatched to an emergency scene and the situation is critical. You are asked to allow us to pass you SAFELY when driving marked fire vehicles and personnal vehicles that display flashing emergency RED lighting and/or sirens.  Sometimes we go directly to the emergency scene (if close by) or directly to our local stations to retrieve emergency vehicles. Your help is appreciated to help us get where we are needed in a quick and safe manner. 

Firefighters are careful to avoid vehicle collisions by driving slowly when traveling against traffic, or coming to a complete stop at intersections. However, the cooperation of ALL vehicles on the roadway is essential.

Please review some of the simple rules listed below for when you encounter an emergency vehicle:

Things you can do:

• Stay calm. We are watching your movements carefully and waiting on your action or indication that you see us also.
• Pull to the right and come to a complete stop if room on the shoulder permits.
• Stop where you are ONLY in good visibility areas. Avoid your stop on hills or curves where site is restricted. We cannot pass you on a blind curve or obstructed view roadway (hill).
• If you’re traveling on a high-speed road or if there is no room to stop, slow down as much as possible.
• If you are in the left lane, pull over into the right lane as traffic in the lane to your right moves over.
• If you cannot move to the right because of another vehicle or obstacle, just stop where you are if it is safe. Your action will let the driver of the emergency vehicle know what you are doing and allow the driver to anticipate where and how to drive around you.
• When an emergency vehicle approaches you from behind while you are stopped at an intersection, stay where you are unless you can pull to the right. We will negotiate slowly around you once all traffic has stopped to allow our passage.
• On a 4-lane highway or street without barriers, both sides of traffic should pull to the right.
• Be careful when driving by or around a motor vehicle accident or any situation where emergency vehicles are parked and the firefighters are working.  We may not see you traveling around us as we are busy working in this area. DRIVE EXTREMELY SLOW (no faster than 5 miles per hour).
• Drivers should stay at least 500 feet behind emergency vehicles until motioned by a traffic person to allow you to travel around the emergency scene.  The road may be blocked and/or on-coming traffic may be headed straight for you. Don’t create another emergency!

Things that you should not do:

• Please do not panic when you see us arrive in your rear-view mirror.
• Don’t stop in the middle lane when there is room to pull futher to the far right lane or shoulder of the road.
• Don’t pull to the left in the center lane or left turn lane, we might need this as an emergency lane.
• Don’t speed ahead of our emergency vehicle to make the green light or turn to an intersection ahead of our emergency vehicle.  You probably don’t know where we are going and might cause a problem for access if the road itself is blocked ahead.
• Don’t drive through a red light or stop sign when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind. We don’t want you to pursue a dangerous action in an effort to get out of our way.
• Don’t disregard the presence of the emergency vehicle by continuing to drive.

Please drive safely. Thank you for helping us help others in a quick and safe manner.

WPFD visited the 2009 Fire Show on October 31, 2009 that was presented by the Arkansas Forestry Commission in Greenbrier, Ark.   Firefighters representing departments from all over the state of Arkansas had the opportunity to see fire technology and equipment on display from vendors and departments that implement the tools we use.  WPFD took our Tanker #1 truck to be displayed. Demonstrations were also provided by AIR-EVAC (emergency medical helicopter transport),  chainsaw training,  and more.

WPFD has been blessed by generosity from community support. We were recently asked if there was anything specific that we needed for any of our stations to help make our jobs a little easier.  We have 4 stations spread out across our large district. Usually, if we need one of ANYTHING, we need FOUR of them to equip each station.  So, we developed a list of a few donation items that we would love to receive, if anyone were so inclined to help us out.  Please let us know if you have any items on this list you would like to contribute. Thank you!

Items:  (3) Three Digital Cameras-   We need  3 more cameras to help us document fire scenes and collisions for our records.

Items: (4) Handheld Map-Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Devices. We don’t currently have any GPS units.  A few of our folks have personal devices, but we dont have dedicated devices on our rescue vehicles. These will be used for Search and Rescue calls as well as providing better coordinates for helicopter medical evacuation needs.

Items: (3)Chest  or Upright Freezers. Do you have a good working chest or upright freezer that you don’t use anymore? We have a need to store plenty of bagged ice for ice-chests/chilled water when we fight fires (anytime of year).  If you have a good working chest or upright freezer (large or small) that you would consider donating to our department, let us know. We will come pick it up for free if we can use it! (some size restrictions apply depending on storage  and use space)

Contact Lt. Jason Rogers at 501-519-2745 or email jmrogers411@aol.com if you have questions or wish to donate. Thanks!