Fire Chief’s Report: Two Structure Fires In Last Month

March 12 through April 11, 2013

............................CALLS FOR SERVICE
 ....................This Report ........Year to Date
 EMS..................  53....................175
 Fire/Other........     11....................44
 Total................. 65.................. .219
 2012..........   1/1/12–4/8/12.............. 165

 Year to date responses have increased 32.7%

Fire Chief’s Goals and Priorities for 2013

• Execute the mission of OIFR through direction of the Board of Commissioners
• Improve and maintain fiscal accountability for all OIFR operations • Provide positive leadership for OIFR and our community • Improve reliability and performance for OIFR • Update the OIFR strategic plan
• Provide sound management and oversight for all operations, equipment, facilities, projects and programs for OIFR
  • Update all policy, procedures and guidelines
  • Improve all communications (Radio, Interdepartmental, Community)
  • Expand public programs
• Foster open and clear communications with the Orcas Island Community and our surrounding partners

Notable Alarms

House Fire On Saturday, March 16, at 8:38 a.m., just as OIFR members were beginning to conduct recruit academy training for our 22 new members, we were dispatched to a fire in a guesthouse located in very close proximity to the main home located in the Sea Acres neighborhood. Arriving personnel discovered the guesthouse to be “fully involved” in fire. All occupants had evacuated the structure as well as the main residence and there were no injuries to civilians or responders. Thirty-three OIFR emergency responders and 12 units made an effective attack on the fire resulting in the protection of the main house. Personnel worked over eight hours to fully extinguish the fire that was a challenge due to the heat build-up and construction details of the structure. Fortunately, our 22 new volunteer recruits were available to assist with the labor-intensive operation and our wonderful Auxiliary members provided much needed nourishment for our responders.

House Fire On Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 11:10 p.m., OIFR apparatus and personnel were dispatched to a house fire in the Dolphin Bay Road area. Arriving personnel found heavy fire involvement in the kitchen and living room area of a mobile home. Firefighters were able to quickly attack the fire limiting damage and saving approximately 20 of the family’s chickens that were located in an area attached to the home. Seven OIFR units and 21 responders worked three hours into Easter morning assuring the fire was completely extinguished while working to save as much of the family’s belongings as possible. There were no injuries to civilians or responders. The fire was determined to be accidental in nature.

US Coast Guard Medical Transport On Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 5:30 p.m., OIFR personnel including a paramedic and five EMTs assisted an adult male with symptoms of a life threatening medical problem requiring transport to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham. Due to low cloud layers and poor visibility, Airlift Northwest and Island Air Ambulance were unable to land. The US Navy rescue helicopter from NAS Whidbey was requested, but was unsure about the ability to land. Fortunately, the US Coast Guard Station in Bellingham provided transport to Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham via one of their 42-foot vessels. An OIFR paramedic and EMT accompanied the patient who was transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital. The Coast Guard transported the paramedic back to Orcas Island and the EMT remained with the patient and returned to Orcas on Wednesday, April 5.

News and Events

Strategic Planning Throughout the month of March and the first part of April, the OIFR Strategic Planning Team completed 16 focus group workshops, asking community members what they think about OIFR services. Responses from the focus groups will help the team develop a five-year strategic plan. Dr. Art Lange is leading the Strategic Planning comprised of 18 members with equal representation from community members and OIFR leadership, staff, and volunteers. Completion of the plan is scheduled for early May.

Volunteer Recruit Training OIFR continues training our 22 new recruits. Over the course of two weekends in March, our recruits were trained in the response protocols and operations of hazardous materials incidents. The recruit academy is scheduled to end in April, culminating in arduous training at the Washington State Fire Training Center in North Bend. At the training center, our recruits will learn how to fight interior structure fires and practice the systems and techniques of search and rescue in homes, businesses, and other occupancies. After the academy, recruits will have the opportunity to take National Certification Exams. A formal graduation ceremony is scheduled for May 14.

Orcas Cares Program OIFR recognizes the need to enhance services to our Island Seniors and others with disabilities. With this in mind, we are seeking partnerships with the San Juan County Sheriff, Orcas Senior Center, Orcas Island Medical Foundation, Lahari, and other organizations with an interest in providing assistance to others. In a pilot program with the preliminary title “Orcas Cares,” Senior Center Director Marla Johns will be working with OIFR and SJC Sheriff’s Department to help seniors who require help in emergent situations. Marla’s husband, Deputy Steve Johns is representing the SJC Sheriff in this program.

Blood Drive On Thursday, March 14, OIFR and the Orcas Island Lion’s Club hosted a successful blood drive at the Eastsound Fire Hall.

Incident Command Training To improve performance at emergency incidents OIFR officers have focused monthly training to improve incident command skills.

Wellness To maintain compliance with state law, OIFR members completed medical monitoring and wellness exams.

BOFC Working Session On Tuesday, March 26, the Board of Fire Commissioners met in a working session to discuss participation in the Marine Operations Users Group.

OIFR Newsletter In an effort to improve our communications and outreach, OIFR will begin production of a quarterly newsletter that will be mailed to the community commencing later this month. Our Newsletter Committee met multiple times to develop the new program. Special thanks to OIFR member Patricia Ayers for taking the lead on this project.

Radio Communications Committee Precipitated from our strategic planning focus groups, OIFR hosted a new Communications Committee comprised of leaders from OIFR, the Sherriff’s Dept., SJC Dept. of Emergency Management, SJC Public Works, OPALCO, and our local HAM radio operators. The goal of the committee is to improve current radio communications in San Juan County. Due to our terrain, and the current communications infrastructure, our radio communications system is deficient. There are many “black out” areas of Orcas Island without radio communication abilities with our dispatcher at the Sherriff’s Department. This problem also exists for our other partner providers. Because of this, we have come together to develop solutions.

Did You Know?

Orcas Island is fortunate to have 97 people who comprise a strong team of volunteers and career staff who endeavor to help their neighbors by carrying out our mission of saving lives and protecting property. Here are the numbers:

• 85 Volunteers
• 3 Commissioners
• 40 Emergency Responders (EMTs and Firefighters)
• 22 New Recruits (In training)
• 13 Auxiliary Members (Provide food and nourishment for our responders)
• 6 Critical Incident Stress Management Counselors (CISM)
• 1 Office Helper

To effectively support our volunteers, Orcas Island Fire and Rescue employs 12 staff members, including the Fire Marshal who is funded by San Juan County. Here is the breakdown:

• Eight Staff Responders
  • Fire Chief
  • Assistant Chief/Paramedic
  • Four Paramedics (Only one is on duty each day)
  • One Safety Training and Logistics Officer/Responder
  • One Emergency Responder/Mechanic

• One full time Administrative Assistant
• Two part time administrative staff: District Financial Officer, HR/Wellness
• One Fire Marshal (Full Time/ OIFR is reimbursed by San Juan County)

It is important to note that it doesn’t matter if an individual is a volunteer or a career member, there is no differentiation in compliance with all the mandated laws, regulations and human resource standards that govern emergency services.

Looking Ahead

An Open House for the recently completed Deer Harbor Station 24 will be held on Saturday, April 20 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

On April 27, OIFR will be hosting a memorial service for esteemed, retired Battalion Chief John Cavalli.

Graduation of our new volunteer recruits is scheduled for May 14th.