We're Hiring - APP Deadline Jan 4, 2013

Hillsboro Fire & Rescue is hiring two firefighter/paramedics.  This is a rare opportunity to join a respected organization serving a growing city of 92,000.  Excellent pay and benefits for successful candidates.  $52,464 - $75,300. 

Contact Human Resources at City of Hillsboro, Oregon, 503-681-6444.

Stair Climb Fund Raiser Prelude

A group of Hillsboro firefighters spent a chunk of Saturday (9/15) practicing for the annual Portland Stair Climb to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  The volunteers brought a stair-type exercise machine to Saturday Market, set it up at the Civic Center Plaza, and worked out in full fire turnouts, air tank, and some even carried hose bundles.  They were training for the 4th Annual Climb for the Cure at the US Bancorp building.  They were also accepting donations from shoppers to help benefit the CF Fundation.  The firefighters raised more than one-thousand dollars!  A tip of our helmet to the firefighters and to all who donated.

On September 23rd, firefighters from around the region will gather to climb the 40 stories of the downtown Portland landmark building.  Each pays $50 to enter the competition and is encouraged to raise at least $50 more from supporters. 

HFD New Look for Summer

Hillsboro Firefighters have a new look this summer.  They are ditching the dark blue or black Nomex shirts with dark T-shirts beneath for a single layer polo shirt.  The change is a result of firefighters' requests for alternate apparell that would be cooler yet maintain a professional image.  After researching what departments in other areas of the country have for summer uniforms, our folks arrived at the light-colored collared shirt. 

Below is Firefighter Kabe Grant pausing while performing Monday morning apparatus checks on Brush-1.  Let us know what you think about the new shirts.

Open House Draws Hundreds!

More than 600 people poured through the doors at Hillsboro Fire & Rescue's Jones Farm Fire Station No. 5 on Saturday (6/23/12) at our open house.   The new station went into service in January.  But, we wanted a little warmer weather to hold the open house to bring more citizens out to see their  new neighborhood fire station. 



Citizens tour Truck 5.

 Families toured the station and the apparatus housed there.   They enjoyed hotdogs and lemonade.

At one time, the engine bay was crowded!  Yes, we had that many people stopping in between 11 am and 3 pm. 

The bounce house with its fire department theme graphics was a big hit with all the kids, too!

Everyone wants to know what we carry on fire engines--the tools, medical equipment, hoses, and the all-important "jaws of life."

Kids got to sit in the driver's seat of the engine or truck and see what it would be like to be in control of these 70,000 pound vehicles.

Not sure, but it was often difficult to tell who was having more fun--the firefighters or the kids!

And for the little folks, everything seemed so BIG!

And, I think the dad's were enjoying that just as much as their sons were!

We are grateful to the community for the support of Hillsboro Fire & Rescue.  This fire station is beautiful and we wanted to let the community know how much we appreciate working here.  Our thanks to the city leadership for guiding this project to completion, too!

Hillsboro Home Goes Up in Smoke For Training

Hillsboro Fire & Rescue made good use of a donated century-old house on SE 18th Avenue on Sunday to train our firefighters.  The "burn-to-learn" training session involved setting a fire in a room and allowing it to reach a certain size before sending in rookie firefighters and volunteers inside for some hands-on experience with live fire in a controlled setting.  They rotated through the homes many rooms to ensure the maximum usage of the structure.

Prior to the exercise, fire trainers had ensured any asbestos, water tanks or other hazardous items had been removed.  The training staff prepared a training action plan that included not only the rotation of firefighters through each task, but also contingency plans for interrupted water supply, equipment failure or an on-scene injury. 

In this photo, you can see the Safety Officer monitoring a crew in an adjoining room.  Notice the smoke level is down to the Safety Officer's waist level.  And, this was in a room with an open door where I was located.  In a closed home, smoke levels will go nearly to the floor and are extremely black and deadly.

After all training evolutions are completed, the final fire is set and the home is allowed to burn to the ground in a controlled manner. 

Flames leap from windows and doors as the old house is consumed.

Firefighters surround the building and wet down the walls they want to preserve as long as possible.  This controls the direction of the final heat and helps preserve the trees that were located close to the home.



Additionally, one firefighter used the deck gun mounted on top of a fire engine to help control the blaze's intensity, reduce ember production and protect nearby trees. 

The home's owners are removing the structure to make way for a new residence.  The burn-to-learn is a win-win for the owners and Hillsboro Fire & Rescue.  They have the old structure removed with little materials going to the landfill and Hillsboro firefighters get some priceless training in real world conditions. 

We appreciate the neighbor's understanding and cooperation.  More that 75 people turned out to watch the home go up in smoke.  For fire and life safety information, visit www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/fire. 

What's It Like?

High school students from around the area gathered at Hillsboro Fire Department’s Ronler Acres Fire Station for the biannual Chamber of Commerce School to Work program. The program goes on through the year providing students with a day in different industries to help them determine their career path. The students heard from chief officers of the department about how they became a firefighter and learned what education is required for the career.

Of course, firefighters provided them with an up-close and personal tour of the fire station and the fire engines at the station.

After that, the students donned firefighting gear and engaged in a competitive timed event carrying fire hose up to a mezzanine, then hoisting a roll of hose to the second level and, then, returning to the first level with the original hose line.

 Students also learned about basic fire extinguisher operation.

Then, what many wait for, the chance to knock down a pylon with the fire hose stream.

Later, they worked in pairs to advance a hose line together.

And, finally, another competition to roll out a hose line, make and break a series of couplings, attach a nozzle to the end, and then, undo all the attached lines, roll them up and retun them to a neat stack at the finish line.

Organizers said that 14 out of the 15 attending said the demonstration and information made firefighting a much more attractive option than before they visited the station.

CSI South Meadows

Hillsboro Fire and Rescue showed off the technical side of the business at South Meadows Middle School Thursday, January 23rd. Inspector Martin Stapleton brought samples of items recovered from investigating hundreds of fires and challenged students to identify them. The items were either the cause or contributing factors in starting fires in buildings or vehicles.

“If you look carefully, these items all have characteristics that help us tell what caused the fire,” Stapleton said. Students pulled on gloves and got to touch and pick up the items that seldom resembled their former shape and purpose. From a melted coffee pot to an electrical conduit, all had evidence of fire or electrical arcing.

“Think C-S-I,” said Lt. Steve Erb referring to a popular television series about crime scene investigators. Erb is the officer aboard Hillsboro’s Engine 2 on this day. While Erb and his crew are tasked with extinguishing the fire, he notes that the Investigator’s role is to take a possible crime scene that’s had hundreds or thousands of gallons of water poured on it and maybe a dozen people trampling through it and figure out where the fire started and what caused it. After the investigation presentation, Erb took most of the crowd outside to the fire engine and discussed the science involved in operating a modern fire engine specifically and extinguishing fires in general.

Hillsboro Opens Replacement Fire Station

Hillsboro Fire Department opened its newest fire station today with a brief flag raising ceremony just after lunch.

The 13,458-square foot, low profile station will be the replacement for the aging Parkwood Fire Station, which was built in the 1970s as a temporary fire station and fails to meet seismic standards for public safety buildings. The Jones Farm Fire Station is located at 2850 NE 25th Avenue on land leased from the Port of Portland.

“We have met the directive of our policy makers with the improved response times and services with this new station,” said Fire Chief Greg Nelson. “It will be serving the citizens of Hillsboro for decades.”

The facility was staffed with firefighters hired as a result of the Local Option Tax.. They moved from the Parkwood Fire Station.

The “soft opening” of the new station came without much fanfare today due to the recent spate of inclement weather. Workers from Northwest Industrial Services providing the moving vans and staff to move equipment and supplies from from other locations.

“We’re planning an open house for this summer when the weather is better and residents can enjoy coming by to meet the firefighters and tour the station,” said Public Information Officer Storm Smith.

The Jones Farm Fire Station was designed by Group Mackenzie of Portland. It was built by P-and-C Construction of Portland to LEED Gold energy efficient standards to help reduce utility costs and the city’s carbon footprint.

Construction costs of $3.2-million were funded by Recovery Zone Bonds that the City issued in November 2010. The bonds will be repaid over 20 years with Strategic Investment Program revenues.

In addition to the fire engine and crew, department leaders will move a battalion chief from the Downtown Fire Station and the ladder truck and crew from the Ronler Fire Station to Jones Farm. Crews arrived at their new station today and selected their lockers and bunk rooms.

“Centrally locating these other two resources will help us meet our response time goals within nationally recognized standards,” said Chief Nelson.

Hillsboro Fire and Rescue currently operates from five stations strategically located throughout the city to provide fire and emergency medical services to the more than 92,000 citizens.

Hillsboro Fire Chief Wins Celebrity Bell Ringing Fund Raising Contest

Yes, we “smoked them!” That was one comment following our fund-raising Celebrity Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army on December 20th at the Civic Center Plaza. It lasted just one hour (noon – 1:00), but Hillsboro Fire and Rescue's Chief Greg Nelson raised more than both the Police Chief and the Mayor combined!

Our red kettle overflowed with more than $1,248 in contributions from citizens, city employees, firefighters, staff and the firefighters’ union, IAFF Local 2210. Our thanks go out to each and every person who contributed.

The mayor laid down the gauntlet early by circulating flyers depicting Hillsboro Fire Chief Greg Nelson and Police Chief Carey Sullivan as his two

elf helpers

. Not to be outdone, firefighters from Truck-3 elevated the Mayor’s collection kettle….about 10-feet in the air! (It was lowered to its normal position by competition time).

Here are our celebrity totals (actually, paper money only because no one wanted to count the coins):

Hillsboro Fire & Rescue Chief Greg Nelson $1,248
Hillsboro Police Chief Carey Sullivan $632
Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey $271

When the Salvation Army counted all the coins, the one hour effort totaled $2,277.75. A great effort to help needy people in the Portland! Thanks for everyone’s help!

9-11 Memorial Plaque and Tiles

   Hillsboro Fire will be placing a plaque at the base of the flagpole at the Cherry Lane Fire Station this week in observance of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9-11. The rock the plaque will be attached to was donated by American Landscape Supply. Retired Hillsboro Fire Lieutenant Larry Yakymi milled the rock and attached the stone.

   On Sunday, September 11, 2011, Hillsboro Fire will invite the public into the Cherry Lane Fire Station No. 6 for an open house. There will be refreshments and tours around the fire station.

   In addition to the 9-11 plaque, the station tours will highlight the roughly 400 tiles created by students at Patterson Elementary School in 2002. The tiles, two per student, were created to show what the students felt in the wake of September 11, 2001, and what they thought the future held. They were to be for a memorial site at the Oregon Zoo. However, funding for that project never materialized. Patterson Elementary parent volunteer Shannon Rubeo has spearheaded a campaign to get the student’s work placed in a public building or place. This past month, with a combination of volunteer and on-duty efforts, firefighters placed the tiles on a wall in the Cherry Lane Fire Station where anyone touring the station will be able to see.

   We hope you can attend the open house, Sunday, September 11, 2011, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at 21880 NW Cherry Lane.

Technical Rescue Crew Pulls Hunter to Safety

Hillsboro Fire and Rescue’s Technical Rescue resources were dispatched Monday afternoon (8/29/11) to a report of a deer hunter who had fallen over a cliff in a remote area of northwestern Washington County. Our firefighters responded along with Banks Fire District crews to a section of timber managed by Longview Timber off of Sherman Hills Road. The hunter was reportedly okay and was communicating with emergency dispatchers via cell phone. He had fallen about 100 feet down a brushy, steep hillside and had caught himself on a tree limb just before he was about to fall nearly straight down another 40-feet.

Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Charter was able to locate 32-year old Jason Henry of Beaverton. Henry was blowing a whistle to help rescuers locate him.

Hillsboro Tech Rescue crews sent two firefighters down on ropes to assess Henry and ensure he was uninjured. Banks Firefighters and the remaining HFD crew set up a rope haul system to pull Henry and the two firefighters back up to the cliff top. He was unhurt.

Henry told firefighters he was bow hunting and was tracking a deer when he fell over the cliff’s edge. He was carrying water, a whistle, a knife and a cell phone. All of those items helped him survive this incident.

Training for Rescues Below Ground

When the word rescue comes to mind, most people think of over a cliff, in the water or trapped in a smashed car. For some firefighters, it also means rescuing people below ground. Hillsboro Fire and Rescue conducted a Trench Rescue Technician course this week for our younger firefighters and for any firefighters in the region who wanted to attain that additional certification.
Held this week at our Cherry Lane Fire Station No. 6 and Training Center, the class focused on the newest Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) rules for firefighters building shoring in preparation for a below ground rescue. Most often, these incidents occur when constructions crews either forget or take shortcuts to installing proper collapse prevention equipment when digging below ground for buildings or utility lines. When the ground collapses on top of a person, crush trauma may occur and firefighters are in a race against time for several reasons:

1. If the patient’s head is buried, the lack of oxygen may kill the person within minutes.
2. The crushing pressure on large portions of the body decreases oxygen to the blood and triggers cells to release large quantities of toxins into the blood stream which can cause renal failure, liver damage, breathing problems and cardiac arrest.

Firefighters must balance the need to speedily rescue the patient while maintaining their own safety in an environment which has already proven unstable. The skills they learned this week help them to quickly building shoring, deploy rescue shoring bracing and use the latest equipment and techniques to safely rescue a trapped worker.

Prepare for the Worst Case!

We never know when it will happen—a bus accident, a chemical leak or a terrorist incident. There are many scenarios that could produce a Mass Casualty Incident or MCI. The goal in an MCI is to triage the injuries, provide immediate temporary treatment in the field to the largest number of salvageable patients and transport all patients to the hospitals in the most expeditious manner possible. This requires leadership, teamwork and coordination.

Our drill this week in Hillsboro involved Hillsboro Fire Department, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Cornelius Fire & Rescue, Washington County Fire District No. 2, Metro West Ambulance and Life Flight Air Ambulance. The mission was to practice this low frequency incident that can easily overwhelm first responders. Our incidents have differed each day. Usually, they involved a school bus filled with students. A collision (simulated) occurs with another vehicle or possibly two to three other vehicles of varying types. Students from various Hillsboro high schools and other volunteers presented simulated injuries with the aid of moulage, makeup and prosthetics applied to the body to simulate trauma injuries. The firefighters first arriving on the scene had to quickly set up a command structure and triage the patients. The incident commander had to order additional resources that would arrive in time to help them get the most seriously injured to area hospitals within the first hour following the crash. That often requires a well choreographed process of extricating mangled bodies from crunched cars without doing more harm.

The incident commander must delegate many tasks to firefighters trained in their respective tasks. Some will provide treatment to the patients. Others will coordinate the large number of ambulances required to transport 15 to 20 patients from a single incident. All this has to occur while ensuring everyone is operating in a safe manner.

Our thanks go to the citizens served by all of the agencies taking part in this week’s drill. Your support of them helps make the public safety network we all rely upon much stronger.

Glencoe High SKID Program

The 1600 students and teachers of Glencoe High School packed their football field stands for a special presentation by public safety agencies. The program is designed to keep teens alive through the prom season. Dubbed SKID, which stands for Stop Kids Intoxicated Driving, portrays a fatal, two car accident that follows several teenagers' involvement with the use of alcohol.

The scenes are graphic. They are intended to convey the tragedy of such an incident and leave a lasting impression. Firefighters from Hillsboro Fire and Rescue, along with officers from Hillsboro Police and Washington County Sheriff’s Office, teamed up with Metro West Ambulance, Life Flight, the Washington County Medical Examiner’s office and Fuiten, Rose and Hoyt Funeral Home to make the dramatization complete.

From the looks on students’ faces afterwards, the event had an impact. We are always hopeful that the prom season will pass without a tragic incident.

From the Washington County Sheriff’s Office web site: Since its creation in 1998, under the leadership of Retired Deputy Tim Moore, an average of six to nine SKID events have been staged each year on Washington County high school campuses. This has allowed approximately 82,000 students to participate in the SKID Program. During this same time period, a review of available data has found that there were seven alcohol-related traffic crashes in Washington County involving teen drivers. Of these, two led to traffic fatalities. Although any number of traffic crashes involving young people is unacceptable, the SKID Program has been effective in reinforcing the message that underage drinking puts young people in dangerous situations and can bring on disastrous and fatal consequences.

Quack! means Help!

Engine 5 rescued 2 baby ducks from the storm drain at Barberry and Linden on Friday night. They attempted to catch the mother as well and relocate them all to a nice new home near a pond. The mother would have none of this! We did not want her to give up and leave the area or injure her in trying to catch her. That would leave us with 2 baby duck orphans!

It was felt the best course of action was to get them all back together and let mom deal with getting them all home. That’s what we did and they all waddled off together and lived happily ever after. There are no pictures of this event; it was just too dark in the area they were.

We're Preparing. Are You?

On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, employees of the City of Hillsboro, along with those in numerous other cities in Washington County and county emergency managers, will conduct a countywide disaster drill. Dubbed “Sheer Dynamics,” it’s a practice run at handling a major disaster caused by extremely high winds and accompanied by flooding. While the drill is to test the processes of intergovernmental communication, coordinating scarce resources and informing the public, it is a good reminder for citizens to take a few minutes to do some preparation around your home in the event of a disaster.
Here are a few good tips to get you prepared in the event of an area-wide disaster:
1. Develop a communication plan
a. In some cases, such as severe earthquake and high winds, our communications systems could be heavily damaged. Have a backup plan to communicate with your family members if they are caught scattered across town. Collect and distribute to all family members the phone numbers of the most logical places where your family members will be on a given day. Distribute those numbers to all family members.
b. Select an out-of-state family member or friend as your emergency contact for information exchange. Often, local phone systems may be overloaded or damaged too severely to make a local call. But, if you can get a dial tone, you can frequently make a long distance call.
2. Create a Disaster Kit -- It’s often called a 72-hour kit because it should contain emergency supplies to last your entire family for at least three days. (Recommendation: Make a kit for one week!) Your kit should contain:
a. Food – select food that will last a long time on the shelf but will be readily eaten by all members of your family for three to seven days
b. Water – one gallon per person per day (don’t forget pets!) You can live for weeks without food, but only a few days without water!
c. Medicines – an emergency supply of medicines are essential, especially if you have a serious medical condition.
d. Battery-powered radio
e. Flashlights with spare batteries
f. Money (ATMs are useless when the power has failed )
3. Get to know your neighbors -- Determine their capabilities and resources and create a plan to pool and share scare resources, such as chain saws or four-wheel drive vehicles. Also, plan to check on and render assistance to elderly or sick neighbors.

There are many more tips on surviving a disaster at www.ocem.org. Simply click on Emergency Preparedness.

New Fire Chief

Chief Nelson Badge Ceremony

It’s official. Greg Nelson is our new Fire Chief. Mayor Jerry Willey presented Chief Nelson with his new Fire Chief’s badge Tuesday night at City Council meeting. Chief Nelson’s wife, Joann, pinned on the shiny new badge. She was accompanied by the couple’s son. Chief Nelson was selected by City leadership following an unsuccessful national search for a suitable successor to retired Fire Chief Gary Seidel. Following the badge ceremony, nearly 75 people attended a reception in Chief Nelson’s honor at the Civic Center.

Nelson has worked more than 30 years at the Department. He’s held every rank en route to the top spot.

Jones Farm Station

As soon as the rains let up (whenever that will be is anyone's guess), contractors should begin site preparation on Hillsboro Fire and Rescue’s newest fire station. The facility will replace the aging and too small Parkwood Station which does not meet seismic requirements for public safety building. The new station, which will be called the Jones Farm Fire Station, will be located on NE 25th on property leased from the Port of Portland’s Hillsboro Airport just east of the Jones Farm neighborhood and Intel Jones Farm.

The winning contract bidder, P&C Construction of Portland is slated to complete the $3.2-million contract by December 2011. Architects from Group MacKenzie of Portland designed the 13,458-square foot facility. Funding for the station comes from Recovery Zone bonds issued by the City of Hillsboro in December 2010. The firefighters’ positions at Station No. 5 are funded by the Local Option Tax. Those firefighters will move their existing fire engine to the new station when it is completed.

Primate Center Chemical Leak Prompts Haz Mat Response

Here is an example of how Automatic Aid works with fire departments. Even though the following incident occured in the City of Hillsboro, the closest responder and the specialty teams needed were crews from our neighboring agency, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. While the majority of the resources were from TVF&R, our Battalion Chief and an HFD engine company were there to support and provide any additional Hillsboro resources needed.



News Release
A chlorine gas leak prompted the evacuation of an Oregon National Primate Center building in Hillsboro Wednesday morning along with a response from firefighters and a Hazardous Materials Team. The incident began shortly before nine when Primate Center employees reported a chemical leak. The closest emergency responders, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue’s (TVF&R) Engine 64 from their Somerset Station, arrived minutes later. They requested additional resources, including an engine from Hillsboro Fire Department and the regional hazardous materials response team from TVF&R.

TVF&R firefighters entered the building known as the Animal Services ABSL3 building, located on the south side of the campus and found two four-foot tall chlorine cylinders strapped to a cart. They shut off the flow of chlorine and began monitoring the air quality inside the building. The Hazardous Materials Team later removed the two tanks from the building and continued to monitor the air quality inside the building’s hallways.

Primate Center Health and Safety workers say they were preparing to disinfect a laboratory area with chlorine when one worker said she heard an unusual pop from the chlorine tank’s regulator as she opened the tank’s valve. She began smelling chlorine gas. She quickly activated the building’s safety system, evacuated fellow workers and sheltered the primates in place. The safety systems include a positive air flow ventilation system that prevented the leaked chlorine gas in the hallway from entering any of the rooms occupied by the primates. No one was injured. Firefighters began winding up their operation and turning the scene back over to Primate Center employees shortly before noon.

Patriot Flag on Display

A huge American flag that is traveling back and forth across the country is on display this week at Hillsboro Fire Department’s Station 3, 4455 NW 229th Avenue. The 30-foot by 58-foot Patriot Flag honors those who perished during the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

“We are honored to display this flag,” said Hillsboro Fire Chief Gary Seidel. “It’s our hope that Hillsboro citizens will drop by and sign the guest book that is traveling with the flag and let others know that we have not forgotten those who gave their lives on September 11th, 2001.”

Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey signed a proclamation marking today as Patriot Flag Day in Hillsboro. The folded flag display in the fire station training from December 28th trough 30th will also have a huge flag remnant on which the organizers are collecting signatures and remembrances. Visitors can read the log book and see where the flag has been as well as see photos of its journey. The flag will be on display at the Station 3 training room from 11 to 1 pm on Tuesday through Thursday. On Friday, December 31st, once the current series of storms break, Hillsboro firefighters will raise the huge flag at 8:00 am from a ladder truck in front of their fire station and pay proper respects. The public is invited to attend.

The flag began its journey in San Diego on September 10, 2010. It will travel to all 50 states before it flies during the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The flag is part of the World Memorial, an effort to build a museum to commemorate all those who died on 9/11 and all those who came to Ground Zero for rescue and recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.thepatriotflag.us or www.world-memorial.org.