New Tools for the Firefighters’ Skill Toolbox

Positive Pressure Attack – many departments have used this strategy for years while others have not. It involves directing a high velocity air flow at the entrance to a building involved in fire to facilitate initial fire attack. It’s a technique that dramatically improves visibility and cools the temperatures in a house fire which would enhance the chances of survival of any trapped residents and help firefighters locate them more quickly. That’s why Hillsboro Fire and Rescue trained on the technique this week at a make-shift burn house at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The instructors for this week’s training were veteran battalion chiefs formerly from Salt Lake City Fire Department. Chief Kriss Garcia is now the Fire Chief at American Fork Fire & Rescue in Utah and Reinhard Kauffmann is now retired.

The trainers build fires from wooden pallets and hay one at a time in each of the rooms and crews rotate through these evolutions until all had the experience of conducting the initial attack on the fire. Crews monitor the temperatures in the rooms using a Thermal Imaging Camera and report the difference in the conditions inside. Using the positive pressure ventilation in coordination with the initial fire attack allows firefighters to wait a few moments to ensure conditions are improving, enter and find the seat of the fire more quickly, and operate in much cooler temperatures than when attacking a fire without the ventilation.

There are, of course, certain conditions when this tactic is not to be used. Chiefs Garcia and Kauffmann outlined those circumstances clearly in a classroom portion of this drill prior to the live fire evolutions.

When a Birth Day Turns into an Emergency

From Birth Class

The birth of a child is traditionally a joyous occasion. And, if all goes well, the mother-to-be makes it to the hospital in time for a normal delivery of the bundle of joy. In some cases, the child arrives early and firefighter/medics get the thrill of helping to deliver a healthy child into this world. However, in a few cases, whether from a medical problem or a traumatic event, complications occur in those critical hours just before birth. That’s when emergency medical personnel may have to deal with problem pregnancies and deliveries.

Firefighters from Hillsboro Fire & Rescue attended classes this week on imminent childbirth where complications were presented. Those complications ranged from infections and abnormal pain to stillbirths and situations which threaten the lives of both the child and mother. Just another way in which our firefighters continue to engage in life-long learning and provide excellent service to the citizens of Hillsboro—especially the newest citizens!

How do you rescue a stranded worker, such as a window washer, who is high above the ground and unable to help himself? You call in firefighters trained in high-angle rope rescue. Hillsboro Fire and Rescue has been conducting high angle rope rescue drills this week at the 5-story public parking garage at First and Washington Streets. The firefighters practiced setting the rigging and executing the rescue of a practice dummy from the side of the parking structure.

Tuesday’s drill allowed Hillsboro Fire Department's veteran rope rescue technicians to teach newer firefighters techniques for handing the ropes and for being the rescuer. Often the most difficult part of a high angle rescue is getting over the edge without suffering an injury. In this drill, firefighters used a tripod to elevate the point from which the rescuer is lowered allowing a easier and safer move over the edge. Once the firefighter reached the “patient,” he moved the patient from the patient's rigging to the rescue rigging and lowered the patient to the next garage level down to be unhooked. Firefighters drill regularly on skills that are high risk/low frequency to ensure that they can be done quickly and safely.

Winter Heating Safety

From Winter Heating Safety

Post holiday bills and high heating costs sometimes drive citizens to heat their homes with alternative sources. This time of year we see a spike in home heating fires caused by wood burning stoves, fireplaces and space heaters. You can reduce your chances of a heating-related fire by following these tips:

• Ensure space heaters are kept at least three feet away from anything that can burn. They should also have a tip-over shutoff switch.


• Have chimneys professionally inspected and cleaned each year.
  


• Dispose of fireplace and wood stove ashes in a metal container–never use a paper bag or cardboard box.
  


• Use a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace to prevent sparks from igniting drapes, furniture and carpets.
  


• Ensure wood stoves are properly installed.
  


• Never use a range or oven to heat your home.

And, we can never mention it enough -- ensure you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your home, outside sleeping areas and, for maximum protection, one in each bedroom!

Visible Signs of Progress - New Fire Station

From New Fire Station 6

There is visible evidence of progress on the construction of Hillsboro Fire Department’s new fire station located at 21880 NW Cherry Lane. The contractor, CSI Construction of Portland, has begun site work in preparation for laying a foundation for the 16,000-square foot building that will house an engine company and the Department’s training division.

The addition of this facility is part of the Fire Department’s Strategic Plan that City Council approved to address response times. Our goal is to reach your emergency within four minutes of leaving our station 75% of the time. The need to arrive at fires quickly is obvious—to stop the progression of a fire before it destroys more of your property. The majority of our calls are medical in nature and rapid access of the patient is essential to deliver life-saving medical treatment in the field, as well.

The new fire station is designed to achieve a LEED Gold Certification when completed. The LEED Program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building rating system providing a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Building to this standard offers many benefits:

1. The construction process focuses on locally produced and/or locally sourced materials
2. Consumes fewer resources and generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions
3. Will be energy efficient, requiring less electricity and water to operate

The completion of the construction project is slated for July 2010.

Safety on the Fire Ground

Mittendorf Truck Ops

Veteran fire ground commander and author John Mittendorf came to Hillsboro Fire Department to provide our firefighters a new perspective on safety. The retired Los Angeles City Fire Department Battalion Chief talked at length this week with our firefighters about changes necessary to avoid unnecessary risks when fighting structure fires. Mittendorf has examined the tasks responsible for the annual loss of over 100 firefighters across the country each year and offered ways to avoid those fatalities.

Citing the deaths of nine firefighters in the South Carolina Sofa Super Store fire in 2007 and the six who perished in the 1999 Worchester, Massachusetts, warehouse fire, Mittendorf discussed critical decisions that all incident commanders must make and where their priorities should be placed. The priorities always start with life safety.

The presentation also looked at apparatus placement at single family residential fires and at multi-story residential and commercial buildings to provide for the maximum use of the aerial ladder aboard the truck. Those placements may be different based on the circumstances.

We are grateful for the knowledge that Retired Chief Mittendorf has shared. We hope that his sharing of his experiences and wisdom will make our firefighters better and safer in the days ahead.

Standpipe Operations

Picture a fire in a multistory building and the stairwell is already compromised by the blaze. How do you get firefighters into the upper stories to fight it? With a ladder, of course! But the task is complicated by having to bring hose along with you to fight the fire. That’s why Hillsboro firefighters this past week have been drilling on what’s called “standpipe operations.”
Standpipes are normally water pipes built into multi-story buildings to help supply firefighting water to the upper stories. In cases where they are installed in buildings or parking structures, firefighters bring hose bundles with them and attach to the pipes. The pipes are either fed by the municipal water supply or by the fire engine attaching to an “FDC” or fire department connection on the exterior of the building. Once attached to the standpipe, they can charge their hoses and advance on the fire.



In multi-story buildings where there are no standpipes, firefighters have to essentially create their own by bringing a larger diameter hose up the ladder to their floor of entry, attaching a gated “Y” valve to split the larger line into two smaller attack lines for maneuverability, and advancing to the fire’s location. The process is not complicated, but requires several critical steps to ensure a smooth fire attack, one of which includes securing the larger diameter hose to the ladder to ensure it doesn’t fall and pull the smaller lines down with it when the lines are charged with water.