FEMA Assistance to Firefighter's Grant Improves Firefighter Training in Washington County

Thanks to an Assistance to Firefighters Grant from FEMA, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue is the proud owner of a brand new Mobile Fire Training Simulator.  If you have visited the Forest Grove Library, or driven past the Fire Station lately, you have probably seen the training simulator where it's parked behind our building.  You can't really miss the massive red trailer, and the smoke that comes from it when firefighters are training inside of it, and all of this is possible because of a $425,000 grant that came from the Federal Government.

  

FGF&R's new Mobile Fire Training Simulator

Before the purchase of this trailer, Forest Grove firefighters relied on finding donated, and typically dilapidated, buildings to complete the firefighter training that is required by State of Oregon firefighter standards.  Without a donated home or building to conduct this type of training, it can sometimes be a considerable amount of time before new volunteer firefighters receive the essential training that is required before they can respond as part of our crew.  In recent years we have combated this challenge by sending firefighters to fire simulation centers at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, or the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Regional Training Center in Sherwood.  Though these facilities offered us an exceptional training experience, the distance to them posed logistical problems for our crews and obviously costs involved with leaving our own city to training.  Enter the Mobile Fire Simulator which will help us improve our volunteer firefighter program by providing a close and effective option to not only make sure that new firefighters are up to speed, but that veteran crews remain on top of the latest trends in firefighting tactics.

  

The furniture fire prop burns inside of the mobile fire training simulator

The mobile fire trailer was purchased from the Kidde Company in Montvale, New Jersey, and was delivered to us this June.  Kidde provided not only a well crafted piece of equipment, but they also sent a company representative to our Fire Station in order to coordinate the initial training for our firefighters.  After that we we put the mobile trailer and it's propane powered fire props through it's paces as we tested it and learned the ins and outs of proper and safe operation.  Local sign makers from Miracle Sign Company here in Forest Grove put decals and logos on the sides and it's now ready to go.  You'll see it fired up on Monday evenings as Firefighters from Forest Grove and Cornelius enter one of a number of realistic training scenarios, and twice a year it can be used for the bi-annual volunteer firefighter training academies that all new volunteers in Washington County must go through.  The mobile fire training simulator isn't limited to live fire training however, it has a number of features that will enhance our abilities to serve the community.  Within the training simulator there is a forcible entry prop, a roof ventilation prop that is capable of altering the angle of the roof, search and rescue props, window rescue simulations, and confined space rescue training just to name a few.  As part of the required match to the FEMA grant, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue was responsible for 10% of the grant, so our share of the cost of this equipment was $42,500.  Without the FEMA grant we simply would not have been able to afford this significant of a purchase, so we are extremely thankful to FEMA and it's supporters who have made this exciting new tool for our fire department possible.     

SEVEN FOREST GROVE RESIDENTS DISPLACED, AND FIRE CAPTAIN INJURED IN HOUSE FIRE

Just before 11:30 am on Thursday, August 9, 2012 Firefighters were called to a home at 2618 Main Street in Forest Grove for a reported bed room on fire. While en route fire crews were made aware that at least one person was still trapped inside the home, so when firefighters arrived they found smoke coming from the upstairs as they quickly went into rescue mode. Upon entering the first floor of the two story home they found four occupants on the first floor. Two of these men were trying to make it up the smoke filled stairway to try and extinguish the fire burning in the upstairs bedroom; one of the other occupants was trying to move a wheel chair bound women from the home. Firefighters split up and began to remove the wheel chair bound woman, while at the same time they had to physically remove the two men who were insistent on entering the dangerous smoke filled hallway. During this rescue and removal part of the firefighting effort, Forest Grove Fire Captain Joseph Smith (a 25 year veteran firefighter) suffered an apparent soft tissue injury to his leg while trying to tackle one of the men inside the smoke filled stairwell. Captain Smith continued on with his crew, extinguishing the fire burning in the bedroom and he was able to get out of the building under his own power and was later transported to Providence St. Vincent Hospital in Portland for further evaluation.

FGF&R Firefighters set up a ventilation fan to help remove the smoke from the burning home. 

 

After making sure all residents were safely out of the home, firefighters were finally able to gain access to the bedroom where the fire was located and quickly extinguished the fire that was burning in a bed. Smoke and heat damage was found throughout the first and second floors of the home, in a second floor hallway the heat was severe enough that it melted the smoke alarms that had initially notified the residents that the fire was burning; there were no fire sprinklers inside the home that would have otherwise contained this fire that ultimately caused around $20,000 in damages and made the home unable to live in at this time. Fire investigators have confirmed that the fire is a result of a discarded cigarette that ignited the bedding and spread to the rest of the room. Forest Grove Firefighters were assisted by firefighters from Hillsboro and Cornelius, which in total brought approximately 25 firefighters to the scene; the fire was deemed under control within 20 minutes of the first arriving crew. A total of six cats were also rescued by firefighters from the burning home.

A FGF&R Firefighter extinguishes the burning mattresses that were removed from the home

There are a number of fire safety messages to learn from this incident. First is that even though Oregon has a fire safe cigarette law, you absolutely still need to be safe while smoking. Hot ash and cigarette butts are still capable of igniting materials as was proved by this incident, and should be discarded in a non combustible container outside of the home. Second is that once you escape a fire that you absolutely never go back into a burning home for anyone or anything. Please let trained firefighters do their job and use their life saving skills and tools to their most effective abilities.

Forest Grove Firefighters tend to one of their own, Fire Captain Joe Smith that was injured while removing residents from the burning home on August 9. 2012

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Clapshaw Hill Road brush fire consumes single acre as Forest Grove's first brush fire of the wildfire season

Earlier today we blogged about the new Brush Rigs that had recently went into service for our wildfire season.  So far this year wildfire season in our part of NW Oregon had been relatively quiet, that all changed this afternoon however as we had our first significant brush fire of the year when just over one acre of grass and brush burned on NW Clapshaw Hill Road.  When firefighters arrived just after 2 pm today they found the fire burning on an open piece of property on NW Clapshaw Hill Road near the community of Kansas City in the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District.  The new Brush Rig 418 from the Forest Grove Fire Station was quickly put to work along other brush rigs from Forest Grove, Banks, and Cornelius and firefighters were able to get a quick stop made that kept the fire under control at around one acre.  Fire Investigators believe that the fire started as a result of an unattended burn pile on the property, and this is a potentially tragic reminder that burning is closed right now and you should take a few minutes to check your old burn piles to prevent this type of incident from occurring again.  For a short time, two small barns on the property were threatened as flames burned in the waist high grass within 200 feet of the barns.  A Heavy Brush Rig from the Forest Grove Fire Station was quickly deployed to this area and controlled the fire before it could damage any of the buildings on the property.  Though fire crews had the fire under control relatively quickly, a crew remained on scene until 4:00 pm to check for hot spots and make sure that the fire was indeed out.  Burn piles are one of the prevalent causes of fires in our area, please take a few minutes and make sure your spring burn piles are out by thoroughly soaking them one more time with water and stirring them  with a shovel, even a suspected dormant burn pile can remain hot deep down for weeks or months after you think they are out.  

 

New Brush Rigs In Service at Forest Grove and Gales Creek Fire Stations

Just in time for wildfire season, two new Brush Rigs are now in service to respond from our Forest Grove and Gales Creek Fire Stations.  These two specialized, and heavily modified, 2012 Dodge 5500 Heavy Duty trucks were custom built locally by Forest Grove's own Spiesschaert Inc., and are designed with the demands of our summer fire season in mind.  Smaller than a large fire engine, these four wheel drive trucks can get through narrow and twisty driveways, and crawl up and down steep off road grades to get to where brush fires threaten homes and property and can take the beating that comes with this type of work.  Typical Brush Rigs carry 300 gallons, but these two rigs can carry 400 gallons of water that is supplemented by a foam system that increases our abilities to combat a wildfire, as well as provides enough water for to extinguish a small car fire, or make a quick stop in the early stages of a house fire making these trucks just as useful in the city streets of Forest Grove as they would be in the foothills of the Coast Range west of Gales Creek, or working a field fire near Verboort. 

  

 

Don't let the term "Brush Rig" fool you into thinking that these trucks will only see use during the summer months though.  With their ease of operation, they can be driven by regular volunteer firefighters without the extensive training required to operate our larger, and more complex fire engines, this will allow a quicker response for volunteer firefighters on medical emergencies year around, and we expect to use them during high water or snow events during the winter months as well.  Elected officials authorized a total budget for this project of $230,000 that was split 50/50 between the tax payers of the City of Forest Grove and the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District, so far we are just over $11,000 under budget on the project that in combination with the Heavy Brush Rigs we purchased used last year from a California Fire Department, will greatly improve our ability to respond to the needs of our community.  Brush Rig 418 will be housed in our Forest Grove Station, and Brush Rig 417 will work with our crew out of the all volunteer station in Gales Creek.