FIREFIGHTERS CLIMB FOR A CURE

After months of strenuous workout routines, watching their diets, and many trips into Portland to practice on the stairs at the US Bank Corp Tower, the hard of our firefighters work paid off last weekend in Seattle.  On Sunday, March 10,  the efforts of teams of firefighters from Forest Grove and Cornelius culminated with the annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb up the sixty-nine floors of stairs of downtown Seattle's Columbia Center and in the end all of the hard work was for a good cause.  In total over $20,000 was raised by the teams from Forest Grove and Cornelius that will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society which is the benefactor of this annual event billed as the largest firefighter competition in the world. 

The intimidating Columbia Center loomed over I-5 as the team entered Seattle

Team Results for the Forest Grove Team

Keith Baas  17 minutes 52 seconds finished 318th overall

Jay Edwards 20 minutes 8 seconds finished 607th overall

Robert Webb 21 minutes 17 seconds finished 748th overall

Ivan Bratchuk 21 minutes 18 seconds finished 750th overall

Will Murphy 27 minutes 4 seconds finished 1141st overall

Tony Carter 29 minutes 11 seconds finished 1218th overall

Emmett Middaugh 29 minutes 59 seconds finished 1243rd overall

Cassie Knierim 33 minutes 57 seconds finished 1325th overall

Nick Chan 34 minutes 35 seconds finished 1336th overall

The Stair Climb Teams from Forest Grove and Cornelius get ready to go to work

Team results for the Cornelius Team

Phil Duncan 15 minutes 46 seconds finished 115th overall

James Callahan 17 minutes 36 seconds finished 286th overall

Colin Scott 18 minutes 33 seconds finished 403rd overall 

Robert Conrath 19 minutes 25 seconds finished 511th overall

Michael Davis 19 minutes 52 seconds finished 570th overall

Mark Patterson 20 minutes 13 seconds finished 625th overall

Thomas Schilling 21 minutes 55 seconds finished 819th overall

Garth Culbertson 22 minutes 28 seconds finished 874th overall

Andrew Jensen 22 minutes 33 seconds finished 884th overall

Trevor Storms 25 minutes 5 seconds finished 1041st overall

Derek Cardelli 28 minutes 5 seconds finished 1180th overall

Jason Lawson 28 minutes 47 seconds finished 1202nd overall

Byron Steinke 33 minutes 37 seconds finished 1315th overall

Steve Black 34 minutes 48 seconds finished 1341st overall

Kevin Ritcheson 42 minutes 34 seconds finished 1416th overall

Cornelius Captain Steve Black's helmet with the photos to motivate him to climb

FGF&R Volunteer Jay Edwards was the first to start his climb up Columbia Center, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and much taller than anything in Forest Grove or Cornelius

Six year old girl becomes honorary firefighter

The fire department family at Forest Grove Fire & Rescue grew by one additional member Thursday afternoon as Fire Chief Michael Kinkade presented the badge of Honorary Firefighter to six year Faith Canfield in recognition of the her heroic fight against cancer. 

For the last few months as the firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and the Cornelius Fire Department have been practicing for the upcoming Seattle Stair Climb competition they have been motivated to climb by a very special little girl. Six year old Faith Canfield found out just over a year ago that she had Leukemia, one of her friends is the daughter of longtime Forest Grove Volunteer Firefighter Nick Chan and he thought that little Faith would be the perfect motivator for the team of firefighters that have been raising money as part of the Scott Stairclimb, which takes place every March in Seattle and is a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  On a beautiful sunny Thursday afternoon in the fire truck bay of Fire Station 4 and surrounded by her family, friends, and firefighters from Forest Grove and Cornelius, Fire Chief Michael Kinkade talked to Faith about what it means to be a firefighter.  Speaking of the heroic fight she is putting up to rid her body of cancer for good, and how her name Faith alone is an inspiration and a motivator to those around her, including the firefighters that will be making the arduous climb on Sunday with her on their minds.  As the ceremony closed, Chief Kinkade presented young Faith with the silver firefighters badge and gently pinned it to her shirt.  

 
This coming Sunday, March 10, 2013, a group of twenty six Forest Grove and Cornelius firefighters will be putting on full firefighter combat gear and hooking up to their self contained breathing apparatus as they begin the climb up the 69 floors of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, Washington. Even though there isn’t a building in our two cities that is over four stories tall, we participate in this event, the largest firefighter competition in the world, to raise money and awareness for the fight against blood cancers. This year the team of firefighters raised over $11,900 that will go straight to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to fund research into finding a cure for these terrible diseases.  As they climb the stairs with burning legs and sweat pouring from their pores, when they think about quitting they will think about Faith and how her fight is much more difficult than anything they'll attempt and they will keep pushing to get to the top, to help beautiful little Faith keep up her fight.

You can help us raise money to fight this terrible disease.  Donations can be made here on our team page for the Seattle Stair Climb
 
 

 

Change Your Clocks Check Your Smoke Alarms

Daylight saving's time starts this Sunday at 2:00 am.  Over the years the fire service has done a great job of getting the message out that when you change your clocks you should also change the batteries in the smoke alarms that protect your home.  Oregon's a unique state though, where you may not necessarily need to change your batteries this weekend, and where even doing so could make your home less safe!

In 1998 the Oregon legislature passed a law that required all ionization type smoke alarms that receive their power from a battery to have a battery capable of lasting 10 years.  This meant that our old friend the 9 volt alkaline battery was being replaced by it's stronger cousin the lithium ion battery.  On the outside these batteries look the same, they are still that classic rectangle shape with the two round connections on one end, it's the inside of the battery where the chemicals that store the energy are located that there's a difference.  Science has shown that the lithium ion battery is capable of outlasting the alkaline powered batteries of yesterday.  

So what does all of this mean, and what exactly are you supposed to do when you go and change your clocks this weekend?  What we suggest is that when you change your clocks you check your smoke alarms.  You're probably asking, but check them for what?

• If the smoke alarm is ten years old, regardless of how it is powered, replace it!  Smoke alarms have about a ten year life span and after that you can expect more false alarms and less sensitivity to real smoke in the home.
  
•  If you have an ionization smoke alarm that is battery operated simply test it.  How do you tell if it is an ionization type?  There are two common types of smoke alarms in most all of our homes and the difference lies in how they detect the presence of smoke.  For years the ionization types were the most common ones found in stores but within the last ten years or so a new type called photoelectric smoke alarms have become readily available.  Both should be labeled either on the surface of the alarm or on a decal on the underside of the alarm. 
  
• If your smoke alarm is hardwired to the electrical circuits of your home simply replace the back up battery, a standard 9 volt alkaline battery meets the requirements of Oregon state law for back up power of hardwired smoke alarms. 
  
• If your smoke alarm battery says something like "long life lithium" or "ten year battery power" leave it in the alarm and do not replace it with an alkaline battery.  This will actually not only void the warranty of the smoke alarm, but it can give a false impression that the battery contained within is capable of lasting for ten years and may lead to not changing the battery in a timely manner in the future.  

When you test your smoke alarm it's also a good idea to get the entire family involved and practice a fire drill.  Now is the perfect time to sit down with the kids and prepare a home fire escape map.  Have the kids draw up a map of the floor plan and show two ways out of your bedrooms that lead to a meeting place.  Everyone should know that once you get to the meeting place you never go back into the home until it's safe to do so  Once you are done preparing your plan it's not good enough to just stick it to the refrigerator with a magnet, now you must practice your plan so everyone knows what to do.  We suggest that right before the kids would normally wake up that the parents test the smoke alarms so that the children can experience the sound of waking up to the smoke alarms and go through the motions of escaping a house when it's dark.  

As with all things, if you need help testing your smoke alarms or practicing a family fire escape drill we would gladly help you.  You can call our fire station anytime during normal business hours at 503-992-3240 and one of our firefighters can assist you in making your home as safe as it can be.  

A pair of sleeping grandparents, and their six year old grandson barely escaped as a smoke filled their mobile home Wednesday evening. When firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue arrived to the home at the Grove Mobile Home Park, there was already dark grey smoke pumping from the windows and roof of the double wide mobile home. Fire crews quickly went to work, crawling into the front room of the mobile home and extinguishing the fire they found burning on a bunk bed. Within a matter of minutes the fire was brought under control with no injuries to residents or firefighters.

During the investigation into the cause of the fire, the grandson admitted that he had found a pack of matches in the home while his grandparents slept and he had crawled onto the top bunk and began to light the matches, dropping one onto his mattress. The young boy told investigators that the fire began to grow at which time he woke up his grandparents and they all escaped safely. Unfortunately three of the family cats,
and a number of pet birds did not survive the fire; one cat remains missing at this time. The home and it’s contents are considered a total loss, and the local Red Cross Chapter is working to provide assistance to the family during this difficult time.

This is the second fire in less then a month in the Grove Mobile Home Park, located at 3831 Pacific Avenue in the east part of Forest Grove. In both incidents firefighters found the homes to be without working smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms have been proven countless times to save lives, and the changing of the clocks this weekend is the perfect reminder to make sure your smoke alarms work and are less then 10 years old. When your testing your smoke alarms it’s also the perfect time to conduct a family fire drill. Firefighters also urge parents to secure their matches and lighters away from children, and if you fear that your children are involved with misusing fire please contact their local fire department about juvenile fire setter intervention programs. The Oregon Fire Service is recognized nationwide as a leader in youth fire setting prevention programs, and many departments have effective tools to make sure this dangerous behavior does not cause an incident like tonight's.

The Passing Of Retired Fire Chief Robert Davis

It is with great sorrow that Forest Grove Fire & Rescue announces the death of retired Fire Chief Bob Davis. Surrounded by his family, Chief Davis passed away peacefully at his home in rural Forest Grove on the morning of March 1, 2013 after a fight with lung cancer, he was 75. Born on July 29, 1937, Chief Davis came to Forest Grove from California in 1978 after a fire service career that took him from the United States Air Force to the City of Davis, California Fire Department.  Between 1978 and his retirement from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue in 2004 he was instrumental in establishing a stable funding source for fire department capital projects such as apparatus and buildings. He led two large fire department construction projects, building a new fire station in Gales Creek in 1981 as well as replacing the fire station in Forest Grove that was damaged by the 1993 Scotts Mills Earthquake. Towards the end of his career, Chief Davis was also the city’s dedicated construction supervisor for both the City of Forest Grove Library and Community Auditorium buildings. After his retirement in 2004 Bob continued to serve the citizens of Forest Grove by serving as an elected director of the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District, and in the most recent years he was active as a delivery driver for the local “meals on wheels” program for seniors in our community. Forest Grove Mayor Peter Truax had this to say about the passing of Chief Davis: “Bob Davis' contribution to the safety of the citizens in and around Forest Grove cannot and should not be minimized. He served the City of Forest Grove as Chief of a first class fire department, and, after his retirement, served as an elected official on the Rural Fire Protection District’s Board of Directors. His sense of service was second to none. His influence is still being felt throughout the fire and rescue community. He will be missed”.

Though many of the firefighters in Forest Grove have changed since his retirement in 2004, those who worked under Chief Davis will always remember him as a strong Fire Chief that fought during the tough economic times of the 1980s to keep full time professional firefighters on duty in Forest Grove. He led the department during the time when the Forest Grove Fire Department became Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and was dedicated to the implementation of Paramedics and emergency medical response in our area. Chief Davis was also a strong advocate for fire prevention and safety programs and helped bring programs like elementary school fire safety education in the 1980s, and creating the city’s first Fire Inspector position in 1996.

An all staff photo from the late 1990s shows Chief Davis standing on the right side of the middle row

A public memorial will be held at the Forest Grove Fire Station this coming Saturday (March 9) at 1:00 pm.

Spring Backyard Burn Season Starts March 1st

Spring back yard burning opens March 1st through June 15th. Remember to call the burn Number, when you are ready to burn, at 503.992.3242 . Oregon DEQ regulates the burning based on air quality considerations and notifies the fire department daily to find out if burning is allowed or not. Fires should stay within the burn times that are recorded on the burn message.


To stay safe, keep the fires small and have an established fire break around your pile. A fire break is a cleared dirt area that is as wide as the pile is tall. This fire break should be completely around your burn pile, never burn close to homes, fences, sheds or brush. Keep tools on hand and a water hose or other water source nearby incase the fire gets to hot or out of control. You can always call 911 if the fire does get out of control and you need some help. Never leave the fire unattended. It’s only legal to burn yard debris, remember not to put any garbage, furniture or other things you are trying to get rid of on the fire. Also remember for rural residents agricultural burning is for farm or nursery debris only.

There are some alternatives to burning that can make you more friendly with neighbors and decrease complaints such as curbside yard debris pick up. There are also composting solutions available either commercially or by simply making a area of your yard available for composting or spreading the leaves and grass in your garden or flower beds.

Again call 503.992.3242 if you are going to burn as the messages changes daily based on DEQ regulations.

This morning (February 21, 2013) at around 5:30, Forest Grove and Cornelius Firefighters responded to a house fire at Rose Grove Mobile Home Park at 3839 Pacific Avenue. The fire cause significant damage to a small area in the ceiling near a wood stove pipe. Everyone in the house was able to make it out and no one on scene was injured. The fire appears to be caused by the stove pipe becoming too hot and being too close to combustible materials in the ceiling and roof area. It is estimated that the stove pipe had been charring the area around the pipe over many days, if not weeks and finally caused the area to ignite into flames.

This is a great reminder that if you have a stove pipe or chimney, that you keep it clean and verify that it is installed correctly. Also always have a smoke alarm in your house near sleeping areas and test it monthly, in this incident a smoke alarm was not in the house to alert the residence.  If you have questions about fire safety in your home please contact us at 503-992-3240, though we don't inspect chimney installations we would gladly help you with other home fire safety questions.