Preparing for a Safe Halloween Holiday Season

Ah yes, October 1st is here, we've had our first big storm of the season, and you can most definitely feel fall in the air.  You've probably noticed the stores have been full of seasonal decorations and Halloween costumes for a few weeks now, especially if you're a parent of a little one that points and begs for you to take them through the costume section when you make a quick stop for groceries.  So for those of you that are decorating your home, and preparing your kids' costumes, we thought now would be the perfect time to talk about a few simple things you can do to make for a safe Halloween season.

Decorating

Halloween decorations don't quite put the ultimate test to the electrical power grid like Christmas does, but that doesn't stop many of you from putting up lights and making your home feel scary in other ways.  Let's talk about lights for a second, as orange colored lights are definitely becoming more popular this time of year.  First off, never use lights that are damaged, if you can see bare wires, or even if the insulation is cracking or showing discoloration, it's time to replace those lights.  With lights come extension cords, because those electrical outlets are never close enough to where you need your lights to go.  Use only good quality extension cords that are the appropriate length for the task at hand.  Light duty cords offer poor protection against a problem in the electrical circuit, and coiling up the excess cord can generate heat where you don't want it to be generated.  Never run a cord through doorways, under rugs, or use staples to attach them to walls or ceilings, as all of these can damage a cord enough to start a fire with it.  

Even if you aren't into making your property look like a haunted house, candles are a popular, and simple, way to make your home feel more like fall, and it seems the stores are full of pumpkin scented things you can burn this time of year.  First off, there are so many battery operated "candles" that you can choose instead, but if you like the ambiance of a real candle we ask that you please use them in a safe location.  Keep candles away from things that can burn, this means at least three feet away from drapes, curtains, and furniture.  Always use candles on a solid surface, and put them in a holder that won't tip over easily.  Finally, be sure and blow that pumpkin scented goodness out before you leave the room.  

What about corn stalks, hay bales, and all the rest of the stuff, it's all pretty harmless right?  Yes and no, like anything - it's the how you use it that makes a difference.  With any sort of combustible decorative material you want to keep them away from things that can get hot like fire places, stoves, kitchen appliances, and light fixtures.  It's also really important that you keep exit paths and doors clear and accessible at all times.  

Costumes

    

Volunteer Firefighter Robert Bade hands out glowsticks to kids on Halloween as part of our annual "Be seen at Halloween" safety campaign. 

Halloween night itself is still weeks away, but if you are preparing the costumes for your family now we hope that you consider a few very important safety points.  First is that it's all about being seen to be safe on Halloween.  With the ultimate kid's candy holiday falling on a work night again this year, there will be a fair mix of drivers and trick or treaters on the roads, reflective materials on the costumes, carrying bright flashlights, or even a simple glow stick can make the difference in being seen by a driver or not.  A costume that affords some visibility for your child is also important, make sure they can see out of their masks and get ups, so they too can be on the lookout for danger as they rush from place to place for the sugary gold.   Costumes should also be made out of a material that is flame resistant, you should avoid plastics and synthetic materials that can easily burn.  Finally, talk to your littlest ones and make sure everyone knows how to "stop, drop, and roll".  It's a simple thing that they can practice at home to be ready if something bad does happen and their costume catches fire.

All of this may seem silly to you, but we hope that you consider these points while you prepare for the season.  If you have questions about the fire safety of your home you can always call us at 503-992-3240 and we would be happy to help you.      

Firefighters free man trapped in beet harvester in rural Forest Grove

Just after 3:30 pm on the afternoon of Thursday September 26th, 2013 Firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and the Cornelius Fire Department were called to the middle of a beet crop field where a farmer had become trapped in a “beet digger” harvester. The crew of three farm workers were previously harvesting beets in the field in the 1700 block of SW Stringtown Road when they reported that the machine had become clogged with beets and soil. One of the workers jumped up to the top of the harvester, which basically digs beets from the soil and transfers them via conveyor belt to a truck that travels along side of it, and began to try and fix the clogged machine when he slipped and his foot and lower leg became tangled in the conveyor belt and ended up badly trapped. When firefighters arrived the farm workers were using large tools to try and keep the working parts off the trapped man’s legs, and initially firefighters attempted to use
large pry bars to no avail either. Firefighters were able to deploy two hydraulic rescue tools, like those typically used on car crash scenes, to apply enough leverage to spread the working parts of the harvester and after about 30 minutes of working on it, they were able to free the man from the machine.

firefighters begin to use hand tools to work to free the injured farm worker

 The injured 40’s aged man, who was conscious, alert, and talking to firefighters throughout the incident, he was transferred to a waiting Metro West Ambulance and taken to the trauma center at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland with non life threatening injuries, but what appeared to be moderate injuries to his lower leg.

after about 30 minutes of working on the machine, firefighters were able to free the injured worker

This was the second in a series of serious traumatic injury calls for Forest Grove’s Firefighters on Thursday afternoon, as crews were already responding to a crash on the Wilson River Highway west of the city that injured two people at the same time of this incident. One of these injuries was considered serious enough and was also transported to the trauma center in Portland.

New Blog Address

If you are subscribed to updates or regularly follow our blog you might have noticed a new logo at the top and a new web address for this page.  A little history and why we made the change.  In 2010 when longtime Fire Chief Chis Asanovic retired from the Cornelius Fire Department, the City of Cornelius and the City of Forest Grove entered into an agreement to share administrative services.  This sharing of the Fire Chief eventually led to increased cooperation between the neighboring agencies, allowing for more firefighter training and standardization of practices and equipment then ever before, all for the good of the entire community.  For decades before this, the two fire departments routinely supported each other on fire calls but rarely practiced together and both had different styles, procedures, and equipment that at times led to less than desirable situations on emergency scenes.  With this new partnership we were able to break down some of these walls and eliminate differences, eventually getting to a point where the two agencies can work seamlessly on calls, thus allowing for a more efficient response to emergencies in both cities and rural fire districts.  

One of the benefits of this partnership is the sharing of specialized resources and that's what gets us to this blog.  With the retirement of Chief Asanovic, Cornelius lost their Public Information Officer, while at Forest Grove the Fire Chief assigns this information and education duty to the staff of the Fire Prevention Division.  With an already established, effective, and well regarded, public information program in place in Forest Grove, the natural step was to share the efforts with the Cornelius Fire Department so there was one voice from the agency when discussing an incident or a department program.   

We hope you enjoy the change, hopefully we'll be blogging a lot more about the things you want to know and the things we hope will make our entire community safer in the future.  As always, don't hesitate to comment here or drop us a private email to let us know what we can do better.  Our Fire Prevention Chief David Nemeyer can be reached at 503-992-3177 or via email at dnemeyer@forestgrove-or.gov

 

Family Practices Fire Escape Plan and Escapes Unharmed

On the evening of Sunday, September 8, Firefighters were dispatched to a house at located at 1112 Alyssum Ave in Forest Grove. Firefighters arrived a few minutes later to find heavy amounts of fire coming from the garage and spreading up the wall as well as into the attic. At this time the incident commander called for a 2nd Alarm bring additional fire crews from neighboring departments. Using multiple hose lines, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a majority of the flames. After approximately 15 minutes, all flames in the garage and the attic were extinguished. Firefighters were able to prevent the flames from spreading into the living por tion of the house.

At the time of the fire, a mother and four children were home, they were able to get out of the house unharmed. When the mother discovered the flames shooting out of the garage, she instructed the two older children to follow their fire escape plan, which was to get out of the house and meet at a mailbox across the street. While they did this, the mother was able to get the younger children from the dinner table and exit the house. The children had been taught to do this and practiced many times, and helped prevent anyone from getting injured by the fire. 

Firefighters remained on scene for multiple hours making sure all hot spots were put out. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the probable area of origin is located near a refrigerator in the garage. The fire is initially estimated to have caused at least $40,000 in damage.

Forest Grove Fire and Rescue urges parents to practice a fire escape plan with their children. Teach children to get out of the house and stay out, to meet at a pre-determined place like a mailbox, a tree, end of a driveway or a neighbor's house. Also practice knowing two ways out of your house. It is suggested to practice a fire escape drill every few months like children do at school. Tonight's fire is a good example of how a fire escape plan worked and prevented harm.

Forest Grove Fire & Rescue was assisted on scene by Cornelius Fire Department, Hillsboro Fire, Banks Fire and Gaston Fire.  

Popular young shift Lieutenant promotes to Captain role

After a process that saw five extremely talented individuals compete for the position, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue is pleased to announce the promotion of Tony Carter to the rank of Captain.  A local "Grover", the 35 year old Carter grew up here and along with his wife Samantha and their two little boys, they still proudly call Forest Grove home.  After graduating from Forest Grove High School in 1996, Tony came to the fire department initially as a volunteer who wanted to help in his community.  He entered our college student "sleeper" program shortly after that, and gained valuable practical experience living at the fire station while attending Portland Community College and the College of Emergency Services where he completed his coursework in Fire Science and Emergency Medicine, earning certification as an Oregon Paramedic.  During the summers of his college years Tony also worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry out of the Forest Grove Protection Unit working as part of a wildland firefighting crew.  In October 2005 Tony went to work full time for our agency and the promising young man continued to shine, leading the revamp of our wildland firefighting program that eventually saw the purchase of our first ever apparatus that were specifically designed to combat wildfires in our area.  Captain Tony Carter will take the reigns of our C Shift starting on September 1st, where he fills the vacancy of left by Captain Dwight Lanter when he retired earlier this summer after 28 years of service to Forest Grove. 

New C Shift Captain Tony Carter

Though Tony just recently became a Lieutenant, the choice of promoting him to Captain has been a popular one with the firefighters he works with.  Senior Firefighter Ted Penge said "Tony is a great guy to work for, he truly lets his people feel empowered to do their jobs and do them well.  He supports your projects and work without micro managing, and he is fair with everyone he meets, he's an excellent pick for a leader in our department.".  Firefighter Rick Ilg is also excited for Tony mainly because of what he has accomplished during his short time as a Lieutenant "Look at what he's done already, so much positive stuff comes from that man, and I expect nothing else than for him to continue building on things now that he has full charge of his shift."

Tony Carter is the Vice President of the non profit Forest Grove Firefighter's Association, and also serves as a shop steward with the Tualatin Valley Professional Firefighters Union Local 1660. With the promotion of Tony to Captain a vacancy is left in the department at the Lieutenant level.  Fire Chief Michael Kinkade expects to have a process in place in the next couple weeks and to have an announcement in place by the end of September as to who will fill that role.  Due to the confidence that there were adequate in house candidates for these leadership positions, the department did not have to await the hiring of another firefighter so since hiring Jordan Ruiz on July 1st Forest Grove Fire & Rescue has been able to maintain full staffing of all positions in their current fiscal year budget. 

C Shift photo from Captain Lanter's retirement party in July

As the sun sets on one marvelous career, it rises on another at Forest Grove Fire & Rescue

FF Dwight Lanter (left) and Lt Gary Maxwell (right) C Shift 1986

 

The year was 1985, Ronald Reagan was President, you could buy a ticket to the new Michael J. Fox "Back to the Future" movie for $2.75, and a gallon of gas cost $1.09 at the pump where you still had to say leaded or unleaded.  At that same time, a young Dwight Lanter put on the baby blue uniform, climbed on a bright green fire engine, and began his fire service career as a full time firefighter with FGF&R.  Bringing with him years of experience as  an intern with the Astoria Fire Department, and a volunteer with the neighboring Cornelius Fire Department, the home grown boy from the family farm south of town who built fire engines for local company Western States Fire Apparatus, was a perfect fit to be Forest Grove's newest firefighter.  Over nearly three decades, Dwight's career blossomed as he went through the ranks, serving at one time as the Department's Training Officer and finally as a Shift Captain.  On July 1, 2013, the sun sets on an honorable twenty-eight years of serving the community where he was raised, and where he raised his own family (his son's are both currently involved in the fire service), for Captain Dwight Lanter when he retires from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.

Captain Dwight Lanter 2013

Looking back on Dwight's career, his firefighters shared fond memories of a man who was more then a coworker, but also a mentor and friend along the way.  "When I came here from Polk County he made sure I knew about the community of Forest Grove and the history of this department, he's like an uncle to me" said Ted Penge, who currently works as one of Dwight's firefighters on C Shift.  Another C Shift Firefighter, Brad Shinpaugh, added "This is a guy that I have always looked up to, as a new firefighter he would reinforce me with positive comments, and this is something that I try to carry on with our new people."  Lieutenant Tony Carter echoes Dwight's ability to mentor over the years: "He literally feels like my third dad, when I came here as a straight out of high school teenager in our resident volunteer program, Dwight helped me tremendously to understand that being a quality firefighter is as much about compassion for your community as it is about fire hoses and ladders."  

    

FGF&R's newest paid firefighter, Jordan Ruiz

Even though the sun is setting on one firefighter's career, it's starting to shine brightly for the start of another, as current FGF&R Intern Jordan Ruiz begins working full time on July 1st.  Jordan, a 27 year old native of San Jose, California, is another pick from the current crop of volunteers and interns for the department from over the nearly 100 applicants in a hiring process that began last fall.  Jordan moved to Portland with his girlfriend Kellen while she completed her nursing degree program at University of Portland; himself a graduate of Santa Clara University with a bachelors degree in biology, he currently holds certification as an Oregon Paramedic and will add another advanced life support responder, as well as a fluent Spanish speaker, to our staff.  When asked how Jordan felt about coming to work full time, he talked about the positive family atmosphere at FGF&R and how family is one of the most important things to him.  In fact, his eyes shined brightly as he related joyous stories of traditional Italian holidays making over 300 homemade ravioli with his entire family.  It's not all about that wonderful Italian food for this young man however, who as a high school student competed in the Colt Baseball World Series, defeating the Puerto Rico team to win the championship round; Jordan remains physically active and recently competed in an Iron-man Triathlon competition.  "It's tough to lose three decades of experience with Dwight's retirement, but while we are wishing Dwight the best at the same time we are super excited to be able to add a quality young firefighter in Jordan to our firehouse family.  He's really an excellent fit for our department and will be an asset for the community for years to come." said Fire Chief Michael Kinkade.  Jordan is one of three new firefighters hired by the fire department in the last twelve months, where he joins Chad Toomey, and Cassie Knierim as the newest members of the department's shift response force.         

No lightning, no problems right?

We are fortunate to call northwest Oregon our home.  When summertime lightning storms burst to life over the Cascades we can usually breathe easy knowing that a lightning bolt in our sky is about as rare as seeing Bigfoot himself.  So what exactly is our fire problem here, and who or what is to blame when we do have a wildfire?

More often then not we need to point the finger at ourselves and blame our fellow human beings for the wildfires that burn during northwest Oregon's summers.  If you have lived around here for any significant amount of time, you have likely already heard the stories of the "Tillamook Burn", and how on August 14, 1933 a logging company outside of Gales Creek wanted to haul one last log out before the Forestry Department closed the woods for the day due to high fire danger.  As that final log was yarded up to the landing it rubbed either a steel cable, or another tree, and the friction that ensued sparked one of Oregon's largest wildfires right in the very Coast Range Mountains we watch the sun set over every night.  Our modern experience with wildfires in this area has not been as dramatic as that 311,000 acre first Tillamook Burn fire, but our causes are consistent in that humans are still at fault for a majority of our wildfires; as we grow and more people make the woods their backyard, we can only expect that the number of human caused wildfires will grow too.  So what can we do to prevent our own behavior from creating a wildfire tragedy this summer?

The aftermath of the Tillamook Burn can be seen in this Wikipedia photo

Burn piles

The elephant in the room so to speak for our area is when we use fire outdoors.  Oregon's backyard burn season ends June 15th and doesn't start again until October, so all backyard debris fires are closed during summer months.  Beyond that once the weather hits the point where we expect it to stay dry, the County will almost always ban agricultural burning as well.  It's that grey area of the year, like we've had with this dry spring, when burning is still technically allowed that it gets dangerous.  That's why it's so important to always have a fire break of bare dirt around your burn piles, and to attend them with firefighting tools and water at all times.  When you are done burning, you must make sure that your burn pile is out.  This can be easily done by soaking the burned area and stirring it to create a cold and wet mud that won't allow a fire to continue to burn.  Some burn piles can ignite underground roots, so it's essential that you soak your burning area when you are through with your debris fires.  

Power tools and equipment

Next to burn piles, one of the other significant causes for our wildfire problem is the things we use outside.  It's very important that you check your power equipment like tractors, lawn care tools, motorcycles and ATV's, and others to make sure they are in good working order before using them outdoors during fire season.  Be it a motorcycle without a spark arrestor, or a farm tractor with a worn out bearing, not having a properly maintained powered tool or toy is just as risky during fire season as not using this equipment properly.  

Open flames and fireworks

During fire season 2011, a resident using a cutting torch to work on a car near a grass field nearly destroyed an entire rural neighborhood when sparks ignited the tall and dry grass nearby.  Fire crews stopped the fire literally feet away from one home, and prevented it from spreading to a brushy stand of timber nearby.  Each year fireworks, kids with matches, and cigarettes dropped by motorists are also to blame for unnecessary fires in our area.  Now is the time for parents to lock up those matches and lighters before the kids get out of school for the summer, and make sure that when you purchase your fireworks you only choose those that are legal in Oregon and you keep all fireworks out of the hands of unsupervised children.  If you must use the welder or torch outdoors the same rules that apply to your burn pile apply here too, have water handy and regularly watch the area for hours afterwards to make sure that the smallest ember has not ignited the brush around your work area.  

So, even though it's raining today, as fire season approaches remember what our old friend Smokey Bear says in this classic 1964 public service announcement: "Only you, can prevent forest fires!"