Fire Safety During the Christmas Season

It's that time of year again!  For many of us the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years are when we transform our homes into a holiday wonderland full of decorations and joy for the holiday season.  For some it's a simple Christmas tree or maybe a few candles, while others will attempt to have the highest power bill in town in the hopes that their light display is visible from space.  What no one wants to experience this time of year is a devastating fire that was caused by they very things that you put up in your home to brighten your home during the holiday season.  Let's talk about a few of the typical causes of fires during the holiday months and what you can do to prevent them.

Lights and Electrical  

•  Inspect your lights before you put them up.  Check for frayed wires, bare spots in the insulation, or any broken parts.  If you find a problem dispose of the lights and replace them.
• Avoid overloading your circuits!  Do not link more than three strands of lights together, and do not plug multiple adapters into each other.  Use one power strip per plug in and avoid the use of the massive amount of adapters plugged into each other.
• Always unplug your lights when you leave the home or before you go to bed. 

 Candles

• Use electric flame-less candles instead of the traditional wax and wick candles.
• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Make sure your candles are placed on a stable surface or base and are in a position where they can't be easily tipped over by children or pets.  
• Keep candles at least 18 inches away from things that can burn, including other decorations like wreaths or trees.  

Trees

• Make a fresh cut at least one inch above the butt end of your tree before you place it into the home.
• Keep your tree stand full of water, and avoid putting it near heating vents that can accelerate the drying process.  This amazing video shows the dangers of a dry Christmas tree inside the home. 

  

Don't forget the basics!

• Make sure your home is protected with working smoke alarms, that are also less then 10 years old, on every level of the home.  
• Plan and practice a family fire escape drill so that everyone knows what to do if a fire does break out in your home. 

Federalgrant boosts volunteer program and leads to personnel changes at FGF&R

Forest Grove Fire & Rescue is honored to announce that through a Department of Homeland Security Grant we will be able to fund a full time position to combat the challenging problem of Volunteer Firefighter recruitment and retention.  Forest Grove is like many communities nationwide that cannot fiscally support a fully staffed professional fire department, and even though we currently have fifteen full time firefighters on staff, with only five assigned to each of our 24 hour shifts we still depend on a response from our Volunteers for not only fire emergencies, but also to cover medical calls occurring at the same time.   In this day and age, with increased training requirements and free time being important to everyone Fire Departments nationwide are struggling with the problems of not only recruiting qualified volunteer firefighters, but keeping the ones that they have on board so they can maintain a highly trained and experienced volunteer force.  Through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program our grant award guarantees that the federal government will pick up $426,908 over the next four years so that we can move one of our existing Lieutenants into a role where he will be responsible for not only evaluating and improving our current volunteer program but also being a dedicated employee for any volunteer interaction within our system. 

New Volunteer Coordinator Lt. Tad Buckingham

On September 24, 2012 the Forest Grove City Council authorized a supplemental budget appropriation so that Fire Chief Michael Kinkade could move longtime FGF&R Lieutenant Tad Buckingham into this new Volunteer Coordinator role effective October 1st.  Lieutenant Buckingham has worked for the Forest Grove Fire Department full time since 1996, after being hired out of our volunteer program where he started in the 1986 while he attended Pacific University, he is recognized as a natural fit for this role as he was already responsible for our College Intern Firefighters and his communication and interaction with current volunteers was highly regarded.  This grant allows us to fully fund a new position, and does not take away from our existing budget, so through a competitive promotional process Forest Grove Fire & Rescue will be promoting Firefighter Keith Baas to the rank of Lieutenant where he will be assigned to a 24 hour shift to replace the position that Lieutenant Buckingham previously held.  The new Lieutenant Baas is a 1999 graduate of Forest Grove High School and started as a volunteer firefighter with our agency in 2000.  He was hired full time in 2006 and is well respected amongst our staff and volunteer firefighters.  In the coming weeks the City of Forest Grove will be holding a competitive process to hire a full time entry level firefighter to fill the position that Lieutenant Baas was holding previously.

New Shift Lieutenant Keith Baas

“We are very grateful to the Department of Homeland Security for this grant, and excited to move Tad into the Volunteer Coordinator role, his personality, background, and approachability make him a great person for this position” said Fire Chief Michael Kinkade adding “As our community evolves it is becoming harder and harder for combination fire departments like ours to find and keep dedicated volunteers.  Our hope is that Tad can hit the ground running and not only evaluate our current volunteer model, but consider outside the box ideas to enhance our program and promote the spirit of volunteerism in Forest Grove and throughout the fire services in Western Washington County”. 

FIRE DEPARTMENTS DECLARE ALL OUTDOOR BURNING CLOSED DUE TO FIRE DANGER

Effective immediately, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and the Cornelius Fire Department will be taking a rare, but proactive step to help prevent a fire tragedy in our community by instituting a total ban on all outdoor burning until further notice.  This total ban goes above and beyond the already in place County wide ban on open agricultural and yard debris burning,
and also closes all outdoor campfires and recreational fires within our response area. Cooking fires in an approved and listed open flame cooking device such as a propane or charcoal fired barbecue grill are exempt from this total burn ban and are still allowed at this time.
 

Due to the long term effects of little to no rain combined with the hot, dry, and windy weather, Fire Officials urge the community to be extra fire safe during these final few weeks until the steady rains arrive again and the burn ban is lifted.  Please do not use machinery or equipment near tall grass or brush, and do not weld or perform other hot work outdoors at this time. It’s also recommended that if you do any work outdoors that you have a properly maintained and easily accessible fire extinguisher with your machinery, vehicles, and equipment. If you must work outdoors we strongly urge that you perform your work during the morning hours when the humidity is highest. For those in the forestry industry you are required to follow the guidelines set forth by the Oregon Department of Forestry for Industrial Fire Precautions at this time, please contact your local Oregon Department of Forestry Office for further details.
 
For questions please contact your local Fire Department Administration Office. Forest Grove Fire & Rescue can be reached at 503-992-3240, and the Cornelius Fire Department at 503-357-3840.

Discarded Cigarette Damages Best Western Hotel

Around 2:45 pm on Sunday (September 16, 2012) afternoon firefighters were called to a fire at the Best Western Hotel located at 3933 Pacific Avenue in Forest Grove.  Dark smoke was billowing into the sky and was visible from blocks away as firefighters arrived on scene and found the fire burning on both floors of an exterior wall of the two story hotel.  Firefighters quickly went to work, and from the outside they were able to rapidly extinguish the bulk of the actively burning fire with their hose streams.  Incident commanders then ordered additional crews into the building to verify that the all guests and staff of the hotel had safely escaped, and that the fire had not spread.  Forest Grove Fire & Rescue deployed their ladder truck which began removing the burnt siding from the building while a crew from Hillsboro Fire & Rescue checked in the attic.  Firefighters found that the fire had indeed spread to the attic, charring a number of truss and roof components there, but that the building's fire sprinkler system had activated in the attic with eight sprinkler heads flowing enough water to stop the spread of fire in the attic at that point.

This was the scene that presented itself to firefighters as they arrived at the Best Western Hotel on Sunday

Fire Investigators determined that the fire, that caused at least $75,000 in damages to the building and its contents, was a result of a discarded cigarette.  Guests and hotel staff reported smelling smoke earlier in the day at which point they checked the hallways and a number of rooms but found nothing out of the ordinary.  One of the hotel housekeepers was outside of the building when she noticed the smoke and she quickly went back into the hotel to help evacuate the dozen or so guests.  Another house keeper ran with a fire extinguisher but the fire was already burning inside the wall space and she was unable to extinguish it at that time.  The area where the fire originated is a bark dust landscaped area surrounding a concrete patio that is the designated smoking area for the hotel.  Fire investigators found bark dust burned deeply underground which along with the reports of a smoky smell from earlier in the day, indicates that a slow burning fire had been going on for quite some time.  The hotel suffered extensive damage from the smoke and firefighting water and is not able to be occupied at this time.  It will likely be quite a few days before the hotel will be fully up and running again, hotel staff are working on finding another hotel in the area for guests at this time.

Volunteers from FGF&R Truck 4 remove siding from the building to verify that the fire has not spread

  

This is just one of many fires in bark dust that has occurred across Washington County over the week.  As the weather continues to remain warm and dry the bark dust used for landscape in our community is tinder dry and doesn't take much to ignite and turn into a smoldering fire that can easily creep into hedges, fences, and as in this case structures.  Please, if you choose to smoke make sure that you discard your cigarettes in a safe area with a non combustible container.  Also, don't hesitate to call 9-1-1 if you smell smoke.  Firefighters have special tools and thermal imaging heat detecting cameras that they can use to help make sure that a potentially dangerous situation is not occurring.

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

J

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.