salute firefighters - salute to firefighters 2015

2015 WHIDBEY ISLAND

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH WHIDBEY RECORD, WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES & THE WHIDBEY EXAMINER

SALUTE TO FIREFIGHTERS

2 » Salute to Firefighters 2015

It’s very important that you take precautions when it comes to fire.Always practice these safety tips: Never play with matches or lighters Do not handle gasoline or other liquids that burn Be careful around stoves, heaters and open fires Do not cook unless an adult is present If smoke is around, stay low to the groundREMEMBER, if something catches on fire, get help. Call 9-1-1Kids and adults should work together to form an emergency plan, including an escape route. Don’t forget to practice the plan.

Fire Safety

This page is sponsored by: FIRE DISTRICT #7

JOIN US! Volunteer to be a Firefighter!

STOP where you are.DROP to the groundROLL over and over until the flames are out, covering your face and mouth with your hands

If your clothes catch fire . . .

This page sponsored by: South Whidbey Fire & EMS

JOIN US!Volunteer to be a Firefighter!

OCTOBER IS FIRE PREVENTION MONTHFIRE PREVENTION MONTHFIRE PREVENTION MONTHFIRE PREVENTION MONTH

« 3Salute to Firefighters 2015

By RON NEWBERRYStaff reporter

When Rusty Palmer entered the fire service in the mid 1970s in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the pace was slower, yet the job was more hazardous.

He remembers there were only two self-contained breathing apparatus in a depart-ment of 38 firefighters. So when a fire call came in, most firefighters went without ade-quate lung protection.

“Today, we’ve got one for every firefighter and in every seat in the organization,” said Palmer, who’s now the fire chief at South Whidbey Fire/EMS. “And there’s a very strong expectation that everyone wears it.”

Palmer has witnessed numerous changes in nearly 40 years in the fire service, with improvements in safety to better protect first responders among the most significant.

But just as safety regulations in the industry have evolved and expanded over the decades, so has the scope of the firefighter’s role.

Long gone are the days when the job was just about putting out fires.

“When I joined, all I did was fight fire,” Palmer said. “Not long after that, I became an EMT (emergency medical technician). Then, I fought fire and became a medical aid, then a hazardous materials technician.

“The number of things a firefighter is expected to do today is far and above what was expected four decades ago.”

The expectation for a firefighter in agencies on Whidbey Island, whether paid or volun-teer, is to obtain Firefighter 1 and EMT-Basic certifications within a year or two of being hired.

Earning these certifications gives a fire-fighter the skill-sets to perform nearly all duties associated with firefighting as well as additional medical training beyond First Aid and CPR.

Responding to medical emergencies is the most common call a fire department receives.

Through September, Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue was called to respond to 12 struc-ture fires this year, compared to nearly 700 medical incidents.

About 70 percent of the calls that come into Central Whidbey Fire are medically related,

said fire chief Ed Hartin, whose department consists of 10 career firefighters, 10 part-time firefighters and 20 volunteers.

About 60 percent of the calls that come into the Oak Harbor Fire Department are medical in nature, according to fire chief Ray Merrill.

“When I first came into the fire service, we were strictly fire,” said Merrill, who got his start in Westport 40 years ago. “We didn’t do medical work at all.”

“The biggest evolution firefighters have had in the last 40 years is the scope of their work,” said North Whidbey Fire and Rescue chief Mike Brown, whose department is mostly volunteer. “Besides our fire operation, we respond to motor vehicle accidents. We respond to hazardous material spills or releas-es. We respond to marine search and rescue. We respond to high-angle rescue. Those are things where the scope of our practice has expanded in such a way the last 40 years or so that our skill level is incredibly broad.”

With this widened scope has come the need for more training for the modern-day firefighter.

Palmer is amazed by the dedication shown by his department of 62 volunteers and 10 paid staff.

His volunteers range in age from 19 to 75 and have given about 25,000 hours of their time to the department.

He said South Whidbey is on pace to respond to more than 2,400 calls this year.

“That’s with volunteers,” Palmer said. “It blows my mind that our volunteers are able to keep doing that because it is such a tap on their time. The amount of training is huge now.”

The departments on the island have joined forces once a year to offer an academy where recruits can earn their Firefighter 1 certifica-tion.

There will be two such opportunities for recruits six months apart starting in 2016.

Agencies such as Central Whidbey and North Whidbey also offer support roles for volunteer members who want to help but aren’t interested in becoming a certified fire-fighter or EMT.

Such roles include operating light appara-tus such as a water tender or brush rig.

“Our goal is to engage people more quickly

and give them a narrow skill-set so they can begin to provide to the community various aspects of work,” Hartin said.

South Whidbey is considering this support role option for its volunteers, Palmer said.

The Oak Harbor Fire Department doesn’t have volunteers. It has a career staff of 10 and 34 paid on-call firefighters.

All new hires are required to gain certifica-tion as firefighters and EMTs within a year.

“When you talk fire, it still comes down to putting the wet stuff on the red stuff,” Merrill said. “The basic concept is still there.”

Thank you for all yourhard work & dedication.

You are appreciated!

Windermere Real Estate/Whidbey Island32785 SR 20, #4, Oak Harbor, WA 98277

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“Sending heartfelt thanks

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Change in scopeTraining required today doesn’t stop firefighters from serving communities

Photo by Ron Newberry

Captain Matt VanGiesen with North Whidbey Fire and Rescue operates the pump during a large brushfire at Fort Ebey State Park in July.


Thank you for your service!

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Thank youto our

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THANK YOU TO OURWHIDBEY ISLAND FIREFIGHTERS& EMS HEROES!

Harmony Veterinary Services, LLC

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PO Box 772,Coupeville, WA 98239

Call us at: 360-969-9700

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South Whidbey Fire and Rescue

Commissioner Bobby Elliot

Deputy Chief Mike Cotton

Lieutenant Robert Frey

Bill Frederick

Commissioner Kenon Simmons

Captain Brian Vicki

AJ Agnew

Brett Davison

Commissioner Mike Helland

Captain Jerry Beck

Alex McMahon

Brian Boyd

Chief H.L. Rusty Palmer

Captain Tom Peterson

Andy O’Keefe

Carlee Mills

Asst. Chief Paul Busch

Lieutenant Rostov Hershel

Anne Collins

Chuck Baker

Deputy Chief Jon Beck

Lieutenant Mari St Amand

Ariel Childers

Lieutenant Eldon Baker


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service

We salute our brave � re� ghter heroes.

Thank you for your bravery and sacri� ce.

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Thanks foryour service!

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Thank you Whidbey Island � re� ghters and EMS

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31775 State Route 20, Suite A-1Oak Harbor, Washington 98277

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Dena Peel

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Jon Bryant

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Marc Swenson

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5438 S Woodard Ave. Freeland, WA 98249www.gordonsonblueberryhill.com

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Melissa Conley

Rob Harrison

Shane Cummins

Will Piepeienbrink

Pat McMahon

Robbyn Hagglund

Terry Welch

Paul Rempa

Robert Armstrong

Tom Gideon

Paul Shimada

Robert Husom

Tony Nissen

Peter Lett

Sean McDougald

Trevor Jones

Rebekah Pomeroy

Sean Roberts

Vicki Lange

Not pictured:

Division Chief Wendy Moffatt

Ashley TaylorMelissa SimmonsKevin Simmons

Capt. James TowersBill Stolcis

LT. Chris Blasko

Make a family plan and determine:n The facilities that will be used as shelters in your community

in case of emergency n A designated meet-up location if your family is separated n An emergency contact outside of your area who would not

be affected by a local disaster Teach your children:n Basic personal information

to identify themselves if separated from you n How to dial 911n Your family’s meet-up locationsn How to reach your family’s out-of-town contact Have a communications strategy:n Program all family cell phones with “ICE” (In

Case of Emergency) contacts

n Include all family phone numbers plus out-of-town contactsn Remind family members

that text messages often get through in an emer -gency, even when a phone call can’t

Emergency ChecklistIf the unthinkable happens, your children will look to you to know how to react and respond. Use the checklist below to help your family prepare and keep children safe in a disaster.


To our local South Whidbey Fire� ghtersand EMS Volunteers.

Thank you for your bravery, hard work and commitment. We appreciate

your dedication to keeping us safe

Burley Funeral Chapel30 S E Ely Street, Oak Harbor, WA.

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Visser Funeral Home432 Third Street, Langley, WA360-221-6600

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� ank You Whidbey Fire� ghtersAnd EMS Responders

Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue

Commissioner Cheryl Engle

Lieutenant Jennifer Porter

Brent Stevens

Dillion Rogers

Commissioner Paul Messner

Lieutenant Derik Vrable

Bryan Mollitor

Emily Hilberdink

Commissioner Steve Hutchinson

Acting Lieutenant Alex Majestic

Chuck Hathaway

Greg Behan

Chief Ed Hartin

Alexandra McMahon

Craig Youdarian

Holly Slothower

Deputy Charlie Smith

Andy Griffen

David Winship

James Meek

Training Capt. Jerry Helm

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Cozy’s Roadhouse8872 Hwy 525Clinton WA 98236

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Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue

Jeff Tasoff

Keith Andrews

Mike Matros

Will Piepenbrink

Jesse Leyva

Kim Harpe

Phil Matthes

Will Suarez

Jessica Shaffer

Kolton Kellison

Robert Moore

Jim Colton

Kyle Jacobsen

Todd Duddridge

Jim Huff

Marvin Raavel

Tony McNair

John Lloyd

Michael Pelzer

Trenton Taylor

(StatePoint) While there are numerous ways to improve home safety, fires are a common threat that you have the power to prevent with preparation.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer team up each fall to educate the public about how to improve in-home safety.

The “Change Your Clock Change Your Battery” pro-gram reminds everyone to replace the batteries in their home’s smoke detectors when they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time so they have functioning smoke alarms.

Working smoke alarms cut nearly in half the risk of dying in a home fire by providing an early warning.

Having a fresh battery in your smoke detector plays a critical role in giving families the time needed to safely escape a home fire.

In addition to sponsoring this educational campaign, Energizer has donated more than five million batteries to fire departments over the years.

To learn more about the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery program, visit www.energizer.com/responsi-bility

Take action for the safety of your family and make sure you have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. It’s the first step to a safer home.

Change the batteries in smoke alarms at Daylight Saving Time


A big THANK YOU to all the South Whidbey Fire and EMS Volunteers

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Thank you foryour bravery

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue

Commissioner Bruce Carman

Captain Gerald Smith

Lieutenant Dan Horton

Sarah P.

Commissioner Jerry Goen

Captain Jeff Amidon

Lieutenant Ed Klaszky

Albert Treiber

Commissioner Larry Wall

Captain Jim O’Connor

Lieutenant Sherri Brown

Amy Viers

Chief Mike Brown

Captain Matt VanGiesen

Amber W.

Andrew Schmal

Batt. Chief Chris Swiger

Captain Steve Lacy

Jesus Rellama

Ann Conto

Batt. Chief Lyle Zimmerman

Lieutenant Bill McArthur

Rebecca V.

Bill Brooks


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Thank you to our brave fire fighters

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Our family serving yours for 40 years

Thank You

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE WHIDBEY ISLAND

FIREFIGHTERS!

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Jim Anema

Chris Chastain

Dave Hanson

Frank Valencic

Jimmy Zimmerman

Chris Hernandez

David Morris

George Lawson

Jon Lacy

Chris Lacy

David Nelson

Gregg Alonzo

Jon Pollock

Chris Turner

Deborah Rogers

Guy Fealey

Jonathan Walker


The team atFreeland

thanks you all!

Mon–Sat 8am-7pmSun 9am-6pm

331-67991609 E. Main, Freeland

The team at Freeland

thanks you all!

Mon-Sat 8am-7pm • Sun 9am-6pm331-6799 • 1609 E. Main, Freeland

We salute our Whidbey Island Firefi ghters &

EMS Responders(360) 678-5611 408 S Main St

Coupeville, WA 98239

1685 Main Street (360) 331-5211 [email protected]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE & BRAVERY


Josh Fikse

Neil Loose

Sean Redmond

Ty Welshans

Josh Koorn

Noah Hetzel

Steve Cope

Walter Krytcha

Josh Richards

Paul Schroer

Tim Schulz

William Canty

Ken Powell

Ron Rogers

TJ Kelsey

Yi Qin

Lauren Powers

Ryan McCarthy

Tom Hoctor

Zac Skilbeck

Mark Boberg

Ryan Nowicki

Tom Mohlsick

Robert Dorr

Mathew Sypert

Scott Jackson

Travis O’Connor

Not pictured:Andy Kiesel, Cameron Hopkins, Carol Flowers, Holly Slothower, Jeffery

Cobb, Johnathan Karlburg, Justin Smith, Kevin

Frondozo, Mike Reinstra, Richard Hoover, Robert Crane, Shawn O’Connor,

Sienna Smoot andWilliam Cheman

Smoke Alarms Save LivesThe most important things you need to know are smoke alarms save lives and they should be in every home. Follow these impor-tant smoke alarm safety measures:

• Make sure your smoke alarms are working. This means test-ing smoke alarms monthly, replacing batteries once a year or when a low-battery alarm chirps and performing other maintenance as NFPA and your smoke alarm manufacturers recommend. And of course, a smoke alarm disabled because of nuisance alarms provides no protection at all.

• It is important to have not just one smoke alarm but smoke alarms in every location required by NFPA standards. (On each level of your home, outside each sleeping area and inside each bedroom.) Tens of millions of U.S. homes are es-timated to have smoke alarms but not enough smoke alarms to meet the standards and protect their homes.

• Interconnect your smoke alarms so that a fire detected by any smoke alarm will sound an alarm at every location where a smoke alarm is installed. Interconnection can be done using hard-wiring or wireless broadcast technology. Interconnected smoke alarms provide early warning of fires that are still far away or are located on the other side of a door or wall that may block sound.

• Develop and practice an escape plan so that everyone in the home knows what to do if the smoke alarm sounds. That includes planning a second way out from every room in your home. Every household that develops and practices an escape plan with two ways out from every location improves its time to escape in every type of fire.

There Are Different Types of Smoke Alarm Technologies—Ionization and PhotoelectricThe two most commonly recognized smoke detection technologies are ionization smoke detection and photoelectric smoke detection. Ionization smoke detection is generally more responsive to flaming fires and photoelectric smoke detection is generally more respon-sive to fires that begin with a long period of smoldering (called “smoldering fires”). For each type of smoke alarm, the advantage it provides may be critical to life safety in some fire situations.

Home fatal fires, day or night, include a large number of smoldering fires and a large number of flaming fires. You can not predict the type of fire you may have in your home or when it will occur. Any smoke alarm technology, to be acceptable, must perform acceptably for both types of fires in order to provide early warning of fire at all times of the day or night and whether you are asleep or awake.

The best evidence has always indicated that either type of smoke alarm will provide sufficient time for escape for most people for most fires of either smoldering or flaming type. How-ever, research is ongoing, and standards are living documents. If at any time, research points to a different conclusion, then that will lead to proposals for changes in the NFPA standard or the closely related Underwriters Laboratories standard for testing and approving smoke alarms. Both organizations currently have task groups looking at smoke alarm performance in the current home environment.

For Best Protection Use Both Types of Smoke Alarm TechnologiesFor best protection, it is recommended both (ionization and photoelectric) technologies be in homes. In addition to indi-vidual ionization and photoelectric alarms, combination alarms that include both technologies in a single device are available.

Nuisance Alarms Can Be MinimizedIonization type smoke alarms are more susceptible to nuisance alarms due to cooking, the leading cause of nuisance alarms, but both types have some susceptibility to nuisance alarms from cooking fumes, and both have susceptibility to nuisance alarms from the steam from a hot shower.

In the past decade or so, a number of steps have been taken to reduce the likelihood of nuisance alarms, including hush fea-tures and refinements to installation rules that include guidance on safe distances from nuisance sources.

TV Demonstrations of Smoke Alarm Performance Can Be MisleadingInformal demonstrations, such as ones done for TV news shows, of smoke alarm performance can seriously mislead the viewer and do not provide a sound basis to assess performance. These demonstration tests are not performed in a controlled or sci-entific way that compares the time of smoke alarm operation to the time when occupants would be incapacitated. The selected fire scenarios may not be representative of real fatal home fires. Passing or failing a “test” of this sort may have nothing to do with performing well or badly in the wide range of real fires. A valid engineering analysis must select fires that are realistic and analyze them accordingly.

In an informal demonstration, the eye reacts to conditions that look dangerous, mostly visible smoke and visible flame. However, most people are killed by invisible gases, which do not necessarily spread at the same rate as smoke or flame. A valid engineering analysis must measure conditions caused by fires and assess them according to their real danger.

What you should know about

For more information go to www.nfpa.org/smokealarms

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