Tis the Season - Cold Weather Safety

…..Acting to Save

Planning to Protect... ...Acting to Save

November 2015 Volume 3, Issue 11

WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT

Inside this issue:

Fire & EMS Run Review 1

EMS Bureau Report 2

Fire Prev./ Public Safety 4

Operations Bureau 6

Training Bureau 7

In Their Own Words 8

YEARS of SERVICE ~November

Capt. T Lamberg....1/26/90

LT J Gustafson.....11/18/96

LT R Lesiecki.......11/18/96

FF M Rinzel…......11/27/96

LT R Schafer…….11/27/96

POC Wahouske…...1/02/98

POC FF Guild …..11/15/04

Our first snowfall of the season has arrived, a preview of things to come. Now is the time

to start thinking about some simple things you can do to keep yourself and others safe.

Continued on page 2

Emergency Activities

Types of Calls

November 2015

October 2015 Year to Date

(2015) Year to Date

(2014) Fires Calls 17 35 368 428 Emergency Medical Calls 225 207 2604 2468 Paramedic Intercepts 11 10 123 128 Interfacility Transports 39 36 461 464

Totals 292 288 3556 3488

Town of Barton Calls 8 7 77 67 Town of West Bend Calls 8 17 139 138

Cold weather and snow

bring there own set of

problems for emergency

responders answering a

call for help. Snow and ice

can make driving hazard-

ous for emergency vehi-

cles. When arriving at a

scene getting to the pa-

tient can be a challenge.

When responding to a

motor vehicle crash the

footing on the scene can

be very slippery and ini-

tially there is not a lot fire

personnel can do but to

better. Unfortunately we

know emergencies have

no schedule and can hap-

pen at any time of the

day or night.

It is especially important

for people to help out the

elderly at this time of

year and make sure the

surfaces they are walking

on are not slippery, a fall

for an elderly person can

be a devastating injury.

One other very important

issue that we need to

Emergency Medical Services Bureau BC Van Langen and Captain Thrash

Page 2

move about very care-

fully. When arriving at

a residence it is very im-

portant to emergency

responders that side-

walks and especially

steps are snow and ice

free. Using salt or some

other type material to

keep these surfaces from

being slippery could pre-

vent one of the respond-

ers from being injured.

The sooner you can

clean the sidewalks and

steps after a snowfall the

mention is first ice. All

parents should take the

time to speak with their

children about the dan-

gers of walking out onto a

newly frozen surface. It

must be emphasized that

looks can be deceiving

and this ice is extremely

thin. There are many

lakes, ponds, and streams

within our response area.

Unfortunately first ice

often coincides with kids

being out of school on

Christmas break.

‘Tis the Season - Cold Weather Safety by Todd Van Langen

Page 3

Emergency Medical Services Bureau Battalion Chief Todd Van Langen & Captain Tom Thrash

WBFD EMS TRANSPORTS

West Bend Fire De-

partment Paramedic

Ambulances have been

busy so far this year.

We have had contact

with over 3200 pa-

tients to date. The

chart below shows

where we have trans-

ported those patients.

Note that there are

times where we arrived

on a scene and did not

transport the patient.

In this situation para-

medics most likely on-

ly gave simple assis-

tance. They may have

just helped someone in

getting up from the

floor. In most non-

transport cases they

likely did an assess-

ment and then had a

discussion with the pa-

tient explaining their

findings. At that point

the paramedics and

the patient agreed that

transport was not

needed. As the chart

indicates St Joseph’s

Hospital is where we

transport over 40% of

our patients. We try

to give the patient eve-

ry opportunity to go to

the hospital of their

choice.

Page 4

November 2015 Prevention & Inspection Activities

Fire Prevention & Public Safety Bureau Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Tammy Lamberg

ian deaths, 52 civilian

injuries, and $13.3 mil-

lion in direct property

damage per year.

On average, one of eve-

ry twelve Christmas

tree fires resulted in a

fatality. In addition,

Christmas tree fires are

statistically shown to

Continued on next page

0

50

100

150

200

250

300Periodic InspectionsReinspections/Follow-upsViolationsSystem Acceptance TestsRequests/ComplaintsMeetings/ConsultsPermitsHome Smoke Alarm InstallsCommunity Safety PresentationsPlan Reviews

314 39 70 9 5 7 6 5 2 5

The National Fire Pro-

tection Association

(NFPA) reports that

there is an estimated

annual average of 410

home structure fires

that begin with Christ-

mas trees. Based on

data from 2004 through

2014, these fires caused

an average of 34 civil-

Christmas Tree Safety Guidelines by Captain Tammy Lamberg

Page 5

Fire Prevention & Public Safety Bureau Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Tammy Lamberg

Christmas Tree Safety Guidelines continued

advises that these arti-

ficial trees are the saf-

est option for in the

home. If you do choose

to bring a live tree into

your home remember

to keep your tree moist

with at least twice daily

watering. If at any time

the needles appear to

be drying out the tree

should be removed

from the home. Do not

place the Christmas

tree next to a fireplace,

heat vent or any other

possible ignition source.

Also, make sure tree

lights are not damaged

or worn. Remember

these tips to keep your

family safe. Happy hol-

idays to you and your

families!!!

an open flame was ap-

plied to the tree using a

propane torch. The

branches ignited brief-

l y , b u t s e l f -

extinguished when the

researchers removed

the torch from the

branches. This demon-

stration shows that

moist trees are much

safer. They should have

pliable green needles at

all times. Signs of a dry

tree would be needles

that break easily when

bent or needles that

fall from the tree when

the branches are shak-

en.

There are many beauti-

ful, realistic artificial

trees available for con-

sumers today. NFPA

a very short period of

time.

Wet trees tell a

different story.

For comparative pur-

poses, researchers se-

lected a fresh, green

Scotch pine, had it cut

in their presence, had

an additional two inch-

es cut from the trunk's

bottom, and placed the

tree in a stand with at

least a 8 liter water ca-

pacity. The researchers

maintained the Scotch

pine's water on a daily

basis. A single match

could not ignite the

tree. In a second at-

tempt an entire burning

matchbook failed to

ignite the tree. Finally

spread beyond the

room of origin. The

fires that spread be-

yond the room of origin

caused 94 % of the as-

sociated fatalities.

When bringing home a

live Christmas tree the

key thing to remember

is this: It is the moisture

content of each tree

that will determine the

fire hazard each tree

represents. Retaining a

high moisture content

in the needles of the

tree is very important

to limit accidental igni-

tion and prevent rapid

flame spread. A tree

which has dry needles

can readily ignite and

generate heat release

rates that are capable

of causing flashover in

Firefighters look over the remains of a burned Christmas tree

Example of a Christmas tree located too close to the fireplace

Keep the Wreath Green This Holiday Season

Fire Department Operations Bureau Battalion Chief John Spartz & Captain Jon Coutts

Page 6

Christmas is a time of

great joy and cheer for

many. However, it is also

a time of increased fire

risk. Thousands of fires

occur during the holiday

season. Locally, a fire can

devastate a household in

seconds. The members of

the West Bend Fire de-

partment want to remind

you to have a safe holiday

season this year.

In order to show how

many times fire can affect

a community, the West

Bend Fire Department has

adopted the “Keep the

Wreath Green” Program

during the 2015 Christmas

and New Year’s holidays .

A holiday wreath is dis-

played in front of all three

fire stations. They are dec-

orated with green lights and

1 white light. The single

white light at the top of the

wreath is in remembrance of

all firefighters who have died

in the line of duty. A green

light will be replaced with a

red light each time our de-

partment responds to a

structure fire from Thanks-

giving through New Year’s

Day.

It is our hope that the

wreath will remind people to

be “fire safe” during the holi-

day season by practicing fire

safety everyday. A list of fire

safety tips for your family to

use are given below.

Finally, the Operations and

Maintenance Bureau wishes

everyone a happy and safe

holiday season.

Holiday Safety Reminders

Here are a few fire safe tips that we all should keep in mind during the upcoming Holiday Season:

Burn candles away from any drafts and all flammable materials. More than half of home candle fires occur

when something that can catch on fire is to close to the candle.

Never leave a burning candle unattended. Candles should be extinguished when you leave a room, leave the

residence, or go to bed.

Candles started 7% of home Christmas tree structure fires.

Christmas trees account for hundreds of fires annually.

Live trees should be recut approximately 2 inches above the old cut as soon as you get it home. The tree

should then be put into water & the water level should be maintained for the duration that it’s in a residence.

Keep the tree away from heat sources & use decorations that are flame resistant.

Electrical problems were factors in one-third (32%) of home Christmas tree structure fires.

Twelve percent of home Christmas tree fires involved decorative lights.

Two of every five (39%) home Christmas tree fires started in the living room, family room, or den.

Fire Instruction & Training Bureau Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Tom Thrash

Page 7

Citizen Appreciation

Award

For the second year in a

row The West Bend

Fire Department is

honoring citizens who

have done exceptional

things. When citizens

take initiative to act it

benefits the residents of

West Bend and makes

it a safer place to live.

This year we are recog-

nizing Mr. Michael

Mets, Mrs. Mary Metz,

and Mrs. Sue Garvey at

the November 16th,

2015 Common Council

meeting.

On October 14, 2014,

Michael and Mary were

driving on University

Drive when they no-

ticed a tree burning

next to a large apart-

ment building. The

Metz’s stopped their

ROW

vehicle and phoned 911

to alert fire crews.

They began notifying

building occupants to

get out. The fire was

extinguished and no

injuries were reported.

They also remained on

scene to further assist

the fire department

with information and

giving witness state-

ments.

As a result of Michael

and Mary’s actions, the

West Bend Fire De-

partment believes they

saved the property

from significant dam-

age and they might

have also saved a lot of

lives.

On October 4, 2015,

while letting her dog

out, Sue smelled smoke

and knew that it didn’t

smell like a campfire.

She took time to inves-

tigate further and

found the neighbor’s

house on fire. She

called 911, and then

went to the neighbor’s

door and alerted the

female resident of the

fire. She then assisted

further with removing

some items from the

garage.

The fire investigation

revealed that the fire

started in the at-

tic\chimney area. This

area was not equipped

with smoke detectors to

alert the resident.

Sue’s neighbor may not

have become aware of

the situation until it

was to late. If Sue

would not have been

willing to get involved,

this incident may have

had a very tragic end-

ing.

Each of the recipients

were awarded a framed

Certificate of Apprecia-

tion that was presented

by Fire Chief Gerald

Kudek to the individu-

als

Last years winners were

Mr. Marvin Young and

Mr. David Schlough.

We plan on continuing

our citizen recognition

program. Awards will

be given annually dur-

ing Fire Prevention

Month to thank those

who go above and be-

yond. Their actions

make this a safer area

to live in for our citi-

zens.

Citizen Appreciation Awards

325 N 8th Ave.

West Bend, WI 53095

262.335.5054

www.ci.west-bend.wi.us

WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT

Planning to Protect… ...Acting to Save

Personnel Spotlight: MPO Larry Schwechel Firefighter David Keon

was born on 11-1-1968 in

Belfast Northern Ireland

where he spent the first

year of his life. Dave and

his family then moved to

Queens in New York City.

Dave moved to Wisconsin

in 1992. Dave started in

the fire service with the

Menomonee Falls Fire De-

partment in 1998. Dave

started on our department

in February 2001. On one

of the first days that Dave

was on the job at our de-

partment our present Chief

Gerry Kudek gave him the

nickname Bronx. Dave

explained that he grew up

in Queens not the Bronx,

Gerry replied then we will

call you Queens. Dave

quickly replied that Bronx

sounded just fine.

Dave enjoys hiking out-

doors with his wife Lori,

listening to rock and roll

music, boxing, and snow-

boarding.

The back page of our newsletter features a note or card that we have received from

our customers….the people we serve. Whether it is during an ambu-

lance call, fire call, or a public education assignment, the

members of the West Bend Fire Department are al-

ways dedi- cated to making their contact

with area residents a positive experi-

ence.

Personnel Spotlight:

In Their Own Words…...