Winter Arrives

Well its here. Winter has arrived with a blast. So far it has been fairly quiet on the roads in Sooke, but elsewhere seems to be lots of problems. Currently 206 and 207 are chained up and 201 and 205 have Insta Chains so hopefully this is enough to get us through. In any event, use extreme caution when responding.

On a sad note, Lone Butte Fire Department has reported that one of their volunteer firefighters has died in a car crash while responding in his personnel vehicle to the station for a chimney fire. I am sure all our hearts go out to the family and department members in this tragic time.

It's been a busy week for Sooke Firefighters. A chimney fire on Church Road had crews working off the aerial ladder to access the chimney. No serious issues, however we are having some difficulties with the cover over the electrical system on the ladder itself. It is slowly coming apart at the seems. This should be covered under warranty and is being sent for repairs soon. An alarm bells call at the Chevron Station was likely the result of burnt dust in the heating system. A thorough check could not find anything amiss. The same could be told for a possible gas leak at the Shoppers Drug Mart. Another search found nothing. And again today, a reported gas leak as Sooke Disposal could not locate a source of the odour.

Don't forget the food bank collection coming up soon. This Saturday (Nov 27) we hope to have firefighters, municipal staff and others out in front of Village and Western Foods from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm to collect non perishable items for the food bank. This will again take place on Dec 11 at the same times. Unfortunately these are busy dates as the Haz Mat course is also on the 27th and the recruit practical tests will take place on the 11th.

What's New?

Good question. Well here are some things. The "I Am Responding" free trial period is coming to an end. This is the phone in system for reporting if you are attending calls. While not many of you are using this, I think it still a great idea, however if it is not going to be used, are we just putting out money for nothing. We need to make a decision fairly soon, so let me know what you think. Should we try it for another year or let it lapse?

We are in the process of selecting a new vehicle to replace 209. We have narrowed down the choices to a 4 door pickup, similar to the new one that is now 211. Waiting for prices from Ford, GM and Dodge to see what is the best deal. Since we have sold 209 to Shirley, we may be short one vehicle for a little while. This may require us to remove a vehicle from Sun River in the interm or the FR Duty Crew will have to use one of the Station Apparatus. Will make a decesion on this soon.

Last nights windstorm may have been a bit of a precursor as to what is coming this winter. Just last week we ran a training session with the Municipal Staff on how to run an EOC during a disaster. A windstorm was the topic we chose for this table top exercise. Lots was learned and more training is coming. If you are interested in being a part of this, please let me know and I will put you on the mailing list. Speaking of disasters and emergency prepardness, we have an electrical engineer coming in on Friday to design the system for the Community Hall to allow us to plug in the big portable generator so that this facility can be set up a Reception Centre and Emergency Housing in times of crisis. We have also established a relationship with Ayre Manor who will allow us to prepare meals in their large commercial kitchen in such times. As this building has a full emergency generator, it is a perfect set up for this type of situation.

Estimates to repair Engine 204 range from $20,000.00 to $30,000.00 plus it will have to be taken out of service for about 2 months to get the work done. This would mean we may have to rent a truck in the interim. An awful lot of money to put into a 25 year old truck. It is hoped that we can come up with a budget plan that will allow us to order a replacement in 2011 for delivery in early 2012. If this is the case, we will not do any work that is not necessary for safety reasons to the rig and hope it can last out the next year, rather than the 4 years we were originally hoping for.

Motor Vehicle Incidents continue to Pile Up.

Another MVI on Tuesday night took the combined efforts of all available fire personnel as well as several RCMP units and 4 ambulances. Crews were called out to a roll over MVI with persons trapped. On arrival, an older model Chev Pick up was located upside down and over the bank across from the arena on Phillips Road. The vehicle was completely upside down and pancaked while resting against a large tree. The passenger of the vehicle was outside of the truck but stuck, partly under the truck and a log. The driver was located with his legs wrapped aroung the steering wheel and his head wedged between the seat top and the roof. Both were conscious. The passenger was quickly freed after some quick extrication work with a chain saw. The driver was another matter. Using the winch of R-1 along with air shores, the vehicle was carefully lifted away from the tree to allow rescuers access to the victim. The Jaws were used to cut the A and B posts and with some careful maneuvering, the driver was removed from the vehicle. Both victims were taken to hospital in ALS ambulances, however the most serious injury turned out to be a large laceration on the head and back of the driver. An RCMP Traffic Analyst was brought down to look into the incident. Charges may be pending.

Motor Vehicle Incidents

Seems that motor vehicle incidents are the common call right now. Friday had a two car, head on crash located in the 5500 block of Sooke Road that brought traffic to a stand still for over an hour. A total of 6 patients were transported to hospital. Luckily none of the injuries were life threatening. This was followed by another head on crash in the 2100 block of Otter Point Road when a vehicle travelling to fast in the 30 km zone, crossed the line and collided with an oncoming car. This time, there were no injuries thanks to air bags, but both vehicles sustained major front end damage. While directing traffic, another vehicle thought it could make a u-turn. Unfortunately, this vehicle ended up in the ditch when the driver didn't quite make the turn. (Oops) Let's hope that these incidents are not the sign of something to expect over the winter months.

On a more positive note, we have acquired a new (used) service body for Batallion 1 to replace the damaged pickup box. While the body requires some work and a paint job, it is significantly cheaper than a new body. It will take a little while to get the unit operational, however it should prove to be a much better use of the truck when completed.

Squad 1 (unit 209) was due for replacement in 2011 as it will be ten years old. The Shirley FD has made an offer on the truck that was accepted and this unit will be sold to them before the end of the year. We will be purchasing a replacement vehicle in early 2011, however there is some debate as to what is the best vehicle to replace this with. Should it be another pick up truck, 2 door or 4 door or an SUV. There are good reasons for each so this needs some careful thought as whatever is purchased will have to serve the department for the next 10 years. Also soon to disposed of is old 210 (Sparky). The old command vehicle was turned over to Engineering a few years ago and will soon be disposed of. Anyone in need of a Suburban? I am sure we can get you a great deal.

Pierce Tour

It was a long but exciting trip as Chris, Benny and I visited the Pierce Fire Truck factory in Appleton, Wisconsin this past week. We toured three different plants where various components and complete fire trucks are built. Things were a little slow at the plant these days, as there were only 400 custom fire trucks going through the assembly line. (the commercial chassis trucks are built at another plant in Florida) The tour started at the main plant where the fire trucks are assembled. Cabs are mated to chassis, pump bodies are installed, the cabinets and water tanks put in place as well as all other components that make up a complete fire truck. At the second factory, the cabs, pump housings and bodies are constructed. This plant also had several large rescue trucks under construction. Here the ladders and towers are also installed on the chassis. Airport crash trucks are also built here including 37 units for Pakistan. The third plant on the tour was located about 60 miles away. Here the ladders are assembled and painted (approximately 1 complete ladder assembly per day) This plant also builds equipment for Caterpillar, military vehicles, snow blowers for airports and marine hoists used to transport and move boats of all sizes. A lot of diversity in these places. The Pierce Company and WFR (the local distributor) where awesome hosts. All of our travel, meals and accomodation were all taken care of. In Wisconsin, they like their deep fried food. Even tried a deep fried fillet steak.
As for Pierce Trucks, these are quite impressive units. Air bags are located in the cabs as well as roll over protection and advanced suspension systems to provide additional vehicle stability. Many new and interesting ideas where gathered that we can certainly incorporate into future apparatus when the time comes to order new equipment. Note the Canadian Flag on two of the fire trucks pictured. One is going to New Westminster and the other to Saskatoon.