News of the Week

A few things of interest to report. Item 1 - After the last snowfall and the lack of any real effort to keep the fire stations clear of snow a request was made to council to purchase a snow plow blade to attach to 208. This vehicle was originally purchased with a suspension to support this application but no blade ever made it through the budget process. With the prediction of a lot of snow to come this year, council approved the purchase. A new 8 foot blade as well as a salt spreader was ordered and should be here anytime. Once installed we will use it to keep municipal and emergency facilities clear of snow and if time permits, possibly the transit park and ride areas too. This should really help prevent many of the slips and falls we saw in the parking lot with the last snow fall. Speaking of 208, an estimate of $2600.00 was obtained to repair the hole in the side of the truck caused when it impacted a traffic cone during a response. Instead of the repair a used utility body was obtained for only $2000.00. We had already budgeted for a new one in 2011, so this used unit will save considerable money as well as negating the expense of the repairs. With a little work, this should look as good as new.

Truck 209 is nearing the end of its life as an emergency vehicle in Sooke. Our truck replacement policy currently states that utility vehicles will be replaced at ten years of age. As 209 is a 2001 model, it was to be disposed of and a new truck purchased in 2011. Coincidentaly, Shirley Fire Department was in the market for a used command vehicle as they have been told by their insurers that the Chief can no longer respond in his personnel vehicle as an emergency vehicle. A deal was struck and this truck will be in Shirley FDs hand any day now. (just waiting for the check to arrive) As such a new 2011 pickup has been ordered and will arrive in about 10 to 12 weeks. In the interim, the Sun River crew will not have a vehicle and will have to respond to Station 2 until the new truck is placed in service. With the much lower price of pick up trucks these days, this new vehicle came in considerably under budget.

Another planning meeting was held for the upcoming VIEP Conference to be held at the Prestige Hotel in April. This will be the first conference in the new facility. Deputy Mcleod has been spending time with the organizing committee as the local contact getting everything ready. The Vancouver Island Emergency Prepardness Conference will take place from Friday April 15 to Sunday April 17. An itenary will be posted. If anyone is interested in attending some or all of the event, please let us know. A sign up list will be posted soon. (May 2012 we will be hosting the Fire Prevention Officers of BC conference at the Prestige Hotel)

Saturday the recruit class will be doing their practical exam. If successful they will be receiving their pagers and keys. An exciting time for this large class of new firefighters. Lets give them a nice welcome and assist them on calls when they start responding this weekend.

Another Fire

November 28, Sooke Fire Rescue pagers were activated for a reported structure fire on Tominny Road. Eager volunteers jumped from their warm beds and raced to the scene at 1:24 am. The duplex was being evacuated on arrival. Engine 1 came straight in and was followed by Ladder 1. A 1 3/4 inch line was pulled and crews advanced to the second floor and the master bedroom where thick smoke made visibility almost impossible. A supply line was laid to the nearest hydrant but proved unneccessary as the attack team managed to extinguish the fire with very minimal water (an excellent job by the way) The fire was contained to the mattress with some small burning on the floor immediately adjacent. An unattended candle appears to be the cause as it looks like it tipped over and set the carpet and bed on fire. The parents of two small children were asleep in the bed. It seems that the six year old boy woke up to use the bathroom, saw the smoke and banged on the door to wake up his parents. The two children were quickly removed without injury. They were very fortunate to get out as there were no smoke alarms in the dwelling. If the little boy had not awoken, the out come may have been much more tragic. A great job to all the firefighters in attendance.

Poirier School damaged by flooding

Crews were called out at 9:00 pm on November 26 for alarm bells activated at Poirier School. On arrival, the fire alarm was sounding. Immediately noticed upon opening the door was a pool of water heading towards firefighters. Seeing no smoke or flames, it was quickly determined that a water pipe had burst. This turned out to be a sprinkler pipe in Room 1131. As the door was open, approximately 4 to 5 inches of water began rushing out the opening. The door was quickly closed. With the sprinkler system being shut off, crews went around to the outside door to the classroom and opened it up to let the water escape to the outside. All available members were then put to work to start removing water. Approximately 60% of the school had water on the floor. While investigating the break in the pipe, a large section of ceiling came down on top of Firefighter Stanley, injuring his back and shoulder. He was attended to by EHS personnel and was told to stop being such a baby. (sorry Neil) With water, water everywhere, additional personnel were needed and a call was made to the recruit class for more assistance. With their help along with school district personnel, the water was removed and crews cleared the scene just before Midnight. Cause was determined to be lack of draining a section of the dry sprinkler pipe when maintenance was done in the summer. The pipe froze (actually in two places) and broke.

Mutual Aid Fire in Shirley

Sooke and Otter Point Fire Departments were called out for a mutual aid fire in Shirley District on November 25 around the lunch hour. A fully involved workshop with a large propane tank exposure greeted firefighters on their arrival. Due to the lack of water pressure in the hydrant system, tankers were also used to suplement the water supply through a very long relay system. The 250lb tank was close enough to the fire that all of the valves and controls had melted resulting in the tank venting itself. Crews worked for several hours to gain control and extinguish the fire.

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.