Fire Chief's Briefing for February 18 through February 23, 2014

Here is a summary of Brentwood Fire and Rescue’s emergency responses for the period of February 18 through February 23, 2014.

We responded to 45 emergency calls for service.

These calls can be broken down into the following categories:

Fire: 1

EMS/Rescue: 23

Hazardous Condition: 1

Service Call: 3

Good Intent: 5

False Call: 11

Other: 1

Wednesday, February 19 at approximately 5:17 pm:

E3 was dispatched on a report of a vehicle fire in a parking lot.  Initial dispatch information indicated that smoke was coming from the trunk of the vehicle.  E3 arrived on the scene to find one vehicle with no visible fire or smoke.  Crew members accessed the trunk and found that a wire to a speaker had shorted out causing a small amount of smoke.  BFR personnel disconnected power to the speaker, ensuring that there was no further possibility of ignition.  The car was again inspected with a thermal imaging camera and the owner was advised to have a technician repair the wiring.  With no further hazards E3 returned to service and quarters. 

Thursday, February 20 at approximately 7:30 am:

E3 was dispatched on a medical call for a report of a patient with respiratory distress.  The Engine arrived on scene and make contact with the patient who was visibly having difficulty breathing.  Crew members quickly administered a breathing treatment and obtained IV access.  E3’s paramedic assessed the patient by performing an EKG and using capnography.  The patient’s breathing began to improve as EMS arrived on the scene.  Patient care was transferred and E3 personnel helped move the patient to the ambulance.  EMS transported the patient to a local hospital and E3 returned to service.

Saturday, February 22 at approximately 7:18:

E4 was dispatched on a fire alarm at a residence.  While enroute, dispatch upgraded the call to a structure fire after confirming with the caller that their microwave was on fire.  E4 arrived on scene to find a two story home with no smoke or fire visible.  Crew members entered the home and found that a dry chemical fire extinguisher had been used to extinguish the fire.  All other responding units were cancelled by command.  The microwave was removed from the home and the kitchen was assessed for possible fire extension.  Once it was determined that there were no further hazards E4 personnel restored power to the residence.  The homeowners were advised of the situation and E4 returned to service.

 

RESCUE 1

If you live in or around Brentwood, you have inevitably seen a big red tool box of a fire truck with an R1 on the rear panel driving around town. Rescue 1, or R1 for short, resides at Station 2 on Wilson Pike and people often ask what this truck is used for. Rescue 1 is a “jack of all trades” truck. It carries a wide variety of equipment ready to be employed in a wide variety of emergencies. This truck is manned by either one or two firefighters from Station 2 depending on the day’s staffing levels. The rescue truck responds to any car accident in the city in the event of a trapped patient that needs to be extricated. This apparatus will also be dispatched on any emergency involving the need for additional manpower, rope rescue, confined space rescue, additional fire equipment or any other event that the shift commander deems necessary.

The Rescue has an SCBA compartment that contains two SCBA’s along with 8 spare bottles to be used at a large scale fire event. Each air bottle contains 4500 psi of compressed air.

The Rescue’s most common need is extrication. This compartment contains all the extrication equipment, including cutters, spreaders (more commonly known as the Jaws of Life), rams (used to push dashboards off patients), mounted hydraulic cord reels and a portable hydraulic power unit. While the rescue has an on board generator and hydraulic power unit, the portable unit is pressed into service in the event of a malfunction or if the tools are needed farther from the truck than the pre-connected lines allow. Cribbing used to stabilize vehicles prior to extrication is stored in various places throughout the Rescue.

 

As stated before, the Rescue is a big rolling toolbox. This compartment contains tools, cribbing, an electric meter puller, hazmat equipment, cords and other miscellaneous equipment.

The Rescue Truck also contains all of our rope and rope equipment needed for confined space and high angle rescue. This includes hoist systems, belay systems, anchors, pulleys, and a several bags containing hundreds of feet of both utility and life safety ropes.

 

As you can see, the Rescue truck is a valuable asset for the Brentwood Fire & Rescue Department by providing a myriad of resources for the various emergencies we find ourselves responding to.  While the tools and equipment carried on this vehicle are not used every day, we never know when the call will come in requiring its use. Firefighters at BFR train regularly and extensively on the operation of the equipment on this truck so that we will be ready to serve the members of the City of Brentwood with whatever type of situation we may be needed for.