NWFD Breaking Ground on New Station

Northwest Fire Rescue District will be breaking ground for a new fire station in July. The expansion of the housing communities on the northwest side of town and Marana have necessitated the construction of another fire station in order to maintain the high levels of service and response times to 911 calls. Station #39 will be NWFD’s tenth station. NWFD also has an additional station and a training facility also in the works.

The new fire station is being constructed on land donated to the fire district by the owner of the Villagio development on N. Thornydale in conjunction with bonds approved by the voters as part of the 2004 bond program. Station 39 will also be a “green” building showing that NWFD is a good steward of the environment in addition to the public’s safety.

Station #39 will be an 8673 square foot station with the ability to house a crew of seven. It is currently slated to be the home to an engine and an ambulance. The new station will be located at 12095 N. Thornydale Rd and have a target date to be fully operational in July of 2010.

NWFD will be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony in July 2009, the exact time and date will be posted on Facebook once set.

New Rescue Truck Means Injury Prevention

Northwest Fire District just took delivery of a new rescue that is designed to reduce injuries to firefighters. The new rescue has the traditional safety equipment found on most new vehicles on the road today, but the injury prevention takes place when the vehicle is in park. This new vehicle and its equipment will be a back saver.
Recent studies have shown that many back injuries are not from a single occurrence but from repetitive mini-injuries that add up to a serious career ending back injury. With over 80% of our 911 calls medically based in addition to 25% of Arizonans being considered obese (by body mass index standards), we do a lot of lifting.
NWFD will now be purchasing hydraulic cots that have the ability to lift a 700 pound patient with the push of a button and one or two people acting as safety spotters, not lifting. The hydraulic mechanism will save the backs of fire & EMS workers from the repetitive motion injuries that can lead to painful and debilitating injuries. In addition to the hydraulic cot, the back of the rescue “kneels” down to reduce the height of the patient compartment for patient loading. Together these make a great one-two punch in an effort to reduce the number of injuries and early retirements in fire and EMS service.
There is a belief that these back saving features cost more, and they do. However, the additional cost is almost nothing compared to the medical treatment and/or retirement for a back injury.

Firefighter Safety Day Seminar

Ask any firefighter what the top priority of firefighting and EMS duties are and they will reply “Life Safety”. Life safety is drilled into a firefighter’s consciousness from the first day of academy to everyday thereafter, unmistakably it is our highest priority. Life safety serves as the basis of our career, and the public expects nothing but the utmost professionalism when our life safety skills are needed, and no doubt 100 times out of 100 firefighters will give their greatest effort in order to make sure any job is done with the public’s expectations in mind. After all, as a public citizen I too expect nothing less.

Firefighter Safety Week is a return to basics for all of the safety training one may have received one or ten years ago, as if pushing a giant reset button the #1 priority is brought back into focus, and complacency is ushered out the door. As safety equipment and technology have increased over the years the number of firefighter fatalities has remained nearly constant, sadly many of the deaths are preventable.

In 2007 stress/overexertion was the single largest factor in on-duty firefighter fatalities, 53 cardiac related deaths and 3 strokes, nearly double the next closest category (vehicle accidents). In addition to Line-of-duty deaths, firefighters are nearly twice more likely to get some form of cancer than are non-firefighters.

Prevention and education are the keys. June 11th and 12th Pima Fire Chiefs Association and the Pima Interagency Training Committee hosted a Firefighter Safety Seminar in conjunction with the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Golf Tournament , that addressed breaking the chain of events that precede most firefighter fatalities. Mike Dubron from the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and LACo FD spoke on the importance of cancer screening and what happens when a diagnosis is “cancer”. Mike spoke from firsthand experience detailing his battle with the disease and the importance of having a strong support network. If caught early, most cancer is treatable; however most men do not utilize the medical profession half as much as women therefore many cancers are not diagnosed until later stages. Mike has some great information in addition to an amazing cause: www.firefightercancersupport.org/

The second guest speaker of the afternoon was Sacramento Fire Captain Jeff Helvin. Jeff told of a recent near miss situation where he and three others were trapped above a flashover in a two story single family home. All four firefighters survived the incident, however not without being burned or injured. Jeff spoke candidly about the incident and had the room on the verge of tears with the thoughts and emotions that went through his mind when he was trapped. Incredibly moving presentation that showed how a chain of small errors nearly cost him and three others their lives.

The underlying message: Complacency needs to be overcome in firefighting in order to reduce the number of injuries and deaths each year. We need to be more aware of our health and actions on a daily basis, because the end results have an impact that reaches our families and friends.

NWFD Prepares for the Summer Monsoons

Northwest Fire District along with Rural Metro and the City of Tucson fire departments were out with the media and numerous other organizations preparing for Monsoon Safety Awareness Week, June 8-12, 2009. Gathering at Sabino Canyon, the National Weather Service, US Forest Service, Pima County, Tucson Electric Power, American Red Cross and numerous others worked with the media in order to show the emergency resources. Various agencies displayed both early warning methods and emergency rescue equipment used by firefighters when called to a water rescue emergency.
Northwest Fire/Rescue Captain Foss, from station 34-C, displayed heavy rescue 334 and the equipment needed to conduct swift water rescues. The equipment included everything from a boat, throw bags, even a line gun which is used to get a rope across large distances. In addition to the specialty equipment the rest of the NWFD special operations crews have been trained for rapid response to water emergencies with an adequate number of rescuers insuring personal and public safety.
Preparing for the monsoon season, organizations from all over southern Arizona are gearing up in order to keep the public safe through education and prevention before the storms start to develop. For more information please visit: http://www.monsoonsafety.org/

Fatal Crash involving DPS Cruiser

At 01:59 Wednesday morning a full alarm was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident with entrapment and fire on I-10 in the area of mile post 249.5 (Orange Grove rd). BC 331, EC331, engines 331, 332, and 333, along with two ambulances responded to a call at the request of Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).
DPS was in the process of a DUI traffic stop, and determined probable cause to detain the suspect. The suspect was placed in the back seat of the rear DPS cruiser for further processing. Shortly after the female was placed in the back seat of the DPS vehicle, an unidentified male drove his vehicle into the scene and collided with the rear of the police cruiser with the detained female. The male was driving at freeway speeds and did not yield to the warning lights. The DPS officers sustained minor injuries from flying debris but were able to extricate the driver of the vehicle that impacted the rear of the DPS cruiser. The female in the back seat of the DPS cruiser was unable to be extricated by the officers on scene, and succumbed to her injuries and the resulting fire. The driver of the vehicle that rear-ended the DPS cruiser was transported to the local trauma center for further treatment and evaluation.
The DPS cruiser was a Ford Crown Victoria equipped with an automatic fire suppression system. It was unclear if the system was working properly.
The fire was suppressed by the engine companies on scene while Utility 333 supplied lighting, and Rehab 335 provided other essential services to all personnel on scene.
The westbound freeway was closed for hours in order to complete a thorough investigation.
Later in the morning Engine 331 crews were called back to the scene for extrication of the victim. The incident underscores the importance of roadway safety to public safety personnel in addition to the civilians that are part of the emergency scene. Emergency vehicles need to be staged in a manner which they provide for maximum scene safety.

Firefighter Training Opportunity

For additional information contact:
Captain Tim Graves
tgraves@northwestfire.org
520.887.1010