The Fire Services Division submits its Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 2002.
The uniformed force consists of eighty-five dedicated men and women: five Deputy Chiefs, seven Captains, fifteen Lieutenants and fifty-eight firefighters. Minimum staffing per shift is fifteen (including the shift commander) to operate three fire engines (pumpers), one aerial ladder truck, and the rescue/ambulance. On December 31st the department had six firefighter vacancies.
In addition to their duties as shift commanders the four Deputy Chiefs conduct daily smoke detector inspections upon the sale/refinance of all homes in Arlington and inspect all oil burner and heating oil tanks installed throughout the year. Deputy Chief Stephen Porciello is also responsible for quarterly inspections of all public and private schools. Deputy Chief William DiRosario is the coordinator for the department’s Wellness/Fitness Program and regularly inspects movie theaters and the skating rink. Deputy Chief Gary Stratton is responsible for State mandated quarterly inspections of nursing and convalescent homes, and Deputy Chief Allan McEwen oversees annual inspections of the Town’s business occupancies including food venders and common victuallers for their annual license renewals.
The Fire Services Division responded to 4,152 incidents in 2002. The number of responses by type is indicated in the following chart:
The estimated dollar loss from fires in 2002 was at its lowest point in the past several years as can be seen in the bar chart below:
The complete renovation of all three fire stations remains one of the department’s top priorities. A study done by MMA Consulting Group had recommended closing the Park Circle station. After months of debate between the Fire Department, the consultants, the Capital Planning Committee, and concerned citizens, the Board of Selectmen voted to keep three stations in Arlington. This past fall a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the design of the Park Circle station was awarded to The Carell Group, an architectural firm that specializes in fire station design. Design and costs for a new fire station will be ready for the 2003 Town Meeting.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
The Fire Services Division has been providing pre-hospital emergency medical services to the citizens of Arlington for the past thirty-one years. All firefighters are first responders and all newly hired firefighters are required to become emergency medical technicians (EMTs) as a condition of employment. Currently there are sixty firefighter/EMTs. Captain Kevin Shaw, the Department’s EMS coordinator, is responsible for all re-certification training requirements of the EMTs and first responders.
Medical incidents are identified as either basic life support (BLS) which are incidents that are not life threatening, such as sprains, minor lacerations, slight fractures, and common illnesses, or advanced life support (ALS) which is defined as life threatening, such as chest pain/heart attack, cardiac arrest, strokes/brain attacks, respiratory illnesses or distress, seizures, severe allergic reactions, blunt or penetrating traumatic injuries, severe uncontrolled bleeding, and childbirth are all examples of an advanced life-support incident. The central telecommunication dispatcher will determine whether the incident requires a BLS or ALS response based upon information received from a 911 call for medical aid.
Armstrong Ambulance Service provides the paramedics for all ALS responses. Two paramedics respond on each ALS incident in a vehicle that carries all of the necessary equipment for these life-threatening incidents. Once on scene one paramedic rides with the patient in the Fire Department ambulance and the other follows behind communicating directly with the receiving hospital’s emergency room physician while relaying information to the one treating the patient.
The Fire Department’s rescue/ambulance responded to a total of 1,970 incidents during calendar year 2002. The following pie chart illustrates the number of responses:
A “No Transport” is defined three ways; a patient refusal where the patient refuses transport to a medical facility, incidents where obvious signs of death prevent transporting the patient, or a BLS incident where the patient requests transport to a medical facility outside our transport area.
All the Department’s emergency medical technicians are trained to assist patients in administering their own nitroglycerin and prescribed inhalers for asthmatics. The Fire Department also participates in automatic external defibrillators (AED) training. AED shock a patient’s heart into a normal rhythm during cardiac arrest and all department emergency vehicles are equipped with them. Epinephrine is also carried on all fire apparatus to treat patients with allergic reactions. All EMTs must meet re-certification requirements every two years to ensure their skills are maintained.
Wellness/Fitness
The Fire Services Division was awarded a Federal grant in the amount of $207,287 for Firefighter Safety and implemented a wellness/fitness program for its firefighters. Fitness Works at Work, Inc. was selected to deliver the program.
Fitness Works at Work, Inc. developed and managed the program using Lahey Clinic for complete physical examinations, 1 to 1 Personal Fitness for fitness assessments and personal fitness training, and IT Nutrition for nutritional services. The firefighters have participated in monthly seminars on nutrition, physical fitness, and other health and wellness issues. They have met with personal fitness trainers who designed individualized fitness programs and taught them how to use newly purchased fitness equipment. They have had one-on-one nutritional counseling and advice. These services will continue through June of 2003 when the grant period ends. Over the next six months they will learn about healthy meal preparation in the firehouses and maintaining exercise patterns.
The firefighters have enthusiastically embraced the program and have truly been rewarded by the experience. The measurable six-month results have been overwhelming. The sixty-one firefighters who joined this voluntary program have lost a total of two hundred forty-three pounds of body fat. Many have lost ten pounds or more. The firefighters completed written evaluations of the program at the six-month mark and unanimously stated that the program is a resounding success. The Fire Services will look for alternative funding to keep this successful program going.
Fire Prevention and Investigation Division
The five initiatives that represent the integral components of a successful fire safety program are: Education, Prevention, Enforcement, Detection and Suppression. When all of these dynamics are in place in a community, the citizens and their property are safer from the devastating effects from fire.
In Arlington, we have been educating our elementary school age students about fire safety since 1996 when the S.A.F.E. (Student Awareness of Fire Education) program was introduced. The fire department has twenty trained S.A.F.E. instructors who visit the elementary schools each spring to teach the children the importance of fire safety and fire prevention. The topics range from smoke detector awareness (“Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries”), planning home fire drills with the “Great Escape”, matches and lighters are tools not toys with the “Learn Not to Burn” program, and role playing with “Stop, Drop and Roll”.
The Division has four fire fighters who are trained to interview and educate adolescents who have been referred to our program by the Middlesex Juvenile Fire Setters Intervention Coalition. The fire fighters screened six Arlington youths and four out-of-town youths for fire setting behavior. Two, eight week Fire Safety Courses were presented to these ten youths in an effort to reduce their risk of causing themselves and their families injuries related to fire setting. Information gathered over the past three years by the Massachusetts Juvenile Fire Setters Intervention Coalition indicates that the middle school age children are responsible for the highest percentage of fire setting incidents. In an attempt to mitigate this behavior, the S.A.F.E. instructors will be presenting a program designed for the middle school
students in the Fall of 2003.
The prevention of fire begins with awareness. When people become conscientious about their living and working environment and recognize dangerous conditions that can result in a fire, hopefully they will react appropriately to correct the situation. When hazardous conditions are avoided as a result of education and awareness the peoples’ environments become safer.
Enforcing existing fire code regulations and standards provides the citizens and visitors to the Town a safer atmosphere in which to live, work, shop, and dine. Code enforcement is a primary function of the Division. Over 1,000 permits were issued to contractors, homeowners, and businesses in a concerted effort to insure that life safety and fire codes are being followed. Code compliance inspections provide property owners and the fire fighters with an acceptable level of assurance that a potentially hazardous condition can be identified prior to it becoming a life-threatening incident.
The fire fighters throughout the year conduct in-service commercial building inspections to ensure that the detection and suppression systems are functioning properly, the means of egress are unimpeded, the electrical and heating systems do not have any visible deficiencies, and that there is no improper storage of hazardous materials. These inspections also allow the fire fighters to see the layout of the building in an atmosphere that is considerably more favorable than in a darkened smoke filled surrounding.
The residential smoke detector compliance law accepted by the Town in 1984 has ensured that whenever a residential property is sold, smoke detectors must be installed prior to the sale. This life safety detection system provides for early warning when the occupants are in their most vulnerable position, asleep. By changing the batteries twice a year and simple housekeeping to prevent dust buildup in the chamber vents, the detector will sound the alarm when smoke is present. For the occupancies with hardwired smoke detector systems, there is a nine-volt battery back up inside each detector that must be replaced each year.
The final phase of the fire safety program is suppression. Simply stated: “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff”. The fire equipment and the fire fighters represent the hands-on application to fire safety. When a fire is detected and an alarm is transmitted, the fire fighters strive to respond, on time, every time, in a professional, knowledgeable and appropriate manner.
Our senior citizens were presented with a Fire and fall prevention program at Cusack Terrace and the Drake Village elderly housing complexes. The program stressed the guidelines for seniors to use in the event of a fire or smoke condition in their high-rise residence and information on how to avoid common home situations that could lead to a fire. Injuries from falls represent a major factor in elderly hospitalization. With the presentation of fall prevention tips it is hoped that our seniors will avoid trips in the home and thereby reducing trips in an ambulance.
The Division of Fire Investigation, which is comprised of five fire officers and one police officer, determines the origin and cause of all fire incidents. Some incidents only require a response of two or three investigators to effectively determine where and how a fire occurred. Other fires are more complicated and involve scene examinations and reconstruction that may require that all members of the Fire Investigation Unit respond with the assistance of the accelerant detecting canine unit from the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The Division requested assistance from the Marshal’s Office five times in 2002 to help determine if ignitable fluids were used in an attempt to accelerate an intentionally set fire. Of these five incidents, chemical lab results indicated the presence of an accelerant in one
incident. A suspect was interviewed and subsequently arrested and indicted for the intentional burning of an occupied apartment dwelling.
The current fiscal situation will create a challenge for the Division to actively continue to effectively participate in the critically important S.A.F.E and Juvenile Fire Setters Intervention programs
Good housekeeping is the single most important element in fire prevention and it requires the least amount of effort or expense. Fire Prevention pays the greatest dividends…the saving of life and property.
Training Division
In the year 2002, the Fire Division conducted training on a wide range of subject matters that firefighters encounter on a daily basis. Among other things, firefighters trained on pump operations, ladder operations, Jaws-of-Life, heavy lift air bags, chain saws, carbon monoxide detectors, and combustible gas indicators.
Jaws-of-Life Demonstration – Town Day
The Division was fortunate to have various owners donate buildings for fire department training and for practice on ventilation, rescue, and hose line advancement operations, as well as strategic and tactical decision making processes for the fire officers.
A simulated fire incident was conducted on Dorothy Road. Firefighters were challenged when dispatched to the location without any prior knowledge of what they would encounter. Upon arrival, they were confronted with a situation that tested their abilities to make difficult decisions regarding life safety in stressful situations. People trapped in the building, heavy smoke conditions, and screaming victims all added to the stress level, as in real incidents. Fire officers were faced with strategic and tactical decisions, which; if mistakes were made, could compromise life safety.
The MBTA conducted a class on rescue operations involving incidents with their buses. Opening windows, operating doors, shut down procedures, and lift operations were all reviewed.
Medical training for the Emergency Medical Technicians was also conducted. Among other things, heat related emergencies, childbirth, defibrillator operations, epinephrine pens, administering of patient’s nitroglycerine, c-spine stabilization, cold weather emergencies, CPR, and burn treatment were covered during these medical training sessions.
Support Services
The Apparatus Motor Division is comprised of a master mechanic, fire apparatus repairman, and motor mechanic. Their responsibilities include the repair and maintenance of all equipment used by the Fire and Support Divisions; installation and upkeep of mobile and portable radio communications equipment in the emergency vehicles and the communications dispatch center; and maintaining the air compressor used for refilling air cylinders for the firefighters self-contained breathing apparatus
The Signal Maintenance Division is made up of one signal maintenance man and a helper. Their responsibilities include maintaining all traffic controls, decorative lighting, and the town-wide fire alarm system.
Nine combined central telecommunication dispatchers utilizing the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system are responsible for receiving calls over the enhanced 9-1-1 telephones and the timely notification and dispatch of all emergency vehicles. Two new dispatchers attended a five-week course prior to their assignments.
These dispatchers are truly the “lifeline” to those individuals who call for assistance and to the firefighters and police officers who are dispatched to these calls.
Auxiliary Fire Personnel
The professional assistance of the dedicated volunteers is greatly appreciated. They donated over 1,500 hours of service to the Town in 2002. These twenty-seven volunteers assist the firefighters with the use of their new Lighting Plant/Generator Unit (purchased last year from the Capital Plan) and replenish air supplies to the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) worn by firefighters. These volunteers also patrol the Donald R. Marquis Bikeway Trail on weekends, provide electricity during Town Day activities, provide lighting for numerous Public Works emergencies, and assist throughout the year at numerous Town events.
Promotions/Retirements/Appointments
Lieutenant Bernard Ryan was promoted to the rank of Captain and Firefighters Steven Michaud, John Kelly, III and James Bailey were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Captain Ryan was assigned the Department’s Training Officer.
Retiring from the Fire Services Division was Captain Robert Doyle; twenty-eight years of service, Lieutenant Edward Gilbert; thirty-two years of service, Lieutenant Wayne Tinker; twenty years of service, and Firefighters Joseph O’Brien and Paul Herald; both with twenty-eight years of service.
Conclusion
The Fire Services Division remembered all the victims of September 11, 2001 during a Memorial Service on the one-year anniversary of this infamous day.
The Department faces may challenges in the years ahead as a result of projected reductions in local aid. Services that citizens have become accustomed to may be reduced or eliminated all together. Whatever the outcome the Arlington Fire Department will do its best to protect the lives and property of its citizens with the resources provided.
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