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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFS 2014-04-08 Item 2B - Report - Fire Department 2013 Mid-Year ReportTukwila Fire Department 201 3 2 "d Half Report Tukwila Fire Department 2013 2 "d Half Report Mission Statement Our Mission is to deliver professional services to the greater Tukwila community and provide a safe working environment for our personnel. Safety * Commitment * Excellence Organization Chart Tukwila Fire Department Organizational Chart Assistant to the Chief Administrative Support Technician FIRE CHIEF Battalion Chief (Fire Marshal Fire Prevention) Assistant Fire Chief (Operations/Training) Emergency Manager Battalion Chief Pub Ed/ CERT Training (.75) Captain (Training Officer) Administrative Support Technician Captain (Training Officer) Captain — (2) (I nspectorrI nve stigator) Fire Project Coordinator 10 Battalion Chief (A — Shift) Battalion Chief (B— Shift) Battalion Chief (C — Shift) Captain — Sta 51 Firefighter (3) Captain — Sta 52 Firefighter (2) Captain — Sta 53 Firefighter (3) Captain — Sta 54 1 Firefighter (5) Captain Sta - 51 Firefighter (3) Captain — Sta 52 Firefighter (2) Captain — Sta 53 Firefighter (3) Captain — Sta 54 Firefighter (5) Captain — Sta 51 Firefighter (3) Captain — Sta 52 Firefighter (2) Captain — Sta 53 Firefighters (3) Captain — Sta 54 Firefighter (5) Report from Administration Acting Fire Chief Chris Flores The second half of 2013 was marked by change, accomplishment, and challenge as was the first half. The most significant and visible change was in department leadership. We saluted the career and retirement of Fire Chief Nick Olivas. Nick served the greater Tukwila Community for over 33 years. We wish him well in his post- retirement pursuits. During his absence, many of our officers and firefighters have been given the opportunity to serve in temporary promotional positions. Acting Assistant Chief Mike Soss served in that position throughout the first and second half of 2013, and has demonstrated an exceptional level of leadership and productivity. Training is one of the most notable areas of positive change in the department. All officers are being required to complete and maintain their incident command "Blue Card" training and certification, and this level of training is now being offered to aspiring officers. This form of incident command training is the most compliant with standards and laws that our consortium has been able to identify. It increases fire ground safety, and reduces risk and exposure for the department and city. Department officers are also near completing all required NIMS (National Incident Management System) training. Overall, feedback from our workforce continues to be extremely positive regarding our participation in the South King County Training Consortium. As reported in the first half of 2013, we continue our collaborative efforts with Finance and Public Works, to develop not only long range replacement plans for wheeled equipment, but for other capital equipment as well. A cross - section of Department personnel formed a committee to work with BERK Consulting to develop a Department Strategic Plan for the future. The majority of the work was done during the second half of 2013, continuing into 2014. Finishing touches on the plan are taking place at this time, with a complete document due in April, 2014. We continue to pursue the goal of being an integral department in a High Performing Organization. One visible means of this pursuit is through the utilization of more "micro business" solutions. This is accomplished through internal and external collaborations. We are making progress in the area of implementing TRAKiT. The vendor did not become available to work with us on the implementation until the middle of the first quarter of 2014. Additionally, as space becomes available in the 6300 Building, in the latter portion of the first quarter of 2014 we will continue with the plan that was initiated in the last half of 2013, which includes the Fire Prevention move to a larger space, which is located in closer proximity to DCD and PW Permit processes and personnel. 2013 fire loss was held, very exceptionally, below $1,000,000.00. We can credit a great deal of that loss reduction to aggressive fire prevention activities. This is an exceptional level of service that is being provided to the Greater Tukwila Community, by an 2 11 exceptionally talented and caring team, in both the Fire Prevention Division, and by the Company Level Inspection Teams. Overtime continued to be an extreme challenge in the second half of 2013. There continued to be higher than normal numbers of absences due to long term disability and long term FMLA absences. Expenditures nearly doubled the budgeted amount for Suppression Overtime. The department administration is actively engaged in identifying alternative strategies for more efficient utilization of these funds. Report from Operations Operations Chief Acting Assistant Chief Mike Soss Highlights /Accomplishments: • Continued participation in South King County Fire Training Consortium. • All Officers /Acting Officers certified in Blue Card Incident Command. ♦ JATC program continues to be developed. • Ordered two new Fire Engines and began planning for a Command Car. • Continued experimentation with cross - staffing /relocation of Ladder 54. ♦ Addressing options to lessen the amount of calls handled by the Ladder Truck. • Administration conducting regular informational meetings with the shifts and Labor /Management meetings with Local 2088. • Ongoing maintenance of air pack breathing apparatus. • Four new firefighters hired and put on shift. • Mentor program for new firefighters continuing. • Continued participation in High Performance Organization training. • All department hose and ladders tested. ♦ Contracted provider utilized for first time, with associated productivity and quality. • Department Strategic Plan creation continued. • Participated in the development of a Zone 3 radio template. • Received new circular and chain saws on Grant. • Entered into an agreement with WSP for deployment reimbursement. • Submitted grant request for new radio equipment. • Continued active participation in Zone 3 Operations Committee. • Participated in Light Rail tabletop exercises. 3 12 A -Shift Temporary Battalion Chief Ken Reed Staffing has been a challenge for A -Shift as well as the rest of the Tukwila Fire Department with the retirement of Chief Nick Olivas. A -Shift has had several members step up and do outstanding jobs in Temporary and Acting positions. Mike McCoy: was assigned to Temporary Battalion Chief. He showed great leadership and decision making. His experience was well received. Specifically, he was Incident Commander on a meth lab operation that lasted many hours. He called for resources early and appropriately. His decisions along with Firefighter Matt Hickey made for a safe, professional and thorough operation. Jim Brooks and Bill Rodal: were put into Temporary Captain Positions. Both are seasoned veterans of the fire service and have leadership skills that transitioned smoothly into the Captain positions. Strategic Planning Committee: Four members of A shift participated in the departments strategic planning Committee. They are as follows: Temporary Battalion Chief Mike McCoy, Captain Richard Rees, Firefighter Matt Hickey and current Temporary Battalion Chief Ken Reed. Each member was assigned to a group either as a lead or to assist. There were several topics that were identified to assist in making the Tukwila Fire Department an organization that continues to provide a quality product for the Citizens of Tukwila. We identified that in most areas we are already providing a service that is professional, compassionate and provides for the safety of our members and citizens. Below are some of the highlights that "A" shift is working on either as identified in the committee or ongoing. Captain Richard Rees: Managed several portions of the Valley Mobil Com dispatch to include updating and verifying the street maps and managing the Pre -Fire transfer. Captain Rees also developed the department's new Technology Committee which will work with the Administration and the IT department to bring new industry specific technology into our department and find better ways to use our existing technology. Firefighter Patrick Smith: Worked with "B" Shift's Patrick O'Brien to update the Southcenter Mall Pre -Fire and uploaded the revisions to Valley Comm. A -53: Completed JATC Module1 Training for PFF Koch. Firefighter Matt Hickey: Purchased and installed 2 ham radio repeaters. Matt also trained fire department personnel in getting their ham radio licenses. The department is now 99% ham radio trained. 4 13 Matt wrote the radio plan for Operation Dirty Boulevard. Matt purchased new APX 6000 portable radios and strategically placed them in the fire apparatus. The radios have Bluetooth earpieces and noise cancelling microphones. With communication on the fire ground always an issue, this feature will enhance the safety of our members. Matt wrote a FEMA grant requesting $411,000 for new radios. All fire department radios are 15 years old and will be replaced. He will create a radio cache with our current radios for Zone 3 and can be used by either Fire or Police. Captain Loren McFarland and Firefighter Rodal: Oversee and perform the ongoing projects of SCBA maintenance, Nozzle repair and SCBA fit testing. B -Shift Battalion Chief Marty Roberts The months of July through December were a successful and challenging six months for the members of B Shift. We had a fantastic summer that allowed us to be very productive in our training, which led to us delivering a high level of service to our customers. In the fall months we were equally successful in completing our training and continued to deliver a high level of service. As was the case in the first half of 2013, we were not at full staffing of eighteen personnel at any point during the second half of 2013. Our staffing was affected by a number of issues, most predominately and unfortunately, it was due to injuries. Regardless of the number of people that were off, we strived and worked together to meet the standard of our Mission Statement: Our Mission is to Deliver Professional Services to the Greater Tukwila Community and Provide a Safe Working Environment for our Personnel Safety * Commitment * Excellence For our required training in the 3rd Quarter, we averaged a completion rate of 98.24% of our required training. For our required training in the 4th Quarter, we attained a completion rate of 100% of our required training. Another challenging aspect of this time period was the addition of Probationary Fire Fighter (PFF) Jeff Hartjoy to our shift! I do not mean that in any way to reflect negatively on PFF Hartjoy. The training program for new firefighters has changed significantly in the last two years. With our membership in the South King County Fire Training 5 14 Consortium and the combined efforts of the member departments training divisions, the job requirements and training for new firefighters is much more involved than it has been in the past (hence the challenge). These additional training requirements are not the sole responsibility of the PFF. The crew that the PFF is assigned to has a significant increase to their workload to assist the PFF in completing his assignments. PFF Hartjoy has done an excellent job in completing his required drills and written examinations. His first station assignment was B53 with Capt. Ken Beckman, FF Aaron Johnson and FF Pat O'Brien. All three of the crewmembers provided knowledge, skill and experience in assisting PFF Hartjoy in completing his assignments. PFF Hartjoy moved to B52 to begin working on his second quarter assignments. As of today he is well ahead of schedule in completing his assignments and is currently working with Capt. Pete Wojcik and FF Toby Popejoy. We did not have any large or significant dollar loss fires or incidents during this period. C -Shift Battalion Chief Lavern Peterson Staffing: Our total shift complement was down by two. One Captain was on extended sick leave after surgery for an on the job injury. One FF was out on maternity leave. Probationary FF Fink: Continues his training rotation and now has worked at Station 53 and 52. He has received excellent reviews by his Captain's and has become a great addition of our shift /department. Capt. Morales: Assisted three different departments (City of Vancouver, Spokane and Clark County Fire District 13) as a member of the honor guard to help arrange services for deaths within their department. Capt. Konieczka: Has continued his leadership on two Zone 3 (HazMat and Ladder) committees. BC Peterson: Continued his work on MobileCom (our new dispatch system) for implementation in early 2014. Strategic Planning Committee: Three members of our shift have and continue to participate in our department strategic planning process. Blue Card Training: As classes are offered, our Acting Captains have become certified. C -52: Completed JATC Module 2 Training for FF Fink. 6 15 C -54: Continues the maintenance of our chain saws and small equipment. Their program has ensured that our equipment is ready during an emergency. Special Operations: Rescue, HazMat & Communications Rescue & HazMat Captain Chuck Mael (Rescue Team) & Captain Jason Konieczka (HazMat Team) No report. Communications Firefighter Matt Hickey • Purchased and installed 2 ham radio repeaters, mobile radios and 4 portables in all apparatus and trained fire department personnel to get their ham license. Currently we are 99% ham radio licensed fire department. ❖ Installed a CEMNET radio in the Tukwila EOC to allow them to talk to the State EOC. ❖ Purchased all the radios, coax, antennas, and lightning arrestors for 6 Department Operations Centers. ❖ Wrote the radio plan for Operation Dirty Boulevard. This plan had 13 radio channels and one made on the fly. The link with the federal agents failed 15 minutes before the planned event. I called the FEMA MERS Unit in Bothell and had the link working 5 minutes before the bust. Also wrote the telephone plan for this incident. Numerous communications failures happened in the EM -50 but I was able to repair them or do a work - around. ❖ Assisted Day Wireless to re- program and install over 160 radios. Just before the job was completed I found a mistake in the radio template that would have affected firefighter safety. I had King County Radio re -write the template and install the templates at no cost to us. I trained all fire department personnel on the use of all the new radios and templates. • Purchased 8 new APX 6000 portable radios and strategically placed them in the fire apparatus. These radios have Bluetooth earpieces and noise canceling microphones. If you run a chainsaw next to the radio and talk the receiver will not hear the saw, only the voice. 7 16 ❖ Wrote the radio plan for Tukwila Police for Black Friday. ❖ I have chaired the ZONE 3 OPS Chiefs radio template committee and we have come up with a great radio template. Also, I received template permission MOU's from Seattle Fire, Port of Seattle, and NORCOM (Eastside) to be able to install and use their templates in our radios. Along with this committee I am attending the TRIS committee which an oversight committee for King, Pierce, and Snohomish county radio systems. • Wrote a FEMA grant for $411,000 for new radios. I will replace all fire department radios that are 15 years old. Take the newer radios currently in our possession and create a Fire Zone 3 radio cache. This cache will have radios that can be used by either police or fire. There will also be a COML (Communications Unit Leader) sent with the cache. ❖ Helped with the purchase and install of the 4 new radio work stations in EM -50. Assisted the shops in troubleshooting the system. ❖ Maintained quarterly radio battery charging of 150 radio batteries in the EOC. • I am the Fire Department Liaison for the Tukwila Emergency Communications Team and throughout the last year have assisted them in Field Day, Training, radio maintenance, antenna installations, and weekly radio nets. This team has logged thousands of volunteer hours. ❖ Assisted EOC with the purchase of 20 new CERT radios. ❖ Inventoried all communications caches and fire department radios. ❖ Advised BC Roberts as to when to purchase new lithium ion batteries for fire apparatus. • Assisted the IT department on obtaining satellite service for the EM -50. • Tested and maintained the EM -50 portable satellite phone on a quarterly basis. • Created the radio plan for the new Tiburon system switchover in March. • Maintained the City's GETS/WPS system on a monthly basis. EMS Captain Mike McCoy No Report. 8 17 Training Training Officers Captain Hayman & Captain Johnson (October 1- November 15, 2013) and Firefighter Dawn Judkins (November 18- December 31, 2013) Both Training Officers participated in the last five Live Fire training exercises at North Bend for 2013. Each was an all -day event involving apparatus from all of the participating Consortium Departments: Kent, Sea Tac, Tukwila, North Highline, Burien, and Maple Valley. Captain Hayman spent much of the third and fourth quarter planning with King County Airport for an MCI drill. This drill involved a simulated passenger airline crash with multiple live and non -live patients on the runway. The actual drill was done five consecutive days in October, twice each day. Consortium departments participated along with King County Crash Trucks, Boeing Crash Trucks, King County Paramedics, and AMR ambulances. Both Captains participated in the 2014 Planning Meeting with all Consortium Training Officers and our newest members from Renton Fire Department. This all -day event charted nearly all of our training goals for 2014. Captain Hayman assisted in planning for the 2014 promotional tests to be delivered early in 2014. He worked closely with Captain Pat O'Hern from Kent Fire on this project. Captain Hayman attended training to be one of the Tiberon (MobileCom) trainers for the classes in early 2014. Captain Johnson worked on the JATC Mod three for our new firefighters. A great deal of time went into researching the material and making it Tukwila specific. Captain Johnson and FF Dawn Judkins together did 100 DPR /Defib downloads and nearly that many reviews during fourth quarter. This includes events from all of the Consortium departments. Captain Johnson and FF Dawn Judkins catalogued training evaluations and tabulated statistics for the various classes given by the Training Consortium. Captain Johnson, Captain Woelber of Kent Fire, and MSO Don Cloyd from King County Medics developed a first aid program for King County Sheriffs' department. Titled "In- Field First Aid ", the program is designed to allow Sheriffs to render basic aid to people victimized by acts of violence. This was found to be a need as Fire and Medics are often required to stage until the scene is secure. The training is to help the Sheriffs "buy- time" for victims until BLS and ALS can assist. Also included in the program is training with CPR /AEDs. The program has been called a great success and is expected to be adopted for police and sheriffs state -wide. 9 18 Explorers Captain Pat McCoy No Report. Honor Guard Captain Ken Beckman No Report. Emergency Management & Public Education Emergency Management Battalion Chief Marty Grisham • Participation with the United States Postal Service Full Scale Exercise • Participation in the King County "Operation Frosty" Exercise • Participation with BNSF table top exercise • Completion of the City Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan • Near completion of a major update to the City Hazard Mitigation Plan • Writing and adoption of new City Emergency Management Policy, addressing minimum training requirements for all employees. • Ongoing monitoring and information sharing of severe weather events. • Receipt of 2013 Emergency Management Performance Grant. o CHALLENGE: The formula to determine our grant award is changing, so our award is dropping dramatically every year. It is anticipated that the 2014 award will not be sufficient to fund the .5 FTE CERT /Public Educator anymore. CERT /Public Education Raejean Kreel • Delivery of CERT class to our citizens o CHALLENGE: The Federal Citizen Corp Grant that funded local CERT programs ended in 2013. All CERT program funding is now the responsibility of the local jurisdiction. • Introductions and establishment of a good partnership with Tukwila School District. 10 19 • Core member of the team that developed the Community Connector Liaison Program o Assisted with the Cultural Awareness city wide training • Active participation in Boulevard Hotel Seizure operation. • Update of data entry into our CodeRed system. • NIMS Training and Tracking of all city employees • NIMS Compliance report completed • Participation in SEVERAL public education events o Tukwila Kids Festival o Tukwila Touch a Truck o Station Tours o School Activity visits o Fire Extinguisher Classes Fire Prevention Activities Fire Marshal Don Tomaso Inspections Inspections completed are as follows: ❖ 18 —month Annual Fire Inspections: 425 ❖ 18 -month Re— inspections: 256 ❖ Night Life Safety Inspections: 38 ❖ Fire Marshal's Construction Inspections: 826 Plan Review hours and fees collected are as follows: ❖ Plan Review hours: 492 ❖ Code Question hours: 256 ❖ Plan Review Fees Collected: $31,552.50 ❖ Special Permit Fees Collected: $27,800.00 Investigations The division investigated six fires in the last half of the year. One commercial fire occurred at Jorgenson Forge in the hydraulic pit where the fire originated when hot metal dropped down and ignited oil residue in the pit area that was quickly contained by the fire sprinkler system. The remaining breakdown was four vehicle fires, four kitchen fires, one residential fire. One of the four kitchen fires resulted in smoke inhalation injuries to the occupants that attempted to extinguish the fire and required medical treatment at the hospital. The fire loss for the last half of 2013 is $228,650. 11 20 Permit Activity Major permitted projects worked on in the Fire Marshal's Office from July through December of 2013: the address data base review and corrections were completed, Tukwila Village Land Use Reviews were completed, Raisbeck Aviation High School was completed, Boeing 9 — 101 composite freezer addition was completed, Baker Commodities retro fire sprinkler upgrade was completed, Sabey Data Center expansions including the Providence pharmaceutical distribution facility was completed, Home2Suites Hotel is under construction and the Telex computer center remodel is under way. The Vietnamese Martyrs' Church project was started and experienced multiple problems along the way. Significant staff time was devoted to the proposed 18- story, mixed -use Washington Place project. If construction proceeds, this project will have a significant impact on Fire Prevention's workload. Staff assisted in the development of the Zone III 4th of July Incident Action Plan for the Zone; this document listed all the activities and resources that were available during the 4th of July Holiday. Staff worked with other City Departments' staff on the TRAKiT project. Staff participated in the "Touch a Truck" event with the smoke house trailer we borrowed from Burien Fire. Fire Prevention completed the investigation into the cause of the flooding at Westfield Mall. Staff participated in the "Night Out Against Crime" and coordinated with suppression staff to prepare the logistics for the International Blvd. Operation for the Police Department. Staff also assisted the Police Department with enforcement issues on several Chronic Nuisance Properties. BC Tomaso assisted in the Building Official interviews after Bob Benedicto's retirement. He was also finally able to get the sight line issues on SR 599 resolved with the Washington Department of Transportation after suppression crews identified a safety concern when operating on that portion of the limited access roadway. 12 21 Response Statistics Graphs and Statistics will be distributed at the next Finance & Safety Committee Meeting. 13 22