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An Update March 20, 2014 Phil Wagner Fire Chief, Ypsilanti Township (Retired) Deputy Fire Chief/Emergency Management Coordinator, City of Romulus (Retired). The Fire Service and Traffic Incident Management.
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An Update March 20, 2014 Phil Wagner Fire Chief, Ypsilanti Township (Retired) Deputy Fire Chief/Emergency Management Coordinator, City of Romulus (Retired) The Fire Service andTraffic Incident Management
After a California Highway Patrol officer handcuffed a Chula Vista firefighter for refusing to move his engine at the scene of a crash, the chiefs of both agencies said in a statement Wednesday that they shared the "utmost respect" for each other's missions. The incident occurred at the scene of a rollover crash Tuesday night. The CHP officer had ordered the firefighter to move a fire truck because he felt it was unsafely blocking a lane of traffic at the scene of a collision on Interstate 805. The fire truck had arrived at the scene of the accident before the CHP. The driver, a 12-year veteran of the Fire Department, was parked behind an ambulance that was loading patients for transport to a hospital. When the firefighter refused to immediately move the truck, saying he needed to confer with his captain, the CHP officer handcuffed the firefighter and put him in the back of a patrol car, where he remained for about 30 minutes. No arrest was made. The incident was caught on film and shown on local television. On Wednesday, Chula Vista Fire Chief Dave Hanneman and CHP Chief Jim Abele met to discuss the incident. After the meeting, neither side admitted fault, but the two issued a joint statement expressing "utmost respect for each other and our respective missions.“ They went on to call it "an isolated incident" that would be the topic of future joint training sessions, "in an ongoing effort to work more efficiently together." Before the joint statement was issued, the Chula Vista fire chief issued an individual statement saying, "I am very proud of how Engineer Jacob Gregoire and the other firefighters on the scene handled the situation." After CHP officer handcuffs firefighter at crash scene, chiefs meet
Chester Co. (SC) firefighters arrested after scuffle with deputies FEBRUARY 17, 2014 By Andrew Dys and Rachel Southmayd The West Chester Volunteer Fire Department chief and his brother spent Saturday night in the Chester County jail after being arrested by sheriff’s deputies following a scuffle with the sheriff and other officers at the scene of an overturned truck Friday afternoon. Police allege the firefighters yelled obscenities at Sheriff Alex Underwood and other officers and pushed them in a dispute over traffic control at the crash scene on S.C. 9 west of Chester. Chief Andy Martin, 57, and volunteer firefighter Tommy Martin, 61, were charged with assault. They were arrested at their homes at about 8 p.m. Saturday, kept in jail overnight and released on personal recognizance bonds after appearing before Magistrate Dianne Moore Sunday morning, police and court records show. The altercation over whether the highway should have been closed and who was in charge has both sides pointing fingers at the other for how the situation was handled. The incident began after a tractor-trailer skidded off the side of S.C. 9 near Turnbuckle Road just before 4 p.m. Friday. Sheriff’s deputies who initially went to the scene left after Highway Patrol troopers said the highway would not be closed until a wrecker arrived to move the truck. Underwood and several of his senior deputies arrived at the scene at about 4:15 p.m. and a conversation about who would direct traffic and when the highway should be closed took place. Sheriff’s officials said that, as they explained why the first deputies had left the scene, Tommy Martin and Andy Martin instigated an argument when they “came up and began to complain,” because they had wanted the deputies to stay and close the road. “At this time,” the report reads, “Thomas Martin became angry with Maj. (Randy) Marsh, and the talking became very heated.” Both firefighters were placed in the back of an emergency management vehicle “to calm down,” the report states. Once they did calm down, the report states, Tommy Martin left the scene, but Andy Martin put on his firefighting gear and “started back working on getting the wreck cleared.” ‘Shouldn’t have happened’ Over the weekend and on Monday, the story of the scuffle between firefighters and deputies spread through the community and among other officials slowly, by word of mouth and social media. County Councilman John Wayne Holcombe, whose district includes the incident location, said he had heard about the incident through others. “What I’m hearing really shouldn’t have happened,” said Holcombe, a former Chester County sheriff, “but we know it did.” He said he was not aware of any ongoing dispute between the fire department and the sheriff’s office, and he didn’t know what had started the dispute.
Chester Co. (SC) firefighters arrested after scuffle with deputies Eddie Murphy, Chester County’s emergency management coordinator, said he was on the scene but did not see what happened. In a situation like Friday’s crash, a “joint command” typically would be established among the agencies responding to the incident, Murphy said, then instructions would go out from that joint command. Reducing all those leaders down to a single force can be difficult, he said. “It is the hardest thing to get people to take time out,” Murphy said, “because everyone wants to put their hands on it”
Enhanced Visibility of Fire ApparatusNational Fire Protection Association Standards NEW GRAPHIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL FIRE APPARATUS SOLD AFTER JANURARY 2009 14.1.6 Any door of the apparatus designed to allow persons to enter or exit the apparatus shall have at least 96in.2 (62,ooo mm2) of retroreflective material affixed to the inside of the door. 15.9.3.1 A retroreflective strip(s) shall be affixed to at least 50 percent of the cab and body length on each side, excluding the pump panel areas, and at least 25 percent of the width of the front of the apparatus. 15.9.3.1.1 The stripe or combination of stripes shall be a minimum of 4 in. (100 mm) in total width. 15.9.3.1.2 The 4 in (100 mm) wide stripe or combination of stripes shall be permitted to be interrupted by objects (i.e., receptacles, cracks between slats in roll up doors) provided the full stripe is seen as conspicuous when approaching the apparatus. 15.9.3.1.3 A graphic design shell be permitted to replace all or part of the required striping material if the design or combination thereof covers at least the same perimeter length(s) required by 15.9.3.1. 15.9.3.2 At least 50 percent of the rear facing vertical surfaces, visible from the rear of the apparatus, excluding any pump panel areas not covered by a door, shall be equipped with retroreflective striping in a chevron pattern slopping downward and away from the centerline of the vehicle at an angle of 45 degrees. 15.9.3.2.1 Each strip in the chevron shall be a single color alternating between red and either yellow, fluorescent yellow, or fluorescent yellow-green. 15.9.3.2.2 Each strip shall be 6 in. (150 mm) in width. 15.9.3.3.1 All retroreflective materials required by 15.9.3.1 and 15.9.3.2 shall conform to the requirements of the ASTM D 4956, Standard Specification for Retroreflective Sheeting for Traffic Control, Section 6.1.1 for type I Sheeting.
THINGS WE ARE DOINGImproved relationships with other agencies Joint training activitiesRevising Standard Operating Procedures to reflect “Unified Command”Cooperative/combined efforts for Dispatch Centers Merger of Fire Departments becoming more commonStruggling with reduced staffing levels
