UFRA Straight Tip Summer 2018 - Volume 19, Issue 3

Summer 2018 / Volume 19, Issue 3

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Utah Fire and Rescue Academy Magazine

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Visit us online at uvu.edu/ufra

11 DEPARTMENTS

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4 STATE FIRE MARSHAL 5 BATTALION CHIEF

Fiduciary Responsibility

6 FIREFIGHTER MENTAL HEALTH

Retirement Planning: Preparing for Life after the Fire Service

8 FIREFIGHTER LAW

Volunteers, Day Time Help and the FLSA

10 VEHICLE EXTRICATION

Training & Experience: Are You Ready?

12 VOLUNTEER CHIEF’S CORNER Transitioning from Firefighter to Fire Officer

14 FIRE TACTICS

Surviving the MAYDAY Starts before the MAYDAY

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WILDLAND

Working with Private Landowners to Implement Wildfire Mitigation

18 BACK TO BASICS

Teaching to Learn

FEATURES 17 CHANGES TO UTAH FIREWORKS LAW 21 LORI HOWES NOMINATION 25 RED CARD PROCESS CHANGES

Lehi Fire Department, Sandy Fire Department, Layton City Fire Department

3 9 CLIMBING THE LADDER Murray City Fire Department, South Salt Lake Fire Department

29 UTAH’S OWN AMERICA’S FALLEN FIREFIGHTER MEMORIAL

40 FIRE MARKS

32 GROWING PAINS, PART IV

Wasatch County Fire/EMS

34 CLIMBING THE LADDER

Forestry, Fire & State Lands, Logan City Fire Department

35 FIRE OFFICER DESIGNATION RECIPIENTS 36 CLIMBING THE LADDER

Weber Fire District, Uintah City Fire Department

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44 ACADEMICS 4 5 RCA GRADUATION Spring 2018 | Class #76

ON THE COVER:

Firefighters at UFRA’s winter fire school learn basic extrication techniques from instructor Jeff Gates of the Hurst Equipment Heavy Rescue Team. photograph by Dan DeMille

Managing Editor Lori Marshall

Editor Kaitlyn Hedges

Design Phil Ah You

Published by Utah Valley University

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Cultivating Leadership Through Mentorship Mountain Green Fire Protection District

38 CLIMBING THE LADDER

26 NATIONAL WILDFIRE COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS DAY

20 LEADERSHIP

22 DEPARTMENT IN FOCUS

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Visit us online at uvu.edu/ufra

CONTENTS

Message from UFRA SUMMER 2018, Volume 19 Issue 3 To Subscribe: To subscribe to the UFRA Straight Tip magazine, or make changes to your current subscription, call 1-888-5487816 or visit www.uvu.edu/ufra/about/ magazine.html. The UFRA Straight Tip is free of charge to all firefighter and emergency service personnel throughout the state of Utah.

UFRA Customer Service Local (801) 863-7700 Toll free 1-888-548-7816 www.uvu.edu/ufra UFRA Straight Tip (ISSN 1932-2356) is published quarterly by Utah Valley University and the Utah Fire & Rescue Academy and distributed throughout the state of Utah. Reproduction without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Send inquiries or submissions to: UFRA Straight Tip magazine 3131 Mike Jense Parkway Provo, Utah 84601 Phone 1-888-548-7816 ufrastraighttip@uvu.edu Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the UFRA Straight Tip are those of the authors and may not be construed as those of the staff or management of the UFRA Straight Tip, Utah Fire & Rescue Academy, or Utah Valley University.

CORRECTION NOTICE On page 32 of the Spring 2018 Straight Tip (“South Ogden City Resident Graduates from FEMA’s Emergency Management Advanced Academy”), it should be clarified that Cameron West is the fire chief of South Ogden, and the program he attended was a resident program in Emmitsburg.

2 | UFRA Straight Tip

Constant Changes, Constant Improvements

by Chuck Querry

The fire service is constantly changing: apparatus types, personal protective equipment (PPE), self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), basic to advanced firefighting equipment, and training methods, just to mention a few.

Training and delivery methods here at the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy are no different. Classes, books, tools and equipment, and certification programs need to be continually reviewed and updated to comply with national requirements. The updates never seem to be completed before another round of changes begins. One of the ways UFRA is seeking to improve training opportunities is by designing, building, re-designing, repairing, and testing props and support trailers for UFRA-sponsored classes and events. Due to ever-present budget constraints, we try to reduce costs and extend the usefulness of our props and equipment by repurposing existing props.

The Design Process

An example of this process has been the design and development of the forcible entry training trailer. We first used a 30-foot goose neck trailer for this training prop. A concept was discussed and then designed on paper. As construction began, challenges were identified, so we brought in subject matter experts to ensure the product meets the needs of Utah firefighters. We are fortunate to have many highly skilled and trained firefighters who are willing to assist us as we develop and construct props.

In about 13 months, the first forcible entry prop was designed and constructed, instructors were trained, and trial classes were presented. As with all new classes, issues were identified and modifications were made. Once the changes were made, the class was approved for delivery throughout the state. To date, the forcible entry trailer has proven to be one of UFRA’s most popular training props.

Increased Demand

With the success of the first forcible entry prop, demand greatly outpaced the prop’s availability. To meet the demand, we determined that an additional prop was needed.

This is not uncommon with many of our training classes and props, including the fire attack systems training (FAST) prop, the emergency apparatus driving simulator (EADS) trailers, and the apparatus driver operator (ADO) support trailers.

At the direction of Brad Wardle, UFRA director, an additional forcible entry trailer was to be constructed. To lessen the budgetary impact, we repurposed the oldest FAST training prop and converted it into a larger, more versatile prop that could also be used for limited ventilation training. Again, design ideas were collected and developed, subject matter experts were consulted, and construction began.

The top of the FAST was removed and slide-out walls were changed to accommodate training for garage doors. Currently the different styles of doors are being constructed and installed for use in forcible entry training.

Final Details

As the final changes are made to the prop, other details are taken care of. Tools and equipment needed during the training course are identified and purchased, and new instructors for the additional classes are chosen. An ambitious completion date of July 1, 2018, was selected. Currently we are on schedule to have the prop ready for trial classes by that date.

Props Changed

Over the past six years, changes and improvements have been made to many different props: • The FAST props have had exterior standpipes added.

• Furniture has been built to hold excelsior for the each of the rooms for live fire training.

• Observation holds have been placed in strategic locations for instructors to observe training scenarios.

• Forcible entry doors have been installed.

All of these changes were based on instructor recommendations so that we can provide a better and more realistic training experience.

Changes have been made to other props as well, including the leak tank prop for hazardous materials training and the fire investigation prop. These new designs provide for greater versatility for new burns and room layout and a faster turnaround.

Changes to training props and classes will not end with the forcible entry trailer. New technologies and opportunities to improve training in the most cost-effective manner will continually be evaluated and implemented here at UFRA so that we can reach more departments and assist in better firefighter training.

Chuck Querry worked for the Salt Lake City Fire Department for 27 years. He retired in 2007 as the fire chief and came to work as a UFRA program manager. He has been an assistant director since 2009 and has had responsibility for training, certification, and most recently transportation and logistics.

Dan Cather Featured in Utah Valley Magazine UFRA Instructor Dan Cather was recently featured in Utah Valley Magazine’s annual “Fab 40: Hitting the Road with 40 Fabulous People in Utah Valley.” Here is what they wrote about him.

The Journey Dan wears many hats, including Provo Fire Captain and paramedic, Utah Fire & Rescue Academy Wildland Coordinator, Utah County Wildland Firefighter, husband and father. This Montana native dedicates his life to the two things he loves: fighting fires and his family. Dan went to California this past year to fight flames. When Dan isn’t spending time with his first two loves, you’ll find him in a remote mountain area fishing at a lake.

Road Blocks “I was involved in a head-on car collision more than four years ago. I didn’t know if I was going to have a full recovery. I was scared. I didn’t know how I was going to take care of my family and the career I loved.”

Mile Markers “It doesn’t matter where I’m at, firefighters are firefighters and we are like a family. I’ve trained thousands of firefighters.”

Must-Haves “A pocket knife, a challenge coin (I designed the one for

DAN CATHER

Provo Fire) and a military can opener, which I’ve carried ever since I was 18 years old.”

Originally posted on March 4, 2018, at utahvalley360.com. Reprinted with permission.

Summer 2018 | 3

STATE FIRE MARSHAL

FROM THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL Fire Code Adoptions Here we are once again in the midst of the summer months in Utah. It’s been a very busy year already. I’ve shared with you some of the legislative items that we were working on.

Many passed, but a few did not. Please touch base with me or any of my staff if you have questions about legislation.

I recently attended some of the code hearings in Columbus, Ohio, as well as the International Code Council (ICC) Fire Service Membership Council (FSMC) meeting.

Retired Chief Scott Adams (the all-around code guru) continues to chair the FSMC, and under his leadership, we continue to make great strides in effective fire code adoptions.

Utah produces some great fire service folks who serve behind the operations scene in enhancing overall fire protection services.

At these meetings, we cover a wide variety of issues to address the ever-changing way

we build things. Technology continues to push the limits, which makes it a challenge trying to address code issues when we know that what we’re discussing now won’t actually be in a printed form for about three years. Approximately 1,300 code changes were proposed in the April meeting. If you are an ICC member, you can participate online using the cdpACCESS portal that allows you to vote on these code changes.

Our plans here in Utah are to present for adoption the 2018 International Fire Code (IFC) to the legislative interim committee in September of this year so that it can come out in January 2019 as a committee bill. We hope to have it passed by the legislature next session. What it really means is that we’re always at least one year behind the final printing of the most recent set of codes.

When it comes to getting updated codes passed in Utah compared with other states, Utah is typically right at the top with several other states. Forty-two states use the IFC or have adopted it for their state. Several states are sometimes three to four code cycles in the past and have difficulty getting updated codes passed in their state.

At least two states are still using the 2003 edition of either NFPA 1 or the IFC. That makes the work of the state fire marshal in those states extremely difficult. How do you keep up with new building designs and technology when the code you’re working with is six to twelve years behind the times? Fortunately, we don’t have to deal with those circumstances, and I’m very happy about that!

I often reflect on how lucky I am to have the many opportunities of working with so many of you here in our state. We have so many extremely talented people who are dedicated to helping others regardless of the circumstances. I’m continually amazed at the stories I hear and the great work that you do every day.

Remember to be safe out there!

Coy Utah State Fire Marshal Coy D. Porter retired from Provo Fire & Rescue after 30 years of service; he then worked for almost four years as the assistant director of training at UFRA. Porter enjoys his association with the firefighters of Utah in his position as state fire marshal.

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BATTALION CHIEF

A Battalion Chief’s Fiduciary Responsibility Fiduciary responsibility as a battalion chief means you are in a position of utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect the property and funds of our taxpayers. Chief officers’ decisions and attitudes towards the use of your department’s assets go a long way towards making your department fiscally efficient and responsible.

Santa Clara University’s Hana Callaghan details five fiduciary obligations of public officials1: • The duty of care: Duty to manage assets competently and be good stewards of the public funds.

• The duty of loyalty: An absolute obligation to put the public’s interest before your own direct or indirect personal interests.

• The duty of impartiality: Public officials have a duty to represent all of their constituents fairly.

• The duty of accountability: Duty of transparency and the concepts of disclosure, open meetings, and accessibility of public records.

• The duty to preserve the public’s trust in government: Duty to act in the public’s best interest.

All of these duties point to your responsibility to take your job of resource and asset management seriously. Part of this responsibility includes always offering your expertise to your chief in making purchasing choices. Following state procurement codes combined with your input is a way to save your department substantially.

In addition, part of your fiduciary obligation is to prevent careless waste and damage. Small business owners will attest to the visceral reaction they have when an employee’s mistake or carelessness results in the needless waste of money used to repair the accident. A business owner watching a truck tear an overhead door off the tracks because the door was not fully opened becomes immediately sick to their stomach. Not all chief officers and firefighters feel the same heartache when a similar scenario plays out at a fire station.

Damage resulting from carelessness to overhead doors, fire apparatus, stations, and equipment has an immense adverse impact

on your department’s bottom line. In addition to the needless waste of money such actions bring, they also violate our obligation as public fiduciaries.

One way you can watch over public resources is tasking your captains to become part of the solution. An example of how they can help is by maintaining station supply inventories. Whether your department keeps accurate supply inventories or not, having captains oversee the use of supplies makes them feel more accountable. Have your logistics officer collect the use of each station’s supplies on a monthly basis and add to a department supply spreadsheet. Send out a group email detailing what supplies were used listed by individual station.

Make no mistake, the public is watching. A citizen seeing apparatus bay lights left on around the clock may very well make an unfavorable mental note. Teach your captains to consider the way they manage their stations. Perception is reality to those in your neighborhood.

If you haven’t already adopted the small business owner mentality, now is the time. Act as if lost monies come out of your own pocket. Your attitude and comments will impact those around you and create a more responsible attitude on your shift.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1 “Public Officials as Fiduciaries,” Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, May 31, 2016, https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/governmentethics/resources/public-officials-as-fiduciaries/.

Paul Hewitt began his career as an Orem City reserve firefighter in 1987.

After 20 years with the Salt Lake City Fire Department he served as a fire chief in Arizona before his 2011 appointment to fire chief of the Park City Fire District.

Summer 2018 | 5

MENTAL HEALTH

Retirement Planning: Preparing for Life after the Fire Service

by Jeff Dill

Imagine yourself lying in a hospital bed. As you wake up, your doctor and family has surrounded you with smiles and tears.

The doctor advises you that you have been in a coma since a wall collapsed on you a week ago. Through the confusion your first words are, “Who am I and how did I get here?” You have lost your memory, your identity, and worst of all you have no idea what to do about it. As extreme as that may seem, this situation is eerily close to what retirement can feel like for firefighters who are not prepared. Retirees I have spoken to say they can’t believe the years went by so quickly, and almost all have asked the question, “What am I supposed to do now?”

As founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA), the organization that tracks and validates firefighter and EMS suicides, I began to see a disturbing trend in suicides of those who were retired. My team began to interview and hold surveys to find out some possible reasons on why these tragic events were occurring. Within this article we will look at the top three issues these retirees faced, how to combat them, and then some recommendations on how to prepare for retirement while still working.

Of those 170, 36 took their lives within the first week of retirement. Of those 36, nine were volunteer firefighters and EMS providers for their communities. Retirement is supposed to be the best times of our lives! Why then, are so many taking their lives?

The Big Three When FBHA decided to develop “Saying Goodbye: The Emotional Detachment,” a workshop for understanding how retirement can affect firefighters and EMS providers, we decided to go right to the source: retirees. Through interviews and a survey, we found three common issues most faced after they hung up their helmets. They are: • Loss of Identity • Loss of Belonging • Lack of Purpose

Loss of Identity: How do we lose ourselves as firefighters? Are the traditions and “cultural brainwashing” (FBHA term) so strong we forget who we are as individuals? Does the brotherhood and sisterhood theme become so strong that we live in it 24/7? Do we associate ourselves as firefighters, a team, that we forget our own beliefs, In the graph below you can see that as of March 2017, FBHA has values, as well as our strengths and weaknesses? In our efforts validated 749 active firefighter and EMS suicides. In addition, we to understand how or why we lose ourselves when we retire we have 170 members who were retired when they took their lives. found the responses somewhat disturbing. From the 125 retirees surveyed, the largest belief was they felt Fire and EMS Suicides - Active Versus Retired their life was “over with” when they retired. They felt they had nothing to look forward to because they had only known the fire service. These are Retired volunteers as well. They had given so much to their department and community. These were retirees Active who have 20 to 30 years left to live. As organizations we need to prepare and help our members Unknown plan for retirement, and not just financially for career firefighters. No matter where I speak, I find out if there is a nearby fire service academy going Fired on and if there is I ask for five minutes to talk to the recruits. My message is simple. “Never lose who you Disability are! Be dedicated, passionate, safe, educated, and be a part of the team, but always remember this is a Resigned job. Never fall prey to how you are supposed to act or feel. If it bothers you or it hurts emotionally, then be true to yourself and get some help because I am talking about your life.”

6 | UFRA Straight Tip

Loss of Belonging: “Hey, I am on Gold Shift or I work for Anytown FD. We wear our shirts with our department logo and are accepted into any firehouse or fire hall in the U.S. or Canada.” Sound familiar? Because we are firefighters, we belong to a culture many will never know or understand. For 20 or more years we “belong,” and then in a heartbeat it is gone.

“When we belong, we believe.

When we separate, we doubt.”

– R. A. Delmonico This quote can resonate with many firefighters who are retired.

We are part of a team, relied upon, respected, and we use the experience that we gained over years of service. When we are alone at home, wondering where the time went and worried about what we are going to do to keep busy, we might begin to doubt ourselves and what we have to offer to the world. The time to plan for retirement is while we are still working.

Lack of Purpose: One of the most difficult challenges we struggle with as human beings, at some point in our lives, is wondering if we add value to others' lives as well as to our own lives. As firefighters we make a huge difference in the communities we serve, but when we retire the combination of lack of planning, loss of identity and the sense of belonging, and no direction in our lives can spell trouble for many who might struggle with these emotions. Depression is one of the most prominent issues that retired firefighters struggled with when surveyed by FBHA. As young firefighters looking ahead, our biggest concerns were the financial aspect of retirement. Departments need to become aware that the emotional impact is just as, if not more, vital for a successful retirement.

Summary The life of a firefighter, both career and volunteer, can take a toll on our bodies and minds. The visual images we carry can change or scar us for the rest of our lives. Many live in physical pain, which will never go away. We look forward to retirement, but for many it becomes a turning point where they feel they lose who they were. For some, the lack of direction, purpose, or game plan has led to the feeling that it was better to take their lives. We can’t let this happen to our members. We need to provide the necessary support to help our firefighters and EMS providers successfully transition to the next phase of their lives – a phase in which the fire service is not the primary focus.

Every organization’s goals should include preparing its members for retirement by offering guidance beginning at least one to two years prior to retirement. Every firefighter is accountable for their actions in their career. Now we must include being accountable for our years after we hang up our helmets. There needs to be a game plan.

Recommendations: Preparing for Retirement FBHA makes these recommendations on how to prepare for retirement. We believe planning should begin two years prior to retiring.

• Challenge Yourself. Face facts – your fire service career is over but your life continues; you are limited by your own defenses.

• Continue your Education. “Stop learning, stop growing.” Go back to school or take classes in areas that interest you. You are never too old to become a counselor, chaplain, or wherever your interests lie.

• Develop a business. If you’ve ever wanted to start a business, now is the time. Prepare yourself by taking classes in related areas such as understanding tax laws, payroll, non-for profits versus for profits, marketing, etc.

• Seek Counseling. Consider your post fire service options by visiting a career guidance counselor. See a mental health counselor to gain a baseline on how you feel about your impending retirement.

• Start Marriage Counseling. Six months prior to retiring, if you are married or have a partner, go to a marriage counselor so you can both figure out what each other’s expectations are when you finally do retire.

• It’s Not Retirement! Think of this new stage as an opportunity to explore other avenues of interest that you have thought about or enjoyed. It is a big world out there. Enjoy it!

• Stay Involved with the Department. If you are unable to make a complete break with the department when you retire, look at ways you can remain involved. Become a support or auxiliary member and continue to help the department with tasks such as public education, CERT, peer support, fundraisers, or other areas your department needs assistance. Stay connected and find support by organizing a weekly retiree breakfast.

Jeff Dill is a member of the National Volunteer Fire Council’s Health and Safety Work Group, a retired fire captain, and founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. He holds a master’s degree in counseling.

Originally printed in the NVFC Helpletter, Issue 3. Reprinted courtesy of the NVFC.

We all deserve a stress-free retirement!

Summer 2018 | 7

FIREFIGHTER LAW

Volunteers, Day Time Help and the FLSA

by Curt Varone

Today’s burning question: I am the chief of a volunteer fire department. We are struggling to get enough help weekdays from 6 am to 5 pm. We are thinking about paying some of our folks to be available during these hours. I heard there is a magic number of 20% that we have to be careful of. If career firefighters in my state average $20/hour, can I pay my volunteers $4/hour?

Answer: Volunteer fire departments have to be very careful when it comes to compensating their personnel in any way. At stake is the potential to turn a volunteer who receives a benefit into an under-paid hourly employee who in turn can demand minimum-wage compensation for all of their time, including their volunteer hours.

8 | UFRA Straight Tip

The Fair Labor Standards Act allows a person to volunteer for a public entity like a fire department provided “the individual receives no compensation or is paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee to perform the services for which the individual volunteered.” 29 U.S.C. §203 (e) (4) (A) The US Department of Labor (DOL) and the courts interpret that language to mean that paying someone an hourly rate is per se compensation. Doing so turns the person into an employee.

Thus paying the volunteer $4/hour will likely create a problem for a volunteer fire department. All it will take is one person to challenge it. The volunteer will likely be considered to be an underpaid employee and eligible for minimum wage for all hours worked plus all hours volunteered.

The FLSA draws a distinction between “compensation” and “paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee”. So long as “expenses, reasonable benefits or a nominal fees” are not tied to an hourly rate, they can be given to volunteers without running afoul of the FLSA. The DOL has expressly approved of expense reimbursements, LOSAP, volunteer pension programs, and a number of insurance-oriented benefit programs as valid for volunteer firefighters.

The biggest area of controversy has to do with “nominal fees”.

The DOL has taken the position that the term nominal fee means payments that are less than 20% of what a full time employee would cost provided it is not based on an hourly rate. While any payment that is based upon an hourly rate will be considered to be compensation, the DOL treats per call or per shift stipends differently.

Trying to rationalize why the DOL treats nominal fees that are paid per hour differently than those that are paid per call or per shift, is of little use. This is how the DOL interprets 29 U.S.C. §203 (e)(4)(A). Nominal fees paid on a per-call and per-shift basis are permissible provided they do not exceed 20% of what a full-time employee would cost. Per-hour stipends, even if otherwise nominal, are considered to be compensation.

Applying this to your question, paying your volunteers $4 per hour would likely create underpaid employees regardless of what a full-time employee would cost. However, if hiring career personnel for a 10-hour shift would cost you $200, you could pay a shift stipend provided it was less than $40 without running afoul of the FLSA. Personally, I would not recommend tying the shift stipend to exactly 10 hours, but the DOL has approved of per shift stipends in various letter opinions on the subject.

Curt Varone has over 40 years of fire service experience and 30 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.

UPCOMING REGIONAL FIRE SCHOOLS • Emery County: August 24-25

• Southeast Region (held in Moab): October 12-13 See the Regional Schools page for detailed class information for these events. www.uvu.edu/ufra/training/regional_schools.html

One Less Spark messaging and

Originally posted by Curt Varone on firelawblog.com on March 25, 2018. Reprinted with permission.

materials are available to interagency partners and fire departments.

To access the toolkit, go to http://bit.ly/UTOLS.

Summer 2018 | 9

VEHICLE EXTRICATION Make training events realistic and challenging; this training is on a rocky, brush-covered slope.

EXTRICATION TOOL BOX

Training & Experience: Are You Ready?

Vehicle extrication has become one of the most frequent types of rescue performed by firefighters. Every day, accidents trap people in vehicles, and they must rely on emergency responders to safely and effectively remove them from the entanglement.

Firefighters’ training and experience significantly impact the safety and removal of the vehicle occupants.

Many vehicle extrication incidents require simple, straightforward techniques, such as forcing a door open or removing a window; however other incidents can be more challenging and significantly test a firefighter’s skill and knowledge. When firefighters have received quality training, have experience, possess the skills, and employ practiced teamwork, even the most difficult extrication can be completed safely and efficiently.

Vehicle incidents that involve major damage and complicated entrapments are very challenging and may require several techniques and a variety of tools to free the vehicle occupants. Extrication crews must use a combination of techniques, procedures, and skills. Every incident will be different and every entrapment unique; firefighters must be able to adapt to and overcome each specific challenge.

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Proper training, knowledge, skills, and experience are the keys to a successful life-saving extrication operation. With vehicle technology changing daily, the need for an aggressive, comprehensive extrication training program is imperative. Quality training programs include didactic method training, which provides students with the required theoretical knowledge as well as realistic and challenging hands-on training (HOT).

Firefighters must be able to modify, adapt, change, or combine procedures. They must possess a broad knowledge base, a certain skill level, mechanical abilities, a complete comprehension of extrication procedures, a proficiency using powered and manual tools, and a working knowledge of vehicle anatomy.

With the natural influx of new and inexperienced firefighters entering the fire service, quality training by experienced instructors is a must for any department. For many of the recruits, their experience working with extrication tools and equipment is minimal, usually limited to a short class during their basic fire academy. They require formal training on the various types of tools, vehicle anatomy, scene safety, stabilization, extrication procedures, and crew management.

Set up simulated incidents for training purposes; place a vehicle on top of another.

You can have a set of expensive, high-tech rescue tools on your apparatus, but without properly trained personnel to operate them correctly, they are useless.

Because of other department demands and training, most firefighters don’t get the hands-on “tool time” that they need to be as proficient as they should be. Fire chiefs, company officers, and training officers must recognize the importance of getting a balance of classroom and hands-on extrication training for all members that are required to respond to extrication incidents.

Hands-on trainings are the best way to learn and practice skills (old and new) and to ensure that your tools and equipment can complete the required operations. Practice extrication techniques and skills as often as possible. Set up simulated incidents: • Place a vehicle on top of another vehicle.

• Place them on their sides and on their tops.

• Use rescue dummies as victims.

• Simulate a leaking fuel tank or a downed power line.

• Practice in inclement weather.

The goal is to keep the training realistic and interesting. Try performing a standard skill (e.g., remove a door, remove a B-post, remove a roof) with different tools than you normally use. I had a team complete a B-Post Blow Out using a reciprocating saw, pipe wrench, hallagan tool, and come-a-long.

The best time to find out that you forgot how to do a certain skill, that you have never done it, or that a tool has a mechanical problem is during training, not on the emergency scene.

Recurrent training, practice, and continuing education are the only way you can keep up with the constant changes in vehicle construction, extrication tool development, and the safety needs of the rescuers. The Utah Fire and Rescue Academy (UFRA) is a great resource for fire departments to receive professional Vehicle Extrication Training (VET). Classes are offered locally, at regional fire schools, and at winter fire school each January. Contact your UFRA training program manager for information in setting up a class.

The Utah Fire and Rescue Academy is a great resource for fire departments to receive professional vehicle extrication training.

It is imperative that firefighters develop the mechanical knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to adapt to the challenges and complexities of a vehicle crash involving trapped victims. Train like you will perform; ensure you have the experience and skills to provide a safe, professional rescue. Your training and experience can make the difference in a life or death situation.

So, are you ready?

Stay Safe…Chief Young

Russell Young is a retired battalion chief and assistant training officer for the Orem Fire Department, where he was responsible for extrication and ambulance driving operations. He is the chief of the Duchesne Fire Department.

Russ has been a paramedic for over 22 years. He has a BS in emergency services management, is currently completing his MBA and MPS, has over 25 years of experience in fire and emergency medical service, and is an instructor and certification tester for UFRA.

Summer 2018 | 11

VOLUNTEER CHIEF'S CORNER

Transitioning from Firefighter to Fire Officer stand the role of fire officer and fire chief as well as how to deal with issues that arise in the fire service. Contact your UFRA program manager for information on these classes.

Author’s note: The Volunteer Chief 's Corner is intended to help new chief officers, particularly the fire chief (or anyone wanting to promote in the fire service), understand some of the basic requirements needed to make the transition from line fire officer or firefighter to chief officer. The articles can also be helpful for basic firefighters to understand some of the differences in the roles of firefighters and chief officers.

A major challenge many new fire chiefs face is the transition from a firefighter or a line officer to an administrator. The jobs are very different and require a new perspective. To give you some ideas on how best to navigate the transition from firefighter to fire officer, here are some resources that can help you learn more, train better, and make wise choices.

Your Sponsoring Entity As a fire chief, you will most likely report to a mayor, city manager, county commissioner, fire district board, or department manager. As soon as you are appointed, meet with that person and ask for direction on what is expected of you and your department. To be successful, a fire chief should know and understand their department’s and their sponsoring entity’s policies and procedures. Don’t assume that because the previous chief did things a certain way that your sponsoring entity or firefighters want you to do the same.

UFRA Training When it comes to transitioning in incident command, UFRA’s Command Training Center (CTC) can help. The CTC has recently undergone a curriculum overhaul. There are now training tracks for both career and volunteer departments, so take advantage of this training opportunity.

You may also want to consider enrolling in UFRA’s Officer I & II certification training and UFRA’s Supervising Fire Officer Designation Program. These programs can help you to better under12 | UFRA Straight Tip

A Chief Officer Network A wise new fire chief will establish a network of connections with other chief officers. With today’s technology (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), you are only a click away from getting help. If you have a problem, there are almost always other chiefs who have faced a similar issue, so why not learn from their failures and successes? If something works, there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

Human Resource Professionals A difficult part of administration is addressing legal issues such as employment, discrimination, and harassment laws. If your city, county, or district has a human resources director, that person can help you maneuver through some of the complex employment laws and regulations. If there is no human resources director, seek guidance from your sponsoring entity for direction on all workplace injury, hiring, and discrimination and for other legal matters.

Maneuvering through some of the more complex management duties may appear daunting, but don’t be discouraged; all new fire chiefs face the same or similar issues. We all learn line upon line, and you cannot be expected to know every duty at first. I have been a chief officer for well over a decade, and I am still learning aspects of the job. If you utilize these resources and continue to seek to improve, you will find success; more important, you will be able to sleep at night knowing you have done the best you can.

Chief Paul Bedont has served as a volunteer as well as a career firefighter and is currently employed as the fire chief for Price City. He has worked for various private, state, county, and local governments and holds a degree in criminal justice from USU.

FIRE TACTICS

Surviving the MAYDAY Starts before the MAYDAY On March 31, 2000, I was involved in a rapid intervention operation that ended in a line-of-duty death (LODD) within my department. Nothing is more devastating to an organization than losing one of your own. Since that day I have made it my mission to train firefighters on how to survive similar mayday events.

High Frequency/High Risk Maydays Let’s first focus on the high frequency/high risk. These are those events where, more often than not, a firefighter should be able to self-rescue. A rapid intervention team (RIC) has the ability to increase the likelihood of this self-rescue, but firefighters that become separated from their crew, hose line, wall, or tag line, that experience collapse without entanglement, and that are running out of air should not be dying. There are some key concepts that can increase the chance of survival for these firefighters.

Avoid Mayday Situations First, don’t put yourself into a mayday situation to begin with.

Stay with your crew, maintain two points of contact, and

High Frequency/High Risk

understand air management. With that being said, create a culture of calling maydays: conduct realistic, applicable, and ongoing mayday training and don’t allow anyone to belittle, bully, or intimidate a firefighter who called a mayday.

Establish Survival Benchmarks Next, firefighters should establish survival benchmarks, which can help them make solid survival decisions. These benchmarks allow firefighters to predetermine if they should stay and wait for RIC while conserving their air or if they should attempt to selfrescue. At no time should we just lie there and give up.

Know Your Air Pack If you do not know how long you can work in your air pack, shame on you! All operational personnel need to understand the limits of YOUR air pack—knowing what the alarms mean, policies for operating in an IDLH (immediately dangerous to life or health) environment, emergency procedures, and PSI vs. Time under workload. How long can you work with 50% and 25% in a

Low Frequency/High Risk

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY * Disorienta on * Sepera on from Crew * Off Hose Line * Collapse without Entrapment

SELF-RESCUE * Small Area * Iden fied Outside Wall (Light Weight) * Loca on of Hose Line (use coupling)

* Collapse with Entrapment * Collapse to lower floor, no exit * Entanglement * Lost in Large Area * SCBA Failure * Facepiece Failure

RIC Opera on LOW AIR ALARM 50% PSI vs. Time Time = Op ons Op ons = Survival

* Large Area, No Landmarks Located * Outside Wall Solid * Air at 25% a er A empted Self-Rescue

Never Give Up and Never Stop Surviving!!!

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self-rescue situation? How long can you conserve your air at 50% and 25% when you are unable to self-rescue? No more excuses; get out and train, breathe air, challenge yourself under difficult scenarios, and work to understand your air pack as if your life depends on it. Wait, it does!

Rethink RIC In a high risk/high frequency mayday, an RIC can give firefighters a greater chance of self-rescue. The RIC should be the busiest team on the fire ground, yet deployment/recovery time studies show that there is nothing rapid about RIC! We need to rethink the acronym “Rapid Intervention Team.” Let’s change what RIC stands for: • Recon (360)/Rescue/Recovery • Identify (location of interior crews, placement of ladders), Illuminate (Alpha & Charlie minimum and all egresses possible without interrupting fire behavior), IAP (know the direction of the incident as the incident commander sees it) • Construction (softening and entry tools required), Communication (with incident commander, safety officer, and RIC crew) So, next time you are assigned to an RIC, be proud to support your fellow firefighters; be proactive, pay attention to the incident, monitor the radio, and be prepared to go to work.

Fight to Survive!

Low frequency/high risk maydays do also happen; there will be an occasional collapse with entrapment, entanglement, and SCBA failure. However, over the years we have spent a lot of time training on these low-frequency events and tend to forget about training our firefighters how to self-rescue out of the highfrequency mayday situations.

The lack of self-rescue training became apparent during a critical thinking/self-rescue drill I conducted with 25 firefighters, all with varying degree of experience. One at a time, I placed each of these firefighters in 20’x40’ room and added a few obstructions including a minor collapse (which they were allowed to free themselves from if they tried), narrow hallways, and a charged hose line. I then watched in horror as one after another, they died. I watched firefighters lie down and give up, panic, not call a mayday until their low-air alarm, and make no attempt to locate landmarks or self-rescue. Many of them stated, “I’m going to wait for an RIC.” However, most shocking was watching a trained firefighter stand up and aimlessly walk around the room, attempting to locate anything he could. As a former training officer, I had failed to recognize this enormous hole of developing our firefighters’ critical thinking during survival situations.

Train and Think Outside the Box As firefighters within this dynamic, constantly changing, and challenging world of firefighting, we need to make sure to practice our craft. Take your crew out and do simple training drills, like coupling recognition, identification of outside vs. interior

Recon/Rescue/Recovery Identify/Illuminate/IAP Construction/Communication walls, air management, self-rescue from windows, use of tag lines, and communications.

Remember to use the tools you are given: use thermals imagers to track your crews, identify fire behavior issues, and don’t forget to look behind yourself every once in a while. You may want to know what your exit looks like. Use the tools in your pockets: the rope bag with a carabiner becomes a great casting tool to locate a wall. In big box stores, feel those expansion joints on the floors, which lead you toward walls. I know there is no 100% in our job, but when you locate a residential wall full of insulation, there’s a good chance you are on an outside wall. If you are unable to selfrescue at that point, I know a certain team that has the ability to make walls/windows into doors. Make sure you have forcible entry tools in case you need to breach a wall or at least the forcible entry tool that gives you the ability to make a lot of noise for other crews to locate you.

Most importantly, stay calm, strike those early maydays, and use your training to save your life. Giving up is not an option!

Jared Sholly is a twenty-four-year veteran of the fire service. He started his career with Layton City Fire and moved through the ranks of firefighter, driver/operator, captain, battalion chief, and training battalion chief. Jared is currently the Riverdale City fire chief. He has an BS degree from Utah Valley University and has lectured at local fire academies, the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy, the State Fire Chiefs Conference, the Fire House Expo, the Governors Conference, and many local leadership programs. Jared reviewed the LODD of Kendall O. Bryant and has shared his personal experience of this incident with more than 3800 firefighters in multiple states over a 13-year span. “We will never forget and will always honor our fallen brother.”

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by Daniel Walton, Tooele County Fire Warden for Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands

Last year Tooele County had 151 reported wildfire incidents, totaling 5,899 acres burned. As the county fire warden, I oversee and implement the risk reduction activities identified in the community wildfire preparedness plan. In the planning phase I looked for opportunities that would benefit the county, the citizens, and the local fire departments. Tooele County’s annual participation commitment for risk reduction activities is $434,278. To start out, I created a project reimbursement system that would allow me to employ local fire departments on mitigation projects and provide them with an avenue to generate additional income. Next, I set up a program code with the state that would allow me to utilize state resources on mitigation projects that are funded by the county. Finally, I began looking for opportunities to reach out to private landowners and offer them a chance to partner with the county on fuels reduction projects.

The Terra Fire Department, Engine 630, and the Wasatch Front fire management officer leading controlled burns as part of the statewide risk-reduction plan.

When a landowner shows interest in participating in the system, I analyze the work to be done, estimate the costs, and develop a plan of work that benefits all parties involved. These plans include a cost share solution that is typically too good to refuse, and I think that getting the landowner to commit to a fee shows participation and gets them more invested in the results.

From there it is a matter of getting contracts and liability waivers signed. Then we plan, schedule, and implement the project.

This risk-reduction system started in the spring of 2017 throughout the state and since then we have done seven controlled burns, four juniper mastication projects, two hand treat-

Our number one priority when implementing these projects is firefighter and public safety. We ensure that we utilize qualified and reputable personnel and we follow national standards for safety protocols. We do our best to ensure no negative impacts to the citizens and that the work we complete has a positive effect on the overall ecosystems in the county. These mitigation projects are intended to reduce the severity of wildfires and to protect the communities of Tooele County.

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ment projects, and a weeklong chipper day event. We have employed three fire departments, two professional contractors, some volunteers, and various state resources, including the Alta Hotshots.

Some benefits to this system are the opportunities for training and relationship building. Whenever possible we will utilize trainees that are working on NWCG qualifications, or we try to partner the experienced firefighters with less experienced firefighters for informal hands-on training. Relationships and memories are made between firefighters, fire departments, state resources, and the public.

To learn more about mitigation projects and how to implement them in your communities, please visit ffsl.utah.gov.

photograph by Daniel Walton

WILDLAND

Working with Private Landowners to Implement Wildfire Mitigation

Changes to Utah Fireworks Law 2017 saw a dramatic increase in brush fires caused by fireworks use. In response, the Utah legislature passed House Bill 38, which modified the laws pertaining to fireworks use during the summer holidays.

40% reduction in dates fireworks are allowed in July • •

Fireworks would be allowed July 2–5 and July 22–25, instead of July 1–7 and July 21–27.

Fireworks would still be allowed on New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Stronger penalties for shooting fireworks outside of permitted dates and times •

Penalty for discharging fireworks when not permitted would be up to a $1,000 fine, an increase from $750. Violations would remain an infraction.

New penalty for igniting fireworks in restricted areas •

Up to a $1,000 penalty and an infraction for discharging fireworks in an area where fireworks have been prohibited due to hazardous environmental conditions.

More local control •

Provides clarity and increased flexibility to local governments and the state forester to prohibit the discharge of fireworks due to historic or current hazardous environmental conditions.

Easier to understand restrictions and penalties •

•

Requires local governments and the state forester to create and provide maps showing where fireworks are prohibited due to hazardous environmental conditions.

Requires retailers to display maps that counties provide showing these restricted areas and display signs that indicate legal dates and times as well as criminal penalties and fines for violations.

Increased liability for causing a fire with fireworks •

•

Civil liability for negligently, recklessly, or intentionally causing a fire with fireworks potentially includes any damages caused by the fire and any costs of suppressing the fire.

Discharging fireworks any time of year outside these dates is still a Class B Misdemeanor.

Summer 2018 | 17

BACK TO BASICS

Teaching to Learn I planned the days for training, made the copies of materials, and created a presentation using the new technology of the day called PowerPoint… and I was still petrified. The morning of the first class arrived, and I stood in front of the first crews. Of course they were boisterous and inattentive and playing around. The last class they wanted to attend was one about fire inspections.

Recall a time in your service as a firefighter when you attended a course and got really excited about the subject matter. You wanted, more than anything, to bring this back to your department and share it with your comrades. You thought, wow, we need this! When you got back, you looked at the material and said to yourself, “Self, I don’t understand this enough to share it.

I don’t wanna look dumb, so I’ll just tuck it away and use it for myself.” Such a waste of time and talent. That’s not why the training officer sent you to the class, and I guarantee it’s not what the chief expected from you upon your return.

In the fire service we need to understand the concept of “teaching to learn.” This is a concept that I’ve used many times throughout my career. I will never forget my teachingto-learn experience when I was a rookie fire inspector. I had some good ideas about inspections and how we could make them more effective, efficient, and beneficial to the crews. The fire marshal agreed to my plan and said, ok, now go out there and sell it. I now had the task of training the department to conduct business inspections using a new set of rules. I was petrified. I had no idea how to proceed or even how I would be accepted by my new peers.

Well, I had a job to do and so I would do it. But how? I read the NFPA standards, I read the Uniform Fire Code, I read related articles, I practiced using some of the new forms that I had created, and I asked advice from the fire marshal, tapping his experience. I began to see a vision of how it would possibly come together.

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As I nervously began, they quieted down, and as time moved along, they began to actually look at the material I had given them and listen to the new inspection program I was presenting. Good questions followed, and to my surprise, I had the answers. The students offered supportive comments, and they liked the new plan and appreciated the refresher.

The fear left me and confidence filled the void. I loosened up and actually had fun—it wasn’t miserable for them and I didn’t feel dumb. The presentation went well, and the guys respected my effort to make it informative and as entertaining as it could be. I had the answers, and my confidence showed because I was prepared.

Through my preparation and my teaching of the material, I grew and I learned. I realized that I had internalized the concepts that I had taught and that I felt, on some level, a sense of mastery of them.

Basically, if you want to learn something, teach it. Research it, study it out, practice it, internalize it, memorize it, and make it yours. The old fire marshal who tasked me with teaching the concepts I brought to him knew what he was doing—he also taught to learn.

Andy Byrnes, EFO, MEd, retired after 21 years at the Orem Fire Department as a special operations battalion chief. He currently works as an associate professor for Utah Valley University and as director of the university's Recruit Candidate Academy.

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LEADERSHIP

Cultivating Leadership Through Mentorship No true leader is successfully able to navigate through the course of their career without the benefit of a mentor or multiple mentors. The fire service is currently at a major crossroad in regard to succession planning as the Baby Boomers “age out” of the workplace. There has never been a more crucial time in recent history in the fire service for leadership to analyze what is being done to ensure success in organizations. A step in the right direction involves good, solid mentorship by the leaders truly interested in leaving a legacy and a healthy organization.

An ancient Chinese proverb says, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” Likewise, mentors need to be ready to reach out to those that are preparing to be future leaders. “Mentoring someone is not creating them in your image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves,” said famed film producer Steven Spielberg. One must find the right mentor for the right reasons at the right time.

Looking back on my life, I had (and still have) several mentors through seasons of my personal life and of my career. Each brought a different aspect of expertise in a particular area of life that gave knowledge, direction, and wisdom that I could apply in my life.

Here are three components of effective mentorship: A CULTIVATED RELATIONSHIP For strong mentoring to occur, the mentor and the mentee must have cultivated a relationship, which has to be founded on trust.

Understanding the mentee’s personality, belief, background, motivations, and goals are key to beginning a successful process.

“It is important to set expectations upfront at the beginning of the relationship. Both mentor and mentee should be frank about what they expect, what they can offer, and what they need.”1 I heard a quote once that said, “The soldier in the thick of the battle doesn’t know who is winning.” We mentor people because an outside perspective is crucial for providing direction.

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE Mentees must know they are in a unique position to learn from their mentor’s knowledge and experiences. Someone is giving up some of the most valuable commodity they own: their time. When direction or advice is given, the mentee can choose to accept or reject it. The mentee has to approach what is said with the right attitude, knowing the mentor only has their best interest at heart. The mentee should take the time to analyze the advice, evaluate it, and see if it applies. The mentor often has to help the mentee see how to make lemonade out of lemons.

REGULAR COMMUNICATION For the mentoring process to be effective, there needs to be some regular dialogue or other communication. There has to be total honesty and a willingness on the part of the mentee to “handle the truth” to get accurate counsel. The mentee has to avoid the temptation to tell the mentor what they think they want to hear!

Utilizing real world “role play” can be effective to work through situations. Chances are that the mentor has dealt with something similar, say a personnel issue, and can be an effective “role player” to give one the opportunity to try to resolve the issue.

Mentors have to resist the tendency to “rescue” the mentee. To do so would take away one of the most important ways we learn: experience. The attitude of a mentor should be, “I won’t take credit when you win. I won’t take blame when you don’t.”

The fire service needs mentors and mentees now for our organizations to continue to grow and flourish. “Mentoring is an

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Three components of effective mentorship: • A Cultivated

Lori Howes Nomination

Relationship • The Right Attitude • Regular Communication involved process that requires time, energy, discretion, patience, and discipline. It can be difficult. But there is really nothing that pays off as well for a leader as the ability to mentor other leaders to develop and grow.” 2 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

1 Altman, Ian, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Mentoring,” Forbes, September 12, 2017.

Brady, Chris and Woodward, Orrin, Launching a Leadership Revolution, (2006) Obstacles Press, Grand Blanc, MI. 2

Lori Howes, Program Manager for the Certification Office at the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy, was recently nominated by a group of her peers at the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to serve as vice chairperson of the Certificate Assembly Board of Governors (CABOG). As such, Lori will work closely with the chair of the CABOG to promote the mission of IFSAC, which is “to provide and administer a highquality, internationally recognized, standards-based accrediting program in order to enhance and increase professionalism within fire and emergency services.”

Lori has been an employee of UFRA for 20 years and has worked for the last 10 years as UFRA’s certification program manager.

Kevin Ward is a 40-year fire service veteran, having been the fire chief for Layton City since 2004.

Prior to this appointment, Chief Ward progressed through the ranks from firefighter/paramedic to battalion chief with the Chandler Fire Department in Arizona.

He holds several NWCG qualifications, such as ICT3 and Structure Protection Specialist, and is an instructor for the Utah Fire & Rescue Academy. Chief Ward has been an instructor for UFRA’s Command Training Center since its inception.

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DEPARTMENT IN FOCUS

MOUNTAIN GREEN FIRE PROTECTION

by Brian ‘Odie’ Brendel, Assistant Fire Chief

photography by Michelle Brendel Officers and some of the members of MGFPD at Brush 131's Wet Down ceremony, led by Chief Lester Stone (on the left).

Mountain Green Fire Protection District (MGFPD) was formed in 1971 to provide more rapid response to fires in Mountain Green in Morgan County. Service had been provided by the Morgan County Fire Department, but the station was over 10 miles away from most of Mountain Green, which meant a long response time for initial fire suppression.

By the Numbers Morgan County is roughly 600 square miles of farms, hills, and mountains, interspersed with new subdivisions of homes in the wildland-urban interface. Mountain Green has become a popular community for people to live in, with shopping, entertainment, and both winter and summer recreation all within a short drive.

requested. Morgan Ambulance provides transport service. All firefighters are trained as Red Cross Emergency Medical responders, and about half of the 26 firefighters are EMT or AEMT as well.

Skiers, boaters, tubers, and mountain bikers traverse the district and add to the potential patient population. The district runs about 150 calls per year including fire, EMS, hazmat, and rescue incidents.

In September of last year, several units from Mountain Green Fire assisted at the Uintah Fire, a 600-acre wildland fire in Weber County, fighting the fire and providing direct structural protection for several homes and businesses over a 12-hour period.

Challenges Mountain Green Fire is presented with unique challenges. The district is an all-volunteer department, yet many subdivisions in its jurisdiction include newer homes that are Class 5 lightweight wood frame multi-story homes with open floor plans built in close proximity to the wildland-urban interface. Being a small community with no commercial development to speak of, MGFPD cannot afford to pay a daytime staff; we depend on volunteers and the assistance of the only other fire department in Morgan County, Morgan County Fire Department, which is also volunteer and experiencing similar growth issues. Mountain Green and Morgan have an automatic aid agreement and are dispatched together on most fire calls within Morgan County. We also meet regularly with our mutual aid partners in neighboring Weber County. Cooperation is key to mitigating incidents, especially with the challenges we face in our district.

Only about a third of the district firefighters are Firefighter I and II certified, though a class scheduled for May–June is sure to help train additional members.

We have experienced a large increase in untrained fire personnel over the past year, and UFRA has assisted Mountain Green by supplying training props and instructors for initial attack, flashover, and forcible-entry training. We are fortunate to have several active and retired

The district contains about six miles of I-84 and the Union Pacific Railroad Main Transcontinental line as well as numerous underground pipelines that run through Weber Canyon and along the Weber River. There is a small airport, and the district’s firefighters have handled several airplane and glider crashes.

MGFPD provides fire suppression and first-responder EMS for the 13-squaremile district and on mutual aid as 22 | UFRA Straight Tip

Our old sign and now our new electronic sign outside the station give us an outlet to disseminate important information and has been hugely successful for recruiting new volunteers.

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Members of the Mountain Green Fire Protection District training on UFRA’s Forcible Entry Trailer.

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Weber Canyon extrication with Riverdale Heavy 41.

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In conclusion, due to its location and amenities, the Mountain Green Fire Protection District is primed for potential new growth, and the firefighters are preparing for the influx of new residents and an increase in call volume. A five-year Fire Protection Plan is being developed, and various grants and funding initiatives are in the works to allow limited paid daytime staffing, new apparatus purchases including a Quint, a fire alarm/sprinkler system for the station, and cycled replacement of other tools and apparatus.

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Another way we have involved our community is with a wooden message board with informational messages displayed for many years in front of the fire station, which is located on the main highway.

Last year, we installed an electronic message board to inform residents of wildfire conditions, canyon closures, and fire district events. We also encouraged residents to volunteer (“Become a Firefighter!

Volunteers Needed!”), and the results have been staggering. In 2013, we were down to only 3 or 4 active responders, but since we installed the electronic sign, we have gone from about 12 members to 26. The majority of the new rookies told us their reason for volunteering was that they “saw it on the sign”!

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Fire Apparatus • Engine 131: a 2005 Pierce/Kenworth commercial cab top-mount 1250 GPM pumper with a 1000-gallon water tank and 20-gallon Class A foam tank. It is equipped with 1000 feet of 5” hose, a 5KW generator and an assortment of gasoline saws and blower.

• Squad 131: a 2010 Ford F550/EOne. It is the primary EMS response vehicle, containing EMS supplies and basic rescue tools. It also carries a Hurst Combi-tool, Cutter, and rams; a set of high-pressure Paratech airbags; Rescue PFDs (personal flotation life vests); and a small Honda 2000 portable generator with light. SCBAs are also carried.

• Brush 131: a 2016 Ford F550/ Watts Manufacturing Type 6 Brush truck. The 275 GPM diesel pump is remote controlled from the cab and runs off the vehicle fuel tank.

It carries 400 gallons of water and a 10-gallon foam cell and sports a bumper-mount turret controlled by a joystick in the cab.

• Brush 132: a 2006 Ford F550/Larkin Equipment Type 6 Brush Truck. It has a small Honda 150 GPM pump and a 400-gallon tank.

• Squad 132: a 2001 F250 with a cap and was the former frontline squad.

It’s mainly used for additional personnel transport and for plowing snow with a large mounted V-plow en route to calls.

Community Involvement The first significant open house MGFPD ever held was last June, when our new Type 6 Brush Truck was dedicated in an old-fashioned fire truck Wet Down. We dedicated the new truck, with the help of neighboring departments. Over 300 people came to see the displays, including Smokey the Bear and the DNR Fire Games/Education tent. We even developed a “Kids, Be a Firefighter” game, where we cut out and painted plywood “flames” on hinges and had the kids squirt water from a brush truck to “knock the flames down.” Local businesses donated food and drinks, and the day was an overwhelming success.

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professional firefighters and longtime volunteer firefighters that reside in Mountain Green. These members provide a high level of training to the volunteers, and their experience and expertise help to modernize the district’s equipment and provide a higher level of service to the community.

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Beyond the Call of Duty Serving the Families of Tanker 11

by Nick Howell, Color Country Interagency Fire Management

On April 12, 2018, firefighters from Utah’s interagency fire community gathered again to serve the families of the Tanker 11 tragedy that occurred on June 3, 2012. The tragedy took the lives of Todd Tompkins and Ronnie Chambless. These two men were killed while flying a heavy airtanker and protecting firefighters on the ground during the White Rock Fire near the Utah-Nevada border, west of Cedar City. Their deaths served as a painful reminder of the ugly reality and inherent danger of fighting wildfires. It’s our duty to stand together and remember the sacrifices made to protect life, property, and our nation’s public land.

To remember and honor the sacrifice of these two men and their families, the Lone Peak Hotshots took the first step in creating an incredible memorial site and organized a formal dedication on June 3, 2016, at the Cedar City Air Tanker Base. Since then, annual plans were continued locally to protect the memorial site and to ensure the future of this sacred location.

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Because this area is home to elk, deer, and wild horses, it became evident that further steps were needed to protect the memorial. Through donations and countless volunteer work hours, a maintenance day was scheduled to make improvements to the memorial. The Lone Peak Hotshots; Dixie National Forest; Forestry, Fire & State Lands; the Bureau of Land Management; and residents of Hamlin Valley teamed up to make this work day a huge success.

“Not only are we making a difference for Todd and Ronnie’s families but this project brings the interagency fire community together and helps everyone better understand the history and importance of this memorial site,” said Trevor Pollock, fire engine captain for Color Country Interagency Fire. “We will never forget their sacrifice and we wouldn’t be this far along without the State of Utah’s leadership and previous efforts of the Lone Peak Hotshots.”

Red Card Process Changes These facing stones were erected to remember the sacrifices of Todd Tompkins and Ronnie Chambless.

Group photo at the maintenance day for the memorial site.

Fences and other barriers were constructed to protect the memorial from local wildlife.

At the end of the day, this project provided a strong foundation for building more in the future to protect the final resting place of the aircraft that carried Todd and Ronnie on June 3, 2012. In addition, the memorial site is now a more appropriate site for their families to visit. To build upon this year’s success, Interagency Fire Management is committed to holding annual workdays for future improvements.

On May 16, 2018, the Utah Fire Service Certification Council approved a proposal that will separate the process of obtaining an Incident Qualification Card, or “Red Card,” from the requirements of obtaining Wildland certification. As of May 16th, the UFRA Certification Office will be the clearinghouse for Red Cards issued to Utah firefighters and will issue Red Cards at arduous, moderate, and light fitness levels depending on various position qualifications.

This change was initiated to make the process of obtaining a Red Card easier for, and more accessible to, the firefighter. The new process will allow all Utah fire department members to receive a Red Card without taking the state certification exam. Departments will still have the option to test and receive certification, but certification will no longer be a requirement.

How the process will work: • Departments will work closely with their area’s fire management officer (FMO) and/ or fire county warden from their respective division of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands. The area FMO will ensure all necessary training and testing for the Red Card is complete.

• The area FMO will enter all training and completion certificates into the IQS database before a Red Card is requested.

• The department chief/training officer will complete the new UFRA “Red Card Request Form” and send it to the Certification Office, where the Red Card will then be issued.

• Departments may still take the state certification exams for Wildland Firefighter I and II. The process for requesting an exam will remain the same.

An information packet to walk you through the new process can be found at uvu.edu/ufra under the “Certification” tab. Please contact the Certification Office if you have questions regarding this new process. UFRA is continually looking for ways to better serve fire departments and firefighters, so we are excited to begin this new venture in concert with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands.

Summer 2018 | 25

Utah Communities Participate in National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day Thanks to active residents, four Utah communities were awarded funding to reduce the risk of wildfire and increase public safety.

Dutch John, Cedar City, Fishlake, and Millcreek communities teamed up with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and State Farm for the fifth annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day event on May 5, 2018.

Skyler Stratford of Millcreek said partners in his community hosted a wildland-urban interface education day to address potential fire behavior scenarios and evacuation routes. The event offered opportunities for officials to conduct lot assessments and provide guidance on how to remove hazardous vegetation and create defensible space in the event of a wildfire.

This national campaign encourages people to come together on a single day to take action and prepare for wildfire. Residents living in high-risk areas organize and accomplish projects to reduce their risk of wildfire damage and make their communities safer places to live.

Together with NFPA and State Farm, Utah communities can learn about the importance of wildfire preparedness and the power of prevention. Additional information can be found at www.wildfireprepday.org.

Mike Byrnes of Dutch John said his community promoted preparedness for initial attack by purchasing fire shelters, shovels, and other wildland firefighting tools and safety equipment.

Paul Starks of Cedar City said his community rented chippers for the annual clean-up day to promote defensible space around homes.

Dessa Heppler of Fishlake said her community rented dump trucks for the annual clean-up day, focusing on removing the fallen trees from cabin lots and along roads.

26 | UFRA Straight Tip

Volunteers in Cedar Highlands donated their time and worked together to help prevent wildfires in their own community.

photography by Paul Starks

Clearing brush, like this group is doing in Cedar Highlands, is one way to get the public involved in making their communities safer.

Hobble Creek Firefighter Invitational Springville Fire Dept August 27th, 2018 7:00 am Check In 8:00 am Start 4 Man Scramble Format Traveling Trophy Award-winning Course Lunch, Green Fee, Cart, & Prizes included

$50 per person Hobble Creek Golf Course 94 Hobble Creek Canyon Springville, UT 801.489.6297 – Call to Sign Up Contact: Springville FD......801.491.5600 Ryan..................801.319.3775 Summer 2018 | 27

Origin Protection for First Responders For human-caused fires on public land, ALWAYS order a fire investigator.

All of these steps will help the investigators:

28 | UFRA Straight Tip

•

Flag off any areas of concern—DO NOT ENTER.

•

Remember, there could be several origin areas.

•

Do not drive through any area that could be the origin.

•

Record observations (even en route).

•

Record vehicles that are leaving the area.

•

Record who is there.

•

Take note of fire behavior.

•

Capture photos of the smoke column.

•

Request law enforcement if suspect(s) are on scene.

•

Request law enforcement for scene/origin protection.

•

Don’t touch potential evidence.

Utah’s Own America’s Fallen Firefighter Memorial

by Paul Sullivan, Rich King, and Mike Leatham

In the fire service, we strongly believe in honoring our fallen.

This belief stems from our understanding that we have an interconnected bond; regardless of how or where one serves, we are a family. We also realize that it takes special people to be in this business. The fact is, the fire service is a calling—and being called to serve, and more importantly willing to serve, means accepting the sacrifices that come with it.

corporations. We estimate we need to sell an additional 4,000 bricks to complete the memorial.

• Support the Fire Ride each year. On September 8th of this year we will hold our largest fundraising event of the year. Whether you ride or not, you can participate!

Purchase shirts or other AFFM items, and visit the memorial. Each year following this ride, a memorial service is held to read the names of the previous year’s fallen firefighters.

• Visit our website (www.fallenfirefightermemorial.org) and Facebook page and spread the word about the Fire Ride and the memorial! The more people know about it, the faster it will grow!

• Volunteer! The Fire Ride is a great opportunity to volunteer in our community and educate the public.

Volunteers help the event run smoothly by handing out programs and brick flyers, selling items to raise funds, educating the public about the brick program, and participating in other ways.

• Please donate. This memorial has been built entirely though private contributions.

We honor our fallen because we recognize each firefighter death happened for reasons most often connected to this profession.

Firefighters around the world tragically die simply doing their jobs. We can see and recognize these deaths in real-time, and we honor their sacrifice. So many others, though, die from the stresses of this profession. According to the NFPA, 38% of firefighters’ deaths in 2016 were related to sudden cardiac death1, while “cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for approximately 45% of all firefighter duty-related fatalities.”2 The psychological toll is also great, with prevalence of suicide or suicide attempts being “10 times the rate of the general population.”3 For these reasons and others, America’s Fallen Firefighter Memorial (AFFM) in Ogden, Utah, was conceived, and great progress is being made toward its completion. One might ask, don’t we have enough memorials? The answer is no; there are other memorials—even the national memorial in Emmitsburg, MD—but AFFM is simply different: • AFFM honors all fallen firefighters in all 50 states, from the early 1800s until now.

• It is open to the public year-round. The memorial is located in the 25th Street park at 25th Street and Washington Blvd in Ogden, so it is always open and accessible.

• The memorial acknowledges that not all firefighters die while on duty and has set aside locations to acknowledge those firefighters who died due to the psychological and medical stressors of this job.

• Once completed, this memorial will be the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

The AFFM Committee invites all firefighters and the public to support this incredible memorial and help us honor our fallen brothers and sisters. We estimate $350,000 is still needed to fully complete the memorial. There are several ways you can get involved: • Purchase bricks. Bricks are available for purchase by individuals, businesses, families, fire departments, or

Our members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice deserve our honor and respect. We honor them through recognizing them and learning what their deaths teach us. No fallen firefighter shall ever be forgotten, nor shall they have died in vain. Please join us in honoring them through supporting this memorial!

References NFPA (June 2017). Firefighter Deaths by Cause and Nature of Injury. Retrieved from: https://www.nfpa.org/News-andResearch/Fire-statistics-and-reports/Fire-statistics/Thefire-service/Fatalities-and-injuries/Firefighter-deathsby-cause-and-nature-of-injury.

1

Smith, et al. (2013). Extreme sacrifice: sudden cardiac death in the US Fire Service. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710100/.

2

Venteicher, W. (2017). Increasing suicide rates among first responders spark concern. Retrieved from Fire Rescue magazine: https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-ems/ articles/222673018-Increasing-suicide-rates-amongfirst-responders-spark-concern/.

3

Summer 2018 | 29

30 | UFRA Straight Tip

Summer 2018 | 31

Keeping the "fire" of patriotism in Wasatch County.

Growing Pains, Part IV Wasatch County Fire/EMS

by Ernie Giles, Wasatch County Fire Chief

If we are to increase fire/ EMS protection and service, what are our expectations for fire/EMS in our communities?

32 | UFRA Straight Tip

In the previous articles in this series, I discussed Wasatch County Fire/EMS and our response capabilities and plans to keep up with the growth of our response area. As we seek to grow with our growing community, we must ask certain questions: If we are to increase fire/EMS protection and service in Wasatch County or anywhere else throughout the state, what are our expectations for fire/EMS in our communities? What is the desired outcome of an increase in service? As part of the plan to meet our own community’s expectations to increase a rapid response and professional service, we have formed a Citizens Fire Advisory Board Committee for the Wasatch County Fire Protection District.

The Citizens Fire Advisory Board Committee The committee is made up of county residents with a broad background of experience ranging from governmental leadership, community and county council service, volunteer assignments, business management, and fire and EMS service. It has been formally chartered and conducts meetings on a bi-weekly schedule. Overseen by the fire chief, the committee is led by a chairperson, who operates from an agenda that includes assigned tasks and completion dates.

Budget Review and Needs Assessment The committee was recently tasked with reviewing the proposed annual budget and advising the fire chief on the best use of the funds. Through this review, areas of the budget have been identified where additional funding is needed to continue basic services.

The advisory board committee has also determined that a needs assessment of our district should be completed as soon as possible. A needs assessment is paramount for identifying critical areas of the county where services need to be added and also for identifying gaps in the current service offering. Assessments of this magnitude need to be completed by licensed, qualified personnel who specialize in fire protection, EMS, and other public safety services. The committee assisted the district in securing one-time funding through the fire board and has hired a contractor to complete this important task. Ideally, the cost of the needs assessment will pay for itself by helping to eliminate unnecessary spending and by spelling out the best course of action as the department grows.

Our most recent apparatus purchase is this 2018 Pierce Velocity heavy duty ladder and pumper.

The purpose of the advisory board is to help identify the needs and requirements of public safety, primarily fire protection, and disseminate critical information to the residents.

With a needs assessment in hand, the committee will work with the fire chief to build a new strategic plan, which will include a clearly defined course of action to improve services. The next installment of this series will further detail the needs assessment process and the benefits of that assessment in the growth of Wasatch County Fire/EMS.

Food Truck Inspector Training Food Truck inspector training that covers propane safety, fire safety, and fire prevention

firemarshal.utah.gov/department-services/food-truck-training-for-fire-inspectors/ Summer 2018 | 33

Climbing the Ladder Corey Auger has been hired as the Uintah and Daggett County fire warden. Corey will develop and oversee the wildland fire program within the counties and wildfire suppression on private and non-federal property.

Corey served in the US Army for almost seven years as a staff sergeant specializing in reconnaissance and forward security. He was deployed overseas in 2003. After completing his service with the army, he and his family relocated to Jensen, Utah.

Corey and his wife, Ruth, have been married for 19 years and are firefighters/EMTs with the Jensen Volunteer Fire Department, where he holds a captain position.

Katie Gibble has been hired as the Wasatch Front

wildland-urban interface coordinator. Katie will promote, manage, and direct fuels reduction and community wildfire preparedness for Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Tooele, and Utah counties.

Katie has a bachelor’s degree in geology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, and a master’s degree in geoscience from Boise State University, where she researched post-fire erosion and wildfire policy. While in Boise, Katie worked for the Boise Fire Department as the wildfire mitigation intern in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

Chris Lewis has been hired as the Juab County fire warden. Chris will develop and oversee the wildland fire program within Juab County. As the state representative for wildland fire in the county, he will protect private and public property by preventing the origin and spread of fire on non-federal

Forestry, Fire & State Lands forest and rangelands and help the county, communities, and landowners protect their lands through effective fire prevention and mitigation programs.

Chris joined Rocky Ridge Fire Department in 2003.

He has 15 years of experience in structural and wildland fire and is currently a firefighter for Juab Special Service Fire District.

Mark Marcum has been hired as the Grand County fire warden. Mark will develop and oversee the wildland fire program within the counties and wildfire suppression on private and non-federal property.

Mark began his fire career in 2002 as a seasonal employee with the Bureau of Land Management in Moab. He served as the Grand County Fire Warden from 2012–2015. He has been the fire chief of the

Thompson Springs Volunteer Fire Department since 2012 and is an advanced emergency medical technician.

Leann Fox has been hired as the communications, prevention, and education coordinator.

Leann will coordinate the development and implementation of a statewide, interagency, data-driven wildfire prevention and fire prevention education strategy that will be long term and comprehensive.

She will serve as a wildland fire information officer and provide information to the media and public about wildfire management and prevention and other fire activities.

Leann has a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from Utah State University. While in school, Leann fought wildland fire out of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Later she detailed in public affairs for the U.S. Forest Service.

Logan City FD recently had several promotions: Front row, left to right: Adam Hoglund—past probation Seth Francis—Driver/Engineer Andy Shock—Captain Travis Burton—Driver/Engineer Race Black—past probation Back row, left to right: Justin Elder—past probation John Fullmer—Battalion Chief Kyle Lindsay—Assistant Chief Jeremy Poppleton—Driver/Engineer Rory Jackson—Driver/Engineer 34 | UFRA Straight Tip

Jason Torgerson has been hired as the Central Area manager. He will manage forestry and fire programs for Juab, Sanpete, Millard, Sevier, Piute, and Wayne counties.

After four years of service in the navy, Jason and his wife moved to central Utah, where he worked on the Fishlake National Forest. Jason obtained a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in business administration. He applied his schooling to forest management. He was on a Type 1 fire buying team for over 10 years. Most recently, Jason was a contract specialist on the Shoshone National Forest in Cody, WY.

Congratulations, Fire Officer Designation Recipients The Utah Commission on Fire Officer Designation and the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy are proud to recognize Brandon Parr and Gary McCloy from Layton Fire Department for receiving the Supervising Fire Officer Designation.

The Fire Officer Designation Program is meant to provide a coherent and attainable guide to career advancement and serves as both a development program for future fire officers and a recognition and promotion preparation program for current fire officers. Information about the program can be found at uvu.edu/ufra/resource_center/fodp.html.

The next deadline for applications is September 28, 2018.

Brandon Parr, Layton City FD

Gary McCloy, Layton City FD

YOUR LADDER TO SUCCESS MASTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE

new two–year online degree now enrolling for Fall 2019 visit

UVU.EDU / MPS

Summer 2018 | 35

Climbing the Ladder Battalion Chiefs Krista Horting has been promoted to battalion chief.

Krista has been with the Weber Fire District for 16 years, advancing through the ranks from firefighter to chief officer. She has also served in many leadership roles, including multiple committees and regional/local groups. She will complete her associate degree at UVU this coming summer.

Mark Lund has been promoted to battalion chief after serving with the Weber Fire District for the past 18 years. He progressed through the ranks from firefighter to shift coordinator and was promoted to the position of battalion chief in March of 2018. Mark is a hazmat technician, is a member of the Weber Fire CISM team, and has served on the Weber County Honor Guard for the past eight years. He is also working on his degree at UVU in fire administration.

Casey Naef has been promoted to battalion chief after serving as a career firefighter with the Weber Fire District for the past 17 years, 11 of those years as a company officer. He has served on a number of special operation programs, 36 | UFRA Straight Tip

such as the Weber County Hazmat Task Force, Weber County Heavy Rescue Team, Weber Fire District Wildland Task Force, and Ogden Metro SWAT. Captains

Scott Chisholm has been promoted to captain. Scott started in the fire service in April of 2007 with Weber Fire District. He has also worked part time for Northview Fire District and Layton City Fire.

He has his AAS in emergency services with emphasis in fire officer from Utah Valley University. He is currently working on a BS in organizational leadership from Colorado State University Global Campus. He has also obtained his Supervising Fire Officer Designation from the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy.

Brian Davies has been promoted to captain for Weber Fire District. He is originally from Southern California. He went to Utah State University on a football scholarship, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in communication and a bachelor’s in philosophy. He became a full-time firefighter with Weber Fire District in 2011, was promoted to engineer in 2015, and in 2018 was promoted to captain. He has been married for 19 years

Weber Fire District and has two daughters, 11 and 4 years old.

Orie Valenzuela has been promoted to captain for Weber Fire District. He has been in public safety for twelve years and currently serves as an FTO and is on the Live Fire Team. He is also on numerous committees for Weber Fire District. He volunteers for Perry City and Willard Fire Department. Orie enjoys motocross racing and the outdoors.

Engineers

Dustin Anderson has been promoted to engineer with Weber Fire. He started in the fire service in 2005 as an EMT basic for Wellsville City Volunteer Fire Department, later becoming a firefighter as well.

Eventually, he earned the rank of captain and training officer.

In 2008, he started with Weber Fire District as a part-time firefighter/EMT, becoming full time in June of 2011.

Tyson Hancock has been promoted to driver/engineer. He has been with Weber Fire for five years and is a member of the district’s wildland team.

Garrett Henry has been promoted to driver/ engineer. He has been at Weber Fire for five years and is a member of the county USAR team. His new assignment is at Station 66, where he will function as the engineer on our ladder truck.

Spencer Winn has been promoted to driver/engineer. He has been a firefighter with Weber Fire for ten years and serves on the district’s hazmat team and is the current president of Local 1878.

New Firefighters Amanda King was born in Reno, Nevada, to an army family.

Her family is originally from Hooper, Utah, and while they moved around every two to three years, Weber County was always home.

After graduating high school, Amanda attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 2006. Shortly after, she was commissioned into the US Army as a military police officer. Amanda served over eight years in the army, being deployed to Afghanistan three times. Amanda decided to leave the military to pursue a career in fire and EMS. In September of 2014 she moved

to Ogden and attended Weber State, graduating with her paramedic license in April 2017. She initially worked for Gold Cross Ambulance to gain EMS experience while continuing to attend school. Amanda completed her Fire I and II certifications at the Davis Technical College in January of 2018 and began working for Weber Fire District shortly after.

Robert Thomas Anderson is a new firefighter with the Weber Fire District but is not a new firefighter. Robert started his journey as a fire explorer in Florida in 2002, then worked part time for Flagler Beach Fire Department for two years. After that, he worked full time as a firefighter/EMT with Palm Coast Fire Department for a few months, followed by working for Marion County Fire Rescue in July 2009 and then as a firefighter/paramedic on an ALS Engine Company.

Robert moved to Utah so his fiancé Janessa could be back in her home state.

Austin Burtis has been working in fire and EMS for three years, completing his EMT-B in 2011, AEMT in 2014, and fire certs in 2015.

He loves being in a profession where he knows every day that he has a chance to help people.

For him, there is no better feeling than helping someone on their worst day. He is married to his beautiful wife, Taylor; they have two children, Bentley and Beckett.

Haruka Gill was raised in Japan and Chicago.

Her first interaction with a firefighter was when she crashed into the mailbox of her neighbor, who happened to be the chief for the local fire department (Haruka was learning how to drive). She is very excited to learn and grow at Weber Fire District.

Uintah City FD

Alec Hansel started as a volunteer firefighter three years ago and is excited to be part of the Weber Fire family.

He is enthusiastic to start a career as a full-time firefighter. In his spare time, he loves spending time together his wife and four-legged friend doing what they love—being outdoors.

During his tenure, he has held the positions of firefighter, training officer, battalion chief, fire marshal, and deputy chief. Chief Sacco holds the following degrees: AS in aerospace science from Community College of the Air Force, AS in fire science (with honors) from American Military University (AMU). He is scheduled to complete his BA in emergency and disaster management from AMU in May of this year. His certifications include Firefighter I/II, Hazmat Awareness/Operations/Technician, ADO Pumper, Fire Instructor I, Fire Inspector I, Fire Investigator, Advanced EMT, EMS Instructor, EMS training officer, and course coordinator. Chief Sacco maintains professional memberships with the Utah State Fire Chief ’s Association, the Western Fire Chief ’s Association, and the National Association of Fire Investigators and was selected by his peers as the UCFD’s inaugural Fire Officer of the Year (2015).

Madison Warner is originally from Salt Lake City, where she played soccer growing up and got into EMS through search & rescue in high school. Her family runs their own businesses, and she is the only family member involved in EMS/fire. Madison is a part of Utah Task Force One as part of their Search Dog cadre. She enjoys reading and writing, hiking, and flying helicopters in her free time. At work, she enjoys training with aerials/ladders and high angle and technical rescue as well as doing public relations in the community.

Marc Alan Sacco was hired as the new fire chief of Uintah City Fire Department (UCFD) on February 2018. Chief Sacco hails from Wheeling, West Virginia, and came to reside in Utah during three military assignments to Hill Air Force Base.

He began his firefighting career as a volunteer firefighter at the Niceville Volunteer Fire Department in Niceville, Florida, in 1993. He has worked locally for the South Ogden and Sunset fire departments before coming to the UCFD in November of 2014.

When asked why he chose Uintah, Chief Sacco said, “My wife and I chose to move to the area so that we could continue to serve the Uintah community for many years to come and the potential of this fire department is astounding. All members of the department are amazing individuals for volunteering their precious time for nearly zero pay to serve our community. Company officers are excellent supervisors and the chief officers are tremendous mentors. Each member truly cares about serving the community. Additionally, the training opportunities at UCFD are far greater than any other department I have served with in my career, and the feel of the department is more like a family than a volunteer service.”

Chief Sacco is a retired US Air Force master sergeant (June 1990–January 2012) and is employed as a radar systems analyst/technical advisor at Hill AFB. Outside work, he and his family enjoy motorcycling, snowboarding, RV camping when the time and opportunity allows, firefighting, and furthering the professional education of our firefighters. Chief Sacco resides in the Uintah Highlands with his wife, Donna Sacco, who is also a captain on the UCFD. Together they have four children and four grandchildren.

Summer 2018 | 37

Climbing the Ladder

Lehi Fire Department

With Lehi Station 83 opening in January of 2018, Lehi Fire Department had the following promotions: Promoted to Battalion Chief:

Promoted to Captain:

Jake Beck

Rickey Casper

Stephen Johnson

Trent Stanley

Bronson Smith

Cory Taylor

Brett Fraser

Dane Stephens

John Hammond

Bryant Widdison promoted to Fire Engineer/Paramedic

Robert Friel promoted to Fire Engineer/Paramedic

Promoted to Engineer:

Sam Ashman

Sandy Fire Department

Chris Welch promoted to Fire Captain/Paramedic

Howard Mendes promoted to Fire Captain/Paramedic

Layton City Fire Department

Nathan Nance promoted to Battalion Chief 38 | UFRA Straight Tip

Ben DeJong promoted to Captain

Logan Layne promoted to full-time Firefighter

Tyler Reece promoted to full-time Firefighter

Ryan McConaghie promoted to Battalion Chief

Murray City FD Stephen Olson was promoted to the rank of captain with Murray City Fire Department in February of 2018. Captain Olson has been employed full time with Murray City since 2005 and has served in the positions of firefighter/ paramedic and engineer. His career in the fire service began in 2002 as a volunteer

firefighter. He has earned a bachelor’s degree is emergency services management from UVU in 2011, two associate degrees in fire science, and graduated with Class X in the UVSC Paramedic Program. Stephen adores his wife, Michelle, and they have five children together.

Jordon Petersen has been promoted to battalion chief at Murray City Fire Department. Jordon has

served with the Murray City Fire Department for the past 12 years. Throughout his career, he has served as a firefighter, paramedic, hazmat tech, rescue tech, and captain. Jordon has always placed personal value on education and over the years has completed his master’s and doctorate in psychology; he is also a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program through the National Fire Academy. Jordon is a national presenter in first responder mental wellness as well as a UFRA instructor on the subject. Congratulations, Jordon!

South Salt Lake Fire Department David Slack, Firefighter Shellene Vetterli, Firefighter/Paramedic Brad Shafer, Firefighter/Paramedic Colin Ward, Firefighter

Near the beginning of 2018, South Salt Lake Fire Department hired four full-time firefighters. Between all four firefighters, they bring a combined 42 years of firefighting experience. We're very fortunate to pick up such seasoned firefighters.

Summer 2018 | 39

RETIREMENTS:

Battalion Chief Rick Howard has retired from Lehi Fire Department after 33 years of service. BC Howard began his career with Lehi in 1984 with Lehi EMS. In 1987, he began nursing school and worked as an ER tech until he graduated as a registered nurse in 1990. In the early 90s he completed Firefighter I and Firefighter II and was hired by the fire department. Shortly after, there was a “shotgun marriage” of the EMS and fire departments in Lehi and they became one department.

Rick continued to work part time for Lehi Fire Department while working full time as an ER nurse. He started his ER career at American Fork ER but spent most of his ER nursing time at LDS hospital as a certified trauma/charge nurse. He began teaching at Utah Valley University in their paramedic program since its inception with emphasis in trauma care.

Early in 2001, Rick began working for Sandy Fire as a medical officer. During his nine years in Sandy, Rick promoted to captain and worked on numerous policies and procedures with the most satisfying one being related to STEMI and fire department interpretation of 12 lead with implementation of bypass protocols.

He continued to work part time for Lehi until 2009, when they opened a new station and he tested and was promoted to battalion chief. One of his first assignments for Lehi was to get paramedic licensing for the department. During his tenure with Lehi, Rick served as Utah County EMS Council chairperson, as EMS liaison for Utah County Trauma Committee, and with Utah County Special Service District QA/QI Committee.

He was instrumental in implementing STEMI bypass protocols and bringing 40 | UFRA Straight Tip

new drug and treatment protocols to Lehi Fire Department and Utah County.

Rick plans to continue lecturing at EMS conferences and teaching whenever he can.

Brad Adams retired from Provo Fire & Rescue on March 15, 2018.

Brad started his fire service career on May 21, 1975, when he joined the US Air Force and went in as a firefighter. He received fire training at Chanute Air Force Base (AFB) in Illinois, then was stationed at Castle AFB in Atwater, California, for the remainder of his four years in the air force. After getting out of the air force in May of 1979, he worked construction until November of 1979, when he started working at Tooele Army Depot as a firefighter. This was only until February of 1980 because there just wasn’t much going on out there—he was young and full of energy and needed to be involved. He went back to construction and worked for a few years as an ironworker for Tekton Construction.

In 1987 Brad was told that Provo Fire Department (now Provo Fire & Rescue) was doing a new hire test, which he decided to take. He placed eighth on the list. After a year without hearing back, he figured he wasn’t going to get hired, but lo and behold, in June of 1988 he got the call for an interview. He was hired with Provo Fire on July 1, 1988, starting out as a firefighter and then firefighter/EMT. He was later promoted to engineer in 1994 and then to captain in 2001. He worked as a crew captain until 2006, when he became sick with Guillian Barre Syndrome, which altered the course of his career. He tried to go back on shift in 2007 but was unable to hold up to the required workload because of the lingering effects of Guillian

Barre. He started working as a deputy fire marshal in March of 2009 and worked in that position until retiring in March after nearly 30 years of service with Provo.

Jane Martinez, fire business specialist for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, retired in May. She worked in fire most of her career, over which she tracked costs and negotiated with partner agencies, landowners, vendors, and FEMA saving Utah taxpayer money. She worked hard behind the scenes and built a reputation for being tough but fair. Jane fought the fires after the fires were put out.

Those that know her well know that she is a person passionate about her work and the people she works with. She spent many seasons working in the field on fires and served as finance section chief on several Great Basin incident management teams. She has always understood, firsthand, what it was like to spend a summer in fire camps, away from family, during a fire season that seemed like it would never end. She enjoyed working with a team and helping firefighters do their job.

She knew what it took to properly manage an incident and support the people on the fire line, and she was never afraid to speak up when something needed to be changed, even if it was outside of the finance section. Her skills in finance and her dedication to the folks on the ground kept her in constant demand both locally and throughout the region.

She is particularly fond of Utah’s volunteer firefighters. She put on fire business trainings geared specifically to the local rural fire service to help them navigate the confusing gauntlet of NWCG fire business requirements. She was always on call to assist when a local Utah resource

needed help with administrative issues while on assignment. Reimbursing small fire departments was her highest priority when paying bills. She also worked hard to make sure the neediest fire departments received grant money to buy the tools and equipment they needed to do the job safely.

Jane was the unofficial “social director” for FFSL’s annual meetings. She has always been able to come up with activities that made an otherwise boring meeting something to remember. Without

realizing it, she built comradery and made the agency more like family. And she was never shy about stepping onto the karaoke stage to belt out her version of “Splish Splash.”

Most will remember Jane as the person who was the fire business program for the state. It was her hard work and perseverance that made the system work. Her influence on fire management in the division and throughout the state will be felt for a long time.

If you have any retirement, obituary, promotional, or hiring announcements you would like included in the Straight Tip, please send it to ufrastraighttip@uvu.edu.

INCIDENT RESPONSE TO TERRORIST BOMBING FOUR-DAY COURSE Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings is a four-day course designed to help participants safely and effectively respond to incidents involving bombs and explosives.

Any first responder can attend—paid or volunteer, rookie or fire chief.

September 16–20, 2018 New Mexico Tech University (Socorro, NM) Travel, room, and board are provided through a grant sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security.

The application deadline is August 15, 2018.

For more details or to apply, visit emrtc.nmt.edu/training/irtb.php or contact Art Deyo, deputy state fire marshal, at adeyo@utah.gov or 801-618-9277.

Summer 2018 | 43

EARN YOUR EMERGENCY SERVICES FALL 2018 SEMESTER

ES FACE-TO-FACE & ONLINE CLASS ES 1150 Community Emergency Preparedness Now is the time to begin working on your emergency services degree or finish the degree you have been working on.

Why Should I Earn a College Degree?

• • •

Personal improvement Preparation for promotion Expand career opportunities

What Degrees are Offered?

Certificates • Firefighter Recruit Candidate • Paramedic • Aviation Fire Officer

Associate of Science Emergency Services Associate of Applied Science Emergency Services • Fire Officer • Emergency Care • Wildland Fire Management • Aviation Fire Officer Bachelor of Science Emergency Services Administration • Emergency Care • Emergency Management (offered 100% online)

How Do I Enroll?

• •

Apply for admissions by going to: http://www.uvu.edu/admissions/ If you have attended another college or university, request an official transcript be sent to: UVU Admissions Office 800 West University Parkway MS 106 Orem, Utah 84058-5999

What Will It Cost?

• For official UVU tuition/fee amounts go to:

http://www.uvu.edu/tuition/docs/tuition-fees1617.pdf • Some courses have “course fees” in addition to tuition.

For more information regarding admissions and registration, call 801-863-7798 or 888-548-7816 to schedule a phone or office appointment with an Emergency Services Administration Academic Advisor.

44 | UFRA Straight Tip

ESFF FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES ESFF 1000 Introduction to ES & Ability Testing ESFF 1360 Recruit Candidate Academy Internship ESFF 250A Firefighter RCA I ESFF 250B Firefighter RCA II ESFF 281R Emergency Services Internship ESFF ONLINE CLASSES ESFF 1000 Introduction to ES & Physical Ability Testing ESFF 1120 FES Safety & Survival ESFF 2100 The Desire to Serve ESEC FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES ESEC 1140 Emergency Medical Tech Basic ESEC 3060 Emergency Medical Tech Advanced ESEC 3110 Paramedic I ESEC 3120 Paramedic Lab ESEC 3130 Paramedic II ESEC 3140 Paramedic III ESMG ONLINE CLASSES ESMG 310G Introduction to Homeland Security ESMG 3150 Public Program Administration ESMG 3200 Health Safety Program Management ESMG 3250 Managing Emergency Medical Services ESMG 3300 Master Planning for Public ES ESMG 3350 Analytical Research Approaches to Public ES ESMG 3600 Psychology of Emergency Services ESMG 4150 Humanitarian Relief and Disaster Relief ESMG 4200 Disaster Response and the Public ESMG 4400 Legal Considerations for the EM ESMG 445G Human Factors Emergency Management ESMG 4500 Customer Service & Marketing for ES ESMG 4550 Principles of Disaster and Emergency Mgmt ESMG 4600 Public Administration Emergency Mgmt ESMG 4650 Emergency Services Capstone ESMG 481R Emergency Services Internship ESMG 489R Special Topics in Emergency Services ESMG 491R Topics in Cardiology and Medical Trends ESMG 492R Topics in Trauma and Pharmacology ESMG 493R Topics in Medical Litigation

DEGREE AT UVU FALL 2018 SEMESTER

RECRUIT CANDIDATE ACADEMY (RCA)

ESWF FACE-TO-FACE CLASS

ESWF 1400 Wildland Firefighting Fundamentals PARAMEDIC By application only. For more information visit http://www.uvu.edu/esa/paramedic/index.html or call 801-863-7798 or 888-548-7816.

By application only. For more information visit http://www.uvu.edu/esa/rca/ or make an appointment with an academic advisor by calling the Student Center at 801-863-7798.

On-the-job internships are available for all RCA graduates.

Application deadlines: June 1st for Fall Semester and October 1st for Spring Semester.

Enroll early! Please note that courses are subject to cancellation due to low enrollment.

PARAMEDIC

Please check http://www.uvu.edu/esa for current and updated course listings.

By application only. For more information visit http://www.uvu.edu/esa/paramedic/index.html or call 801-863-7798 or 888-548-7816.

On April 25, 2018, Class #76 of the Utah Valley University Emergency Services Recruit Candidate Academy (RCA) held its graduation ceremony.

During the ceremony, the graduates and their friends and family heard addresses from CHPS Dean David A. McEntire, Emergency Services Department Chair Gary Noll, and RCA Course Coordinator Andy Byrnes.

Recruit Stephen Greenwell was selected as the class officer. Candidates Trenton Christensen, Stephen Greenwell, and Ryan Wilkey were awarded the Charles J. DeJournett Recruit Excellence Award & Instructor Recommendation. Captain Steve Schaugaard was awarded the Outstanding Instructor Award, which was voted on by the class. Candidate Joshua Reber earned the Physical Training Excellence Award. Samuel Worley received the Outstanding Student Award, which was voted on by his peers. Andy Byrnes, M.Ed., is the RCA course coordinator as well as the lead instructor for the semester, and Firefighter William Mackintosh was the assistant lead instructor.

RCA Graduation

Spring 2018 | Class #76

RCA Graduation Class #76 (left to right) Back row: Geoffrey Whatcott, Logan Bounds, Todd Glew, Joshua Woodward, Jonathon Huxhold, Ryan Wilkey, Jeremy Walker, Taylor Armsworthy, Stephen Greenwell, and Brooke Egbert Front row: Victor Ramon Sanchez, Samuel Worley, Connor Robinson, Trenton Christensen, Joshua Reber, Megan Woodward, Mathew Mangum, Anthony Van Horn, and Nate Jolley Summer 2018 | 45

Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE

Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE

Utah Valley University

Utah Valley University

PAID

VALLEY UNIVERSITY

UTAH FIRE AND RESCUE ACADEMY . MS 193

. MS 193 R E A N D R E800 S C UW. E UNIVERSITY A C A D E M Y PARKWAY, OREM, UT 84058-6703

U N I V E R S I T Y P A R K W AY, O R E M , U T 8 4 0 5 8 - 5 9 9 9

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

RESS SERVICE REQUESTED

PAID