Harrisburg Fire Department
Community Report to the
Year in Review 2013
Thank you for taking a moment to read through our Annual Report for 2013. This report is a new labor of love for us and we hope this magazine will give you a better glimpse of how your Harrisburg Fire Department operates. Since opening our doors in 1954, Harrisburg Fire Department has grown from a volunteer station to now a full time station with 2 locations and 8 fire fighters on duty 24/7. Harrisburg averages 1700 calls per year and expected to grow with the rising population in Harrisburg and Cabarrus County. We hope this report will give you a greater understanding of the responsibilities of our fire fighters and staff who keep this department running smoothly. This is your fire department and we are here to assist you. www.harrisburgfd.com
Community Report to the
Year in Review 2013
Community Letter to the
We appreciate the opportunity to let you know how much we take pride in serving our community. Harrisburg Fire Department continues to see our call volume increase, especially for emergency medical calls. Our ability to have a firefighter/ EMT- I on every piece of fire apparatus allows us to efficiently and effectively serve those in need. As the Chief of the Harrisburg Fire Department, it is my privilege to submit the department’s Annual Report for 2013. The facts, figures and descriptions found in the following pages represent literally thousands of hours of work put forth by the department’s personnel toward our goal of providing the citizens of Harrisburg with a safe community in which to live, work and play. The economy and associated construction of single family houses will be a challenge to our fire department in the future as fire resources are impacted with increased service levels. Even with a tightened budget, the department has been able to maintain its staffing and therefore has seen no reduction in service levels of personnel. We were fortunate in the past year to have been able to replace some obsolete equipment. The department purchased a new fire truck to replace our current Engine 2, made minor renovations to Fire Station 1 and 2, and we should break ground on our new Fire Station 3 in early spring. These acquisitions, along with improvements to existing equipment and procedures should enhance the safety of our personnel and increase their operational efficiency. One of our goals for 2014 is to improve our Insurance Services Grading so your fire insurance premium could decrease. Basically, if you are within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant then you receive a lower rate than those outside of the 1000 foot distance. Our goal is for each structure within the Harrisburg Fire District to benefit from an improved grade. In February of 2013 we lost one of our own to brain cancer at the young age of 28. Jonathan “Goose” Sapp started his career with Harrisburg as a junior firefighter and progressed through the ranks to become a full time firefighter. He loved serving this community and was proud to be a firefighter. He will be forever remembered. As 2014 begins, this department stays steadfastly committed to our mission of providing quality service and reducing harm to the Town’s residents and guests. We sincerely appreciative our community for the continuing support shown by the Mayor, Town Council, Town Administrator and citizens of this great community. Stay safe.
Bryan R. Dunn, Chief of the Harrisburg Fire Department
Fire Calls- 231 Harrisburg firefighters responded to 231 fire calls in 2013. Top three Causes of fire :
Equipment Failure/Heat Source Cooking Fires, confined to container Unintentional
Medical Calls- 946 55% of Harrisburg’s responses are for medical emergencies:
72% Medical/Illness 28% Trauma/Injury
Additional Calls- 533 Other calls include:
HazMat Service Calls Severe Weather Other
Harrisburg Fire Department 2013 Calls
Total for 2013:
1710
Fire, Medical & Rescue Calls
In 2013, Harrisburg Fire Department responded to 1710 emergencies. The majority (55%) of our 911 emergencies continued to be for Medical illness and injury. During the course of the year we had a few incidents in 2013 that left a lasting impression on our community. In the early spring the Harrisburg responded to a double murder/suicide on Coachman Ct. This event drew local media attention to our community. Our department responded to a medical emergency, which turned into a standoff for several hours with the gunman and police. Unfortunately there was not a positive outcome to this incident for our community. In June of 2013 we responded to a house fire on Stallings Rd. Our units arrived on scene and found the second floor of the structure involved. Our firefighters quickly went to work to extinguish the fire, but due to the amount of damage that occurred at this fire, one of our communities families were displaced to another location. In the late summer our units again responded to yet another tragic emergency in our community. At the intersection of Hwy 49 and Shamrock Rd. crews were sent to an MVA with a pin-in. Crews worked swiftly to remove the occupant from the vehicle, but while en-route to medical facilities that individual succumbed to their injuries.
Apparatus Harrisburg Fire Department has an apparatus replacement plan that enables us the ability to plan for the cost of an apparatus in our CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). Harrisburg replaced Engine 2 with a new unit this year. We generally replace engine companies every 10 years and then move them to a reserve unit for 5 additional years.
CALL RESPONSE BY APPARATUS
This chart illustrates the number of calls that each unit responded to in 2013. The total number is different from the total number of incidents (1710) because multiple units respond to individual incidents. Both of our stations house more than one response vehicle.
Call Breakdown Alarms 10%
Other 2%
Fire 4%
Good Intent 19%
Fire EMS Haz Mat EMS 55%
Public Assists Good Intent Alarms Other
Public Assists 8% Haz Mat 2%
EMS CALL BREAKDOWN Vehicle Accidents with Injuries, 3.70%
Vehicle Accidents without Injuries, 5.28%
Rescue, 2.43%
Emergency Medical Incident Rescue Vehicle Accidents with Injuries Vehicle Accidents without Injuries
Emergency Medical Incident, 88.50%
2012 vs. 2013 Call Breakdown 2013 Calls vs. 2012 Calls 1200 1000 800 600 2012
400 200 0
2013
Updates This year the Harrisburg Fire Department has been involved with a new program within our county. We have partnered with Concord Fire and Life Safety and the Kannapolis Fire Department to participate in an Enhanced Automatic Mutual Aid program. This program is under a trial run at this point. What this means for your fire department and our community is that it enables us access to far more resources then we had previously. This program is allowing our fire department to put a guaranteed number of fire personnel on scene for emergency calls, something we have struggled with in the past. With this program, all three departments have created a response document and this document allows us to all operate in the same fashion on emergency calls. This program has allowed us the ability to increase our training regiment, since we now do mutual aid company training with these departments once a month. We hope to continue moving forward with this program in the future, since the department feels that it is a benefit to our community.
Last year we reported that we would be having an ISO inspection to help lower fire insurance premiums for homeowners. Well our testing date was put on hold by the NCDOI (North Carolina Department of Insurance). They put the entire state on hold until they had completed adopting a new testing standard. They have completed the standard and are now in the process of training their personnel on the changes. We hope to hear something from the state soon so we can complete this testing procedure. Currently our rating is a 5/9 meaning, people that live in the incorporated areas of Harrisburg are rated at a 5 and the people in the un-incorporated areas are rated at a 9. Our goal is to get a single rating of 5 for our entire fire district and dropping the rates for the un-incorporated areas. As we get more information on this we will get it out to the community. Also we have started moving forward with our new fire station (Station 3) which will be located at the corner of Rocky River Rd and Pembrook Rd. We have contracted with Stewart, Cooper, Newell as the design firm and D R Reynolds will be the construction manager. We still hope to break ground in late March or early April with a completion date of December or January.
Fire Marshal’s Division The Fire Marshals Division is committed to the preservation of life and property through the application of codes and standards, from the planning phase through the entire life of the structures in our District. We work closely with engineers and architects to ensure that fire safe buildings are designed and constructed. 2013 was a year of growth in the District. A large variety of businesses and homes have been built and improved throughout the area. Over 68 plans were reviewed in 2013 to ensure fire codes were met at the design phase. The average time for reviewing plans was less than eight days. More than 300 inspections were conducted to confirm that buildings were constructed and kept in accordance with the approved plans and the fire code. Almost 917 violations were discovered and corrected during the inspection process. The Fire Marshals Division also has special permitting process for temporary events, unique risks, and hazardous materials handling. When fires do occur, the Fire Marshals Division is responsible for conducting an investigation to discover the cause. Hours can be spent on processing the fire scene, collecting evidence, documenting witness statements and following leads. In some instances this leads to the discovery of a crime and filing of a court case. Information gained by the investigation of fire causes helps Harrisburg deliver effective fire safety programs. Every effort is made to account for and mitigate fire and life safety dangers through inspection, code enforcement, investigation, and prevention.
Special Recognition In February of 2013, the Harrisburg Fire Department lost one of its own. Jonathan “Goose� Sapp a Firefighter I, from Station 2-B lost his battle with brain cancer. It was a tremendous lost to the department to lose a vibrant young firefighter such as Goose. He is gone but will remain in our hearts forever.
Honor Guard Our Honor Guard represents our department during the course of the year at various functions throughout the county. This year they participated in Concord’s Recruit graduation, NC Fire Chiefs Mid-Winters Conference, Cabarrus County Fallen Firefighter Memorial, and others.
Special Events Harrisburg Fire Department delivered educational programs to more than 1695 people, 370 adults and 1325 children in our community in 2013. These efforts are intended to help lower the incidence of fire and injuries in our community. Through classroom and community presentations, we aim to prevent losses resulting from fires and injuries. Programs in Our Community The Harrisburg Fire Department is involved in the community with a variety of programs. Here are a few:
Harrisburg Fire Department Open House Car Seat Checks Station Tours Career Days at Local Schools Fire Prevention Week Portable Extinguisher Classes CPR Classes
HFD Training Division
The Harrisburg Fire Department Training Division is dedicated to providing Harrisburg Firefighters training, professional and career development. To achieve this, the Training Division supplied each Harrisburg Firefighter with an average of 87.83 hours of training per full time employee and combined with the part time employees equates into over 3172 hours of training in 2013. Also, due to the Enhanced Mutual Aid Program, we are now training once a month with Concord and Kannapolis Fire units. This allows us to expand our horizons on how other departments overcome different obstacles through their training methods. In 2013, we welcomed two new members to the Harrisburg Fire Department, Cody Johnson and Ryan Sellers. They were part of Concord Fire and Life Safety’s recruit class 19-8. The recruit class lasted for 17 weeks and they went through various firefighting classes. Upon graduation from the class they meet all NC Firefighter I and II standards.
Important Contact Information Harrisburg Fire Department
Administrative Offices
Harrisburg Station #1
Harrisburg Station #2
6462 Morehead Road
6450 Morehead Road
9650 Rocky River Road
Harrisburg, NC 28075
Harrisburg, NC 28075
Harrisburg, NC 28075
(704) 455-3574
(704) 455-3574
(704) 455-5596
Fire Advisory Board Robin Torrence……………………………....……(704)455-1352 Graydon Choinski……………………….………..(704)567-1726 Jim Canter…………………………………..….…..(704)455-9648 Bill Harper……………………………….…….…..(704)455-3574 Tim Wooten…………………………….……...…..(704)453-1401 Kenny Long……………………………………..…(704)568-4686
Bryan R. Dunn
Ken Bradey
Jeff Williams
Fire Chief
Deputy Fire Chief
Fire Marshal
bdunn@harrisburgfiredepartment.com
kbradey@harrisburgfiredepartment.com
jwilliams@harrisburgfiredepartment.com