Fire Safety + Prevention 2022

prevention

fire wont wait, plan your escape

Community and comradery

Fellowship found in firefighting

BY SARAH COLBURN STAFF WRITER

For firefighters in the Long Prairie Fire Department, a sense of community and comradery are what keeps them going.

“You’re meeting people on some of the worst days of their lives, and you’re trying to make it better,” said Otis Ostendorf.

Ostendorf has been a member of the department for

seven years and said as he and his fellow firefighters respond to calls, they see things they never wanted to see. They’re there to help members of their community but at the same time, they help one another.

“We’re not friends, we’re brothers,” he said. “On the fire scene or off the fire scene we’re there to back each other up. We laugh, we joke about stuff and we make fun of each other but as soon as that pager

goes off all the smiles go away and we do what we need to do for every call.”

When they get to the scene the team focuses on the people in need. If it’s an accident, they take the time to talk with those involved calmly, they assess their pain and stay positive as they work to get them out of the situation as quickly as possible for care.

“If it’s a fire and somebody is stuck in the fire you get them out,” he said. “If it’s a home or building you’re either saving other buildings (nearby) or a

house from starting on fire, you save as much as you can.”

The comradery, he said, comes from what the firefighters go through.

“The things mentally you see, you can’t unsee but you see it together,” he said. “We’re all going through that same pain… (I) know that guy is hurting just as much as I am and that brings you closer together.” Those emotions, he said, can come out in the fire hall as the firefighters visit and talk through tough calls. With tragedies, Ostendorf said, even though

someone may not have responded to the call, each member of the team likely has experienced something similar in their time on the department and can understand the emotions and the what-ifs that go along with each situation.

The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.

PHOTO SUBMITTED Long Prairie Firefighters Dan Laumeyer (from left) Otis Ostendorf, Josh Meyer, Noah Koltes and Mikey Terwey participate in Water Wars Browerville.

Bill WerlingerMatt MitzelAndy NobleAndy Otremba

Mark Buntjer

Justin Berg

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Firemen’s Salute | Page 1 Brian Jarl Ross Voit Dan Fiedler

RaeAnn Waytashek

Firefighting from front

Ostendorf likens the department to a sports team and said it’s filled with friends and people he enjoys spending time with but the goal runs deeper.

“It’s about wanting to help out the community, helping the people, that’s what keeps you going,” he said.

Mikey Terwey joined the department three years ago at the nudging of other department members. For years, he said he felt like he couldn’t make a commitment to be a volunteer firefighter because he ran a business in town but always wanted to give back to the community. When the time was right, he said yes.

For him, the comradery comes from doing the work side-by-side with friends and fellow townspeople. While Terwey takes pride in his work with the department, he was surprised when he first joined about the number of events the department responds to that have nothing to do with actual fire.

“You set out to be a fireman and you think you’re going to fight fires,” he said. “You don’t think about all the other things involved.”

The department handles fires, car crashes, lift assistance when someone gets a patient they need help with, traffic control for incidents or sudden flooding and even weather spotting ahead of storm events. The firefighters are also trained in emergency medical response, something Terwey is familiar with in his career as a dispatcher.

When tragic events occur, he said, the fire chief reaches out to each and every firefighter who was on a casualty scene. Additionally, there’s a chaplaincy program the team can participate in that provides emotional support. Calls can be rough in a small community, he said, because responders may know the people involved.

“It helps a lot talking through things with fellow firefighters,” he said. “That’s where the closeknit community with the fire department comes

from. We can talk about things like that to one another knowing it’s not going to leave the building.”

When fires do happen, he said, the firefighters focus on saving as much personal property as possible after ensuring that everyone is safe.

“You join the fire

department and you’re there to help others,” he said. “You help save their farms, their houses, maybe animals, personal belongings. We know we’re there to put the fire out so personal belongings can go back to the families.”

Terwey said the comradery of firefighters extends even beyond their own community. He and some members of the department were out socially, wearing their department T-shirts and a chief from a Twin Cities community stopped to chat with them. As they sat around talking, even hours from their hometown, the firefighters had their pagers on them, keeping in communication with their colleagues back home.

“It doesn’t matter what fire department you’re from, it’s a family within the state, within the country,” he said. “You have that comradery.”

PHOTOS SUBMITTED Long Prairie Firefighters Otis Ostendorf (left) and Brandon Hudalla participate in ladder truck training, focusing on rescuing a person from a window.

Long Prairie Firefighters Otis Ostendorf (from left), Noah Koltes and Mikey Terwey take first place in Water Wars held in Browerville.

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You set out to be a fireman and you think you’re going to fight fires. You don’t think about all the other things involved.

- Mikey Terwey

PHOTO BY RANDY OLSON

The Brooten Fire Department members are Adam Martin (front, from left), Calvin Hanson, Lynn Wold, Tyler Hanson, Gary Olson, Aaron Anderson, Thor Amundson; (middle, from left) Dave Bast, chief Mark Torkelson, Jake Steinhofer, Chris Strom, Jacob Solbreken, Matt Ogdahl, Tim Lent, Preston Kuefler; (back, from left) Kern Nelson, Jordan Bares.

pictured are Josh Rajewsky, Todd Trustheim, Justin Vogel, Chris Welte.

STAY

Odors: Odor emanating from an outlet, fuse box or breaker panel should be reported to an electrician immediately. The odor, which some homeowners indicate smells like fish, could be a result of an overheated circuit. Odor coming from an outlet, fuse box or breaker panel could indicate a significant electrical issue, so homeowners should not hesitate to report this problem to an electrician. Odors can sometimes travel through HVAC systems as well, so homeowners should take note and call an electrician even if their outlets do not smell.

information from

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Elrosa Fire Department members are Brandon Felling (front, from left), Jim Derichs, Tony Lieser, Brandon Deters, Dustin Gregory, Jordon Deters; (second, from left) Gary Deters, Edwin Martin, Ryan Welle, Megan Imdieke, Bradlin Martin, Greg Martin; (third, from left) Ron Boogaard, Jason Heinen, Kevin Wesbur, Tom Borgerding, Paul Kampsen, Brian Rademacher; (back, from left) Mark Bayer, Tim Heinze, Jim Walz, Marcas Krahn, Craig Dold, James Stauty.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Grey Eagle Fire Department members are Loren Bitz (front, from left), JoAnn Cynbaluk, Paul Thiesen, Jon Newberg, Cyndie Zinniel, Sam Pohlmann, Dan Berscheid, Tom Berscheit; (back, from left) Joe Arnzen, Nicholas Berscheit, Brandon Defoe, Glen Becker, Derek Pohlmann, Randy Muellner, Troy Thomford, Larry Brake, Bill Berscheit. Not pictured are Zach Bruder, Brenda Muellner-McDermond, Matt Zinniel.

DID YOU

Frequently blown fuses or tripped breakers: According to UL, circuit breakers and fuses have a built-in fail-safe that is designed to prevent overloading. Sometimes a tripped breaker is a result of an aging appliance. One way to detect that is to plug in the product to more than one outlet in the house. If each breaker trips, then the appliance is likely to blame. However, if using the same outlet continues to trip the breaker regardless of what›s plugged into it, then the circuit requires the attention of an electrician.

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320-247-3857 Brian 320-293-2703

Long Prairie, MN

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Long Prairie Fire Department members are Jason Sellnow (front, from left) Otis Ostendorf, Dan Laumeyer, John Ecker, Josh Luberts, Chris Haasser; (middle, from left) Noah Koltes, Brandon Hudalla, Bud Otte, Josh Spieker, Jeremy Sovich, Jeremy Haugen, Kyle Bodle; (back, from left) Josh Meyer, Salvador Morelos, Pete Nelson, Kevin Houdek, Jerry Swartzentruber, Omar Rocio Zamora.

PHOTO BY HERMAN LENSING

The New Munich Fire Department members are Allen Fiedler (front, from left) Karen Timp, Nicole Leukam, Kurt Ritter; (back, from left) Dan Schwieters, Jeron Van Drehle, Bryan Brickweg, Mike Sand, Justin Boecker. Not pictured are Matt Heinen, Dustin Leukam, Tom Newman.

PHOTO BY KAYLA HUNSTIGER

The Sauk Centre Fire Department members are BJ Ostendorf, (front, from left), Second Assistant Ben Clink, Mike Frieler, Joe Fuechtmann, Adam Moritz, Chuck Moritz, Jeff Peters, Bill Friedrichs and Ron Moritz; (middle, from left) Brad Odegard, Matt Wessel, Derek Essler, Training Officer Wayne Senst, First Assistant Jeff Bromenshenkel, Fire Chief Steve Moritz, Gene Wyttenback and Dave Deters; (back, from left) Bryon Friedrichs, Pete Norgren, Nick Sunderman, Jamie Kleinschmidt, Mike Sunderman, Andrew Rousslange, Scott Kowski, Weston Wander, Mike Anderson, Andrea Kerfeld and Justin Boecker. Not pictured are Booker Moritz and Jose Diaz. The Sauk Centre Fire Department members are BJ Ostendorf, (front, from left), Second Assistant Ben Clink, Mike Frieler, Joe Fuechtmann, Adam Moritz, Chuck Moritz, Jeff Peters, Bill Friedrichs and Ron Moritz; (middle, from left) Brad Odegard, Matt Wessel, Derek Essler, Training Officer Wayne Senst, First Assistant Jeff Bromenshenkel, Fire Chief Steve Moritz, Gene Wyttenback and Dave Deters; (back, from left) Bryon Friedrichs, Pete Norgren, Nick Sunderman, Jamie Kleinschmidt, Mike Sunderman, Andrew Rousslange, Scott Kowski, Weston Wander, Mike Anderson, Andrea Kerfeld and Justin Boecker. Not pictured are Booker Moritz and Jose Diaz.

BY SARAH COLBURN STAFF WRITER

The dispatchers in Douglas County get roughly 35,000 calls a year for service.

Whether it’s someone reporting a crime or a crash, for more than two decades, Dispatcher Keith Polipnick has been on the

other end of the line.

“Sometimes the dispatcher is the last person that people talk to,” he said.

As people talk, Polipnick sketches a mental image of what’s happening on the other end of the line. Whether it’s a 16-year-old kid who’s

side of a call

been in their first minor car accident or someone reporting life-threatening injuries, he works to keep people calm.

“Over 22 years I’ve seen a lot,” he said. “Everybody is different but you just kind of sense how they are on the phone. You offer what you can.”

In some cases, he said, an elderly person may call knowing it’s their time to go and he helps to connect them with their family. Other times, it’s answering multiple calls all at once regarding the same serious accident on a freeway.

Dispatcher page 19

New Munich

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Dispatcher Keith Polipnick works out of the Douglas County call center.

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Chief Randy Rost (front, from left Lynn Peterson, William Malecha, Steven Koppen, Cody Gulbranson, Chris Bryce, Bernie Bryce, David Tauber Jr., Matt Douvier, Kyle Reents, Fire Chief Patrick Pfeninger, Jonathan Malecha; (back, from left) Joe Walker, Adam Bryce, Devon Gahlon, Kyle Magnuson, Philip Jensen, Tim Jenks, Brady Gerdes, James Walker, Brent Werven, 2nd Assistant Chief Tom Pfeninger, Chad Gerdes, R yan Gerdes. Not pictured is Jeff Piekarski.

are affected by house fires.

from page 17

He and his fellow colleagues work 12-hour days, rotating monthly on whether they’re on nights or days. As much as possible, he said, he works to stay on the line with people in crisis. Though the job is a tough balance mentally, he said, there are always multiple things happening and multiple lines ringing in at once.

“We can’t just walk way, the phone keeps ringing,” he said. “If it’s a true emergency most people are fairly frantic.”

He works to calm the caller and get all the details. He puts himself on the scene mentally and asks their location, whether there are injuries, if it’s a fire is there a lot of smoke?

On any given day, between two and four dispatchers are working in the Douglas County office. Calls from any cellular phone or landline within the county boundary, come to them. They parcel out the calls, forwarding highway calls to the state patrol for service.

“With the new phones, they locate pretty good,” he said. “The old flip phone might take longer but will (locate).”

The department receives calls on thefts, car accidents, minor car accidents, medicals. At the same time, they help police officers with background information on warrant checks and assist in traffic stops.

One of the biggest areas of growth though, is mental health.

“I think the helping people part of it is big,” he said. “So much bad stuff happens to people…it’s tough sometimes, with all the suicides and death, and stuff we deal with, but we’re on the other end helping and we know that.”

Not only do dispatchers help people in mental health crisis, they must pay attention to their own mental health needs. When it comes to tragic situations, dispatchers are invited to the debriefings of an event and the chief deputy or sheriff also checks in with them to see how they’re handling the fallout.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, REPORT IT:

* Try to get your bearings as you call in an emergency. Tell the dispatcher where you’re located, use landmarks or mile markers to help get your bearings. The more information the dispatcher has, the better.

Stay calm. The dispatcher has to spend valuable time calming people down enough to understand what they’re saying.

If you’ve witnessed a car accident, you can assist the dispatcher in knowing how many people are involved and what their level of injury might be.

If someone else has stopped to help the victims at a crash site, even the third- or fourthperson calling dispatch may have seen a different angle on the accident, which gives dispatchers a better idea of what happened and who they may need to send.

tant fire chief and Polipnick spent a lot of time in the fire hall growing up, then went on to follow his dad’s lead. Keith served on the Sauk Centre Fire Department for 22 years, serving five years as chief and worked as an EMT for Sauk Centre for six years. He worked as a dispatcher for another county before coming to Douglas County 15 years ago.

“It helps with the processing, in smaller towns we run across a lot (of instances) where it’s our neighbors or friends – it helps process that,” he said.

All dispatchers receive three to six months of on-the-job training, he said. He’s a trainer for the county and said he sits side-byside with newbies, answering calls and responding. He’ll also have his trainees listen to tapes of stressful calls so they can hear the dispatcher response and how they worked to calm and assess the situation. Then, the trainee begins to handle calls themselves with the trainer there for support. But, he said, when true emergencies come in, the mentor takes control.

“If we have a baby not breathing, we’re not going to let a trainee handle that,” he said.

Dispatchers are trained in emergency medical response and can provide instructions over the phone to walk someone through performing CPR.

“It takes a mentally strong person to get through a lot of it,” Polipnick said.

It’s something he grew up with.

Polipnick’s father Jim was the assis-

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work with loves it, theyre all very professional and work hard,” he said. “It’s ver y rewarding, that’s what keeps us going.”

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(800) 247-7016

Douglas County Dispatcher Keith Polipnick responds to a fire in Becker during his time with the Sauk Centre Fire Department.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Firemen’s Salute | Page 19 PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Douglas County Dispatcher Keith Polipnick served 22 years with the Sauk Centre Fire Department.

Thank you, Firefighters!

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We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to keep our homes and communities safe.