The Lino Lakes Public Safety Department's fire service has dispatched.
As of Feb. 1, it is the sole first responder to fire-related emergencies. The response crew includes cross-trained police officers who are constantly on patrol around the city and about two dozen on-call firefighters. There are about a dozen assigned to each station, the older Centennial Fire District (CFD) station on the north side on Lake Drive and the new station on the south side.
The city's brand new fire station at the corner of Centerville Road and Birch Street is a state-of-the-art design and was developed with the assistance of a consulting firm, said Councilman Bill Kusterman. The total cost of the building was $3.9 million. It is 15,014 square feet, which includes some exterior areas. The station has new training equipment, a dispatch center, day room and garage.
When an on-call firefighter reports to duty, he or she will go to the turnout gear room and suit up. They will then go to the dispatch center room and await instructions. There will also be a screen that displays which firefighters have responded to the call and are on their way. If called to the scene, they will board the responding equipment units and head out.
When returning from a call, firefighters will use the "decon" restrooms to get out of their gear, which is "the unfancy bathroom," said Public Safety Director John Swenson. If their breathing apparatus needs a fill they will bring it to the apparatus storage room. There are special washers and dryers for turnout gear.
The fire station is equipped with multiple features that offer firefighters 11 of the 12 training requirements to be licensed. Firefighters need to update their training every three years. The only training element not available at the new station is a live burn.
"We can do all of them in this building," said Swenson, "only not the live burn."
There is a second-story training mezzanine just above the garage where firefighters can use ladders to go through windows. The mezzanine has open slots where different types of windows can be installed for practice. The mezzanine also has a manhole that extends down to the turnout gear room and a board that firefighters can cut through to simulate an emergency where cutting through a floor is necessary. The training mezzanine can be filled with smoke by flipping switches on a wall in a separate room. There is a window in that room through which observers may look out onto the mezzanine.
A training tower simulates a four-story building. Firefighters can be trained in the stairwell inside or on the wall outside of the building, which has doors that open up to simulate windows for training purposes. There is also a balcony for use in training firefighters in using an aerial device. The stairwell inside has a water standpipe --common in commercial buildings -- and firefighters can practice carrying a hose up to the standpipe and tapping into the building's water supply.
One of the staff even donated a basketball hoop so firefighters can practice getting their heart rates up while using the breathing apparatus.
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Posted: Feb 3, 2016
One of 2015's projects for the Mottville Co. Fire Department included replacing aging and non-compliant Bail-Out systems for interior firefighters. All interior qualified firefighters are required to have a personal escape bail-out system within their complement of personal equipment.
Thanks to Welch-Allyn, they were able to outfit over 20 members with all new escape systems.
Another project that has been in the works for two years was the replacement of one of their aging pieces of apparatus, originally built in early 1997. In January 2014, the Mottville Board of Fire Commissioners approved the replacement of the oldest frontline piece.
The truck committee that was formed of seven individuals spent countless hours with vendors in the preliminary stages of building the new truck on paper. In late 2014, a vendor from Ohio, Sutphen Corporation, was awarded the bid to build Mottville a customer built engine, a concept that had never been seen before in our firehouse.
The cab and chassis were built in Ohio and then shipped to the East Coast factory in Monticello, where the pump and body were completed. The company took delivery on Nov. 30 after a long inspection at the factory.
This unit is custom built from bumper to bumper, carrying 1,500 gallons of water, a crew of six firefighters, a 1,500 gallon-per-minute pump, numerous saws, fans, hand tools and a full complement of AMKUS Hydraulic rescue tools, vehicle stabilization equipment and more.
For more information and photos, view auburnpub.com
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Posted: Feb 3, 2016
Thorogood, the job-specific footwear brand manufactured by the Weinbrenner Shoe Company, has re-designed their popular NFPA 1977-certified wildland firefighting boot for greater comfort, safety, and durability. In keeping with the foot stresses and conditions experienced in wildland work environments, the Fire Devil is designed around a true logging boot for improved fit and performance, but without the weight and comfort issues sometimes associated with wildland footwear.
Other improvements include lock-stitching with Kevlar® heat- and abrasion-resistant filament thread, bar-tacked seams in stress areas, and a 30-percent increase in leather thickness. Available in both 9” and a 10” lace-to toe models, the Fire Devil continues the Thorogood tradition of providing American-made occupational footwear built to the highest standards of comfort, quality, safety, and performance.
The Fire Devil features a Vibram® Fire & Ice outsole for outstanding grip in constantly changing conditions. A removable, moisture-wicking footbed and improved, foot-hugging ergonomic fit help keep hard-working feet comfortable at all times.
“It comes down to having a job-focused expertise,” said Jeff Burns, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for the Thorogood brand. “We build occupational footwear as if we ourselves, or our families or friends, will be wearing them for our livelihoods. Firefighters’ lives are on the line. We want them to be able to do their difficult work without having to think about their feet.”
More: www.thorogoodshoes.com
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