Missoula Fire Department

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2008 Annual Report

Mission Statement: To save lives, protect property, and ease suffering.

Table of Contents

Cover Letter

Mission, Vision, Values

Organizational Chart

Division Reports

Administrative Division Training Division Fire Prevention Bureau Operations Division Maintenance Division

Program Updates and Highlights

Appendixes

Missoula Fire Department's Mission, Vision, Values

Mission Statement Save lives, protect property, ease suffering.

Vision Statement To provide for, maintain, and improve the quality of life of the residents of Missoula. This is accomplished through an efficient – effective delivery of emergency services; code enforcement; public education; and on-going training. We carry out our mission with the highest degree of professionalism, recognizing that our people are the key to our success.

Values We value our professionalism. We value the high quality of service we provide to the public we serve. We value shared leadership. We value teamwork and team concepts. We value and respect the rights of citizens and firefighters. We value a safe environment for both the citizens we serve and our firefighters. We value our adaptability to the changing needs and services we provide. We value the diversity of our community and department.

Within the Fire Department, 92 sworn firefighters and 3 civilian personnel make up five separate divisions -

 Administration - management & administration of the department; planning & budgeting; records & reports.  Training – coordination and delivery of training, new employee orientation, disaster preparedness, training records and documentation, certifications, and safety.  Fire Prevention Bureau - fire investigations, public education and training, code enforcement through building inspections, plans review for new construction and subdivisions.  Operations - response to fires, medical emergencies, hazardous materials incidents, and a broad range of rescue calls (high & low angle rescues, water and ice rescue, confined space rescue, vehicle / industrial extrications).  Maintenance – fire apparatus, tools, hose and appliances, stations and facilities maintenance, apparatus specifications, research and development of apparatus and equipment.

Budget - Summary by Admin Svcs Manager Cheryl Schatz

Personal Services (Wages) $8,409,589 FY 2008 Budget Office Supplies $11,385 Operating Supplies $187,699 Purchased Maintenance Supplies $38,805 Services, Fuel $45,489 Supplies, $642,919 , Software $4,860 $288,238 , 7% 3% Postage $538 Printing $2,550 Subscriptions $3,655 Utilities $72,277 Hydrant Fees $428,577 Phones $9,623 Garbage $3,562 Professional Services $31,940 Repair & Maintenance $42,473 Travel $23,150 Personal Training $18,675 Services, Revenue Reimbursement $5,900 $8,409,58 Miscellaneous $182 9 , 90% Total $9,340,928

Administration

Personnel Changes At the end of CY 2008 Fire Chief Tom Steenberg retired after nearly 25 years of service with the Missoula Fire Department. During his tenure, Tom also served as a firefighter, Captain, and Assistant Chief. Tom was appointed Fire Chief in March of 2003.

In January 2009, Assistant Chief Mike Painter was selected as Missoula‟s new Fire Chief. Chief Painter has been with the department since 1980 and served as a firefighter and Captain prior to being appointed Assistant Fire Chief in April of 2003.

Stations 2008 marked a significant milestone for Missoula as the fire department completed a string of construction projects and began responding out of five fire stations for the first time.

Fire Station #2 at 247 Mount Avenue reopened in the spring of 2008. Originally constructed in 1953, the station was demolished in 2007 and a new 3-bay, drive-through station was constructed in the same location.

After an addition and extensive remodel, Fire Station #3 at 1501 39th Avenue reopened in December of 2008.

Both of these projects were funded by the fire facilities and apparatus bond which was approved by voters in 2005.

This bond also approved the construction of Fire Station #5 in the Linda Vista/Miller Creek area which was completed in the spring of 2007.

Grants - Summary by Assistant Chief Jason Diehl

In 2008 the department completed the last round of hiring in order to staff our fifth fire station. Out of the sixteen additional firefighters hired, the final eight positions are being funded in part through the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. This five year grant will provide up to $843,000 in supplemental funding toward the wages and benefits of these eight new firefighters.

The department was also awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) in the amount of $46,000 which was used to develop and implement a comprehensive Wellness/Fitness program for all of our uniformed personnel.

Training

In 2008 the Training Division was headed by Training Officer Tony Cate. The Training Division continued to work to maintain all necessary requirements for the Missoula Fire Department. National and State agencies such as NIOSH, OSHA and DOT mandate annual training in areas such as self-contained breathing apparatus, hazardous materials and emergency medical training. The division also provided training to maintain proficiency in all aspects of emergency response delivery.

2008 was a very busy year for the Training Division with two groups of firefighter trainees being hired. A first group of four were brought on in April and the second group of six were hired in October. These trainees spent their first 90 days under the direction of the Training Officer learning essential firefighting skills, department SOGs, and how to become an effective department member.

At the end of 2008 Training Officer Tony Cate returned to the Operations Division and was replaced by Jim Steenberg.

EMS Training - Summary by EMS Coordinator Bill Bennett

EMS training for 2008 remained an aggressive endeavor. A significant effort was made in the early months to improve our department‟s EMS performance using the new American Heart Association recommendations and changes for CPR and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. This included both classroom instruction and practical stations. We were able to document successful resuscitations that largely resulted from these changes. In the latter part of 2008 the focus shifted to airway management. Once again we were able to verify that based on new teaching and techniques, difficult airway issues were mitigated with positive results. Weekly EMS training on Fridays continued to cover a wide range of subject matter. Monthly mega-code training assured proficiency. Joint training with other agencies (Splash Montana, Life Flight…) was also successful. Our EMS training remains an in-depth blend of classroom instruction, video training and exams, as well as practical exercises.

The EMS Division was involved in the initial 90 day training cycles of the department‟s new firefighter classes. EMS was a major component of rookie training; going so far as to be the first item the new firefighters would practice on each morning. We continued to train with and provide training for other city departments and conducted the first Annual MFD EMS week. All of our EMT-Intermediates were trained to the highest level of skill allowed by State and National certifications short of going to the Paramedic level. In June, seven department members successfully completed an in-house Paramedic course. Recertification of all required licenses was provided in-house for our members.

The department‟s drug inventory was increased in 2008, and an additional five “tools” were added to medical bags to assist in caring for the sick and injured. A new Life Pack 12 was specified and ordered, with an update to all cardiac monitors also being implemented. Our members continue to provide an extremely high level of service for the citizens of Missoula, and the EMS Division will continue to support efforts to that end.

Fire Prevention Bureau - Summary by Fire Marshal Bob Rajala

The year 2008 was a productive year for the Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB). We also had two new rotating fire inspectors. Tony Goeres held the position of rotating inspector for approximately six months, and upon his request to return to the Operations division, he was replaced by Garrett Venters. This resulted in quite a bit of time spent training new inspectors this year.

Despite this, the FPB was very productive. In 2008 the FPB conducted a total 1,488 fire and life safety inspections.

Assembly Occupancies: 309 inspections. Educational Occupancies: 99 inspections. Health care/ Detention and Correctional: 77 Inspections. Residential Occupancies-148 Inspections: 148 Inspections. Mercantile and Business Occupancies: 783 Inspections. All other Occupancies accounted for 72 Inspections.

Our inspection program in 2008 was concentrated on high occupancy buildings. In 2009 we plan to concentrate more on F (manufacturing) and H (hazardous) occupancies, while maintaining our target inspections for assembly and educational occupancies.

Part of the FPB‟s approach to preventing fire is through Public Education. In 2008 we presented 195 public education programs and reached 4,925 people and observed or conducted 50 emergency evacuation drills.

The FPB investigated 56 fires in 2008, with 12 being determined to be of incendiary cause (arson). Through our Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention program, 4 youths received counseling regarding fire play activities.

Operations - Statistics compiled by Admin Secretary Mary Meyer

The Missoula Fire Department's Operations Division during 2008 added more personnel to complete our staffing for 5 engine companies and saw our station construction and remodel work finished to allow us to for the first time also respond from 5 stations. In November we promoted 4 new Fire Captains to serve as company officers for that 5th engine company.

The Missoula Fire Department responded to 5,846 calls for service in 2008. Of those, 168 were fires resulting in a total loss of $693,604. We also responded to 3,582 medical aid calls, 241 hazardous conditions/materials responses, and 1,247 public assist calls.

2008 Response Summary

Structure Fires 53 False Alarms 430 Wildlands/grass Fires 13 Mutual Aid Given 178 Vehicle Fires 30 Hazardous Materials 111 Other Fires 72 Hazardous Conditions 130 Rescue/EMS 3,582 Public Assist/Good Intent 1,247

Total CY2008 Responses 5,846

2008 Incidents of Note:

Mount Sentinel Fire On the evening of July 9th the skies over mount Sentinel were lit up from a rapidly advancing grass fire visible from town. Firefighters and apparatus from several area fire agencies responded. At one point during fire operations there were more than 130 fire fighters on the fire, including 2 hot shot crews and 2 20-person hand crews, smoke jumpers, eight engines and 3 helicopters shuttling water buckets from the Clark fork river. The fire was estimated to have burned some 384 acres across 4 separate

protection jurisdictions (Department of Natural Resource Conservation, Missoula Rural Fire District, City of Missoula & Missoula County). MFD owes the cooperator agencies a huge thanks for their quick response & ongoing support.

Maintenance Division - Summary by Master Mechanic Sean Garner

This year in the Maintenance Division was a very busy year. The new maintenance bay has made both routine maintenance and apparatus repairs much easier, and much more efficient. The mobile column lifts allow us to lift the fire apparatus above our heads, making access to the inner workings more accessible and the use of our time more effective. Apparatus down time in 2008 was less than 1% (51 hours total).

This year also saw the remodeling of our administrative assistant's area at Station 1. With the limited room we have available, our emphasis was to make the office space more user friendly, more appealing, and to reduce the daily maintenance requirements associated with the flooring by removing the carpet and installing a composite floor material. We also updated the original crew gear lockers located on the apparatus floor to a more durable and water resistant tubular metal design. The original particle board lockers were definitely showing wear and tear from more than 12 years of use.

This year also contained a significant achievement for certifications in the Maintenance Division. Our Master Mechanic and Assistant Mechanic obtained certification as Level 3 Master Fire Emergency Vehicle Technicians (EVT). This certification requires the successful completion of thirteen national tests as well as a minimum of two years experience. They join the ranks of less than five hundred Master EVT's in North America.

At the end of the year, Assistant Mechanic Steve Paske returned to the Operations Division and was replaced by Ken Goodian. The end of the year also came with the purchase of a replacement pumper for our 1979 Mack. The contrast between the two apparatus is extreme with the changes in technology over the past 29 years. We expect delivery around the end of June 2009.

Programs

Hazardous Materials Program - Summary by Captain Steve Paske

The Missoula Fire Department Hazards Materials Team is comprised of 12 active certified Hazards Materials Technicians. These 12 members are required to attend at least 24 hours of refresher training and one drill per year.

This training includes booming exercises with Yellowstone Pipe Line on the Clark Fork River, rail cars with Montana Rail Link, and in-house instruction.

These 12 members are part of the Missoula Regional Team which is comprised of members from Missoula Rural Fire, Missoula County Health Department, U of M, and the Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton. Together this makes one of the largest regional teams in Montana at approximately 40 members.

The Regional Team is also part of the State of Montana‟s Hazardous Materials Responses Teams. There are six teams located in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula. To be part of State Teams, we attend at least two drills per year with another Regional team, one will be with Kalispell this upcoming year. We are also active members on the State Team Advisory Group. All six teams are represented and meet quarterly to coordinate the state teams training, equipment and outreach education classes for area jurisdictions.

In the past six months, the Hazmat Team has responded to two calls on I-90 near the Beavertail exit. One involved a propane tank from a travel trailer, the other a gasoline spill from a truck tanker. Both incidents were triggered by vehicle crashes. The team teaches an 8 hours annual refresher in Hazmat Operational training to all MFD members. We have also taught outreach classes to approximately 100 people at five classes from Dillon to Condon on how to contact the State Teams and decontamination. We are continuing to receive requests for classes.

Fire Hydrants & Water Supply - Summary by BC Joe Toth

We are fortunate in this valley to be well served by a reliable and modern water supply system. Mountain Water Company is a private utility company whose sole function in domestic, commercial, and business water supply to the greater Missoula urban area. They own and maintain the system of water wells (Missoula aquifer is source of all water), mains, distribution pipes, fire hydrants, and pumping stations.

Missoula Fire Department works closely with Mountain Water Company to ensure a reliable and adequate water supply for fire operations through the water main and hydrant distribution system. State standards and NFPA require that municipal hydrant/water systems be inspected and flow-tested on a regular schedule. As an assigned duty, I work with representatives of Mountain Water Company to monitor that inspection schedule. We coordinate on a variety of other water-related issues; including hydrant placement in new developments or recently annexed areas (through Fire Prevention Bureau), color coding hydrants according to flow rates, maintaining access to hydrants, mapping, reporting on hydrant problems, and maintaining communication on water use from the hydrants. MFD also works closely with Mountain Water to provide adequate water supply in the event of a major fire that require large volumes of continuous water flow. We have developed communication links that provide a method for Mountain Water to adjust and activate wells and pumps to route water to the needed water mains. We have also discussed mutual training opportunities with the company on various issues.

There are some areas of MFD‟s response zones that are served by other private water companies. We are actively pursuing this same high level of resource coordination with

these water companies. As warmer weather arrives, MFD will be meeting with representatives of these companies, and we will develop plans for inspection and testing of those hydrants and work with them to ensure that flow rates and volume are adequate for fire department needs.

Wildland Fire Program - Summary by BC Ed Brunsvold

The Missoula Fire Department is committed to suppress wildfire within the city limits. Many homes now in the city limits lie within the wildland/urban interface. Missoula continues to acquire new open space. These spaces require fire protection, and specialized equipment and training is needed to contend with the problem of wildfire in these areas.

MFD has developed a Wildlands program to deal with these issues. MFD firefighters with previous wildland firefighting experience have brought a wealth of knowledge to the department and instituted a comprehensive training program. In 2008 department instructors certified 8 rookie firefighters in basic wildland firefighting. Classes were also conducted to certify all department firefighters in the annual safety refresher class required by state and federal fire agencies. In-house instructors also provided a class for firefighters to gain recertify or gain certification as timber fallers.

The Missoula Fire Department also contracts through the Montana DNRC to provide equipment and staffing for fires burning throughout the region. Firefighters who serve on these fires gain valuable experience filling positions including: engine boss, division supervisor, strike team leader. These experiences help MFD to be ready to effectively manage a fire in the City's interface or open spaces. MFD's participation in contracting is limited in order to maintain proper response in the city.

MFD maintains mutual aid agreements with adjoining and overlapping fire jurisdictions including Missoula Rural Fire District, Montana Department of Natural Resources, and the Lolo National Forest, thereby increasing available resources and assuring a rapid response. These agreements were put to good use on July 9th when Mount Sentinel burned and crews from all these agencies were brought into the city under one command structure to battle the blaze.

During 2008, the department was dispatched to wildfire calls within the city limits a total of 22 times. Crews also were dispatched to 17 incidents of unauthorized burning during the high risk months of July and August.

In 2008, MFD personnel and/or apparatus were dispatched 15 times out of the city to fires burning in the region. Coincidentally, fees for contracting netted the City's general fund over $15,000.

Of course, the best management tool is pre-fire planning and preparation. Using federal grant money, MFD will be working on fuels mitigation projects in the city limits during 2009.

The Missoula Fire Department is committed to a safe and quick response to fire within the city. MFD will continue to train and equip firefighters to have the knowledge and skills and tools necessary to manage and extinguish wild fires in the City of Missoula.

Rescue Programs - Summary by BC Todd Scott

In 2008 MFD's Technical Rescue Team made great strides. Although we‟ve had some growing pains and the program is still in its infancy, we believe we‟ve taken some giant steps in fine tuning our five rescue disciplines. We are fortunate to have a very hard working and motivated group of firefighters involved. There are a few things we‟ve been working on to improve.

We have been unsuccessful in extending our McCormick Park boat ramp by ten feet. We went through the Army Corp. of Engineers in Helena and have obtained a permit to extend the ramp. All work has to be done “on the dry”. Last year with the dam removal we found that the river has changed dramatically. We found that the river never did get low enough to extend our ramp and that there is quite a pile of river sediment directly below our existing boat ramp. With the river now in free flow condition, the channels that were once clear for jet boat operations are now showing signs of rocks, submerged logs and sediment deposits. We also noticed that during the course of the summer some of those same channels changed again. I feel it will be a few years before we can get back to our old ways of reading the river the same year after year.

We had a recall on our Extra sport PFD rescue belts. The belts emergency release mechanism was reportedly not releasing properly. Those replacement belts arrived and will be put in service shortly.

The jet boat, as well as the cataraft, are in good condition. This year I would like to add some boat guide posts on our jet boat trailer to help the firefighters get the boat loaded properly. These are less than $100.

Rescue team personnel 144 hours in program development 1543 hours rescue team delivered training to other firefighters

Total training hours in rescue disciplines delivered to operations personnel JET BOAT – 216 CONFINED SPACE – 404 SWIFT WATER – 548 TRENCH RESCUE – 845 ICE RESCUE – 231 HIGH ANGLE REFRESHER – 265 ROPE RESCUE – 585 CONFINED SPACE 1 REFRESHER – 331 AUTO EXTRICATION – 664 CONFINED SPACE 2 REFRESHER – 108

Radio Communications - Summary by BC Jeff Logan

Efforts to improve our radio communication capabilities have been ongoing and notable improvements are in place and ready to implement. The additional tactical channels and repeaters have been „fine tuned‟ by the city communications shop and are working very

well. Additional tactical channels were added which enable the department to operate safely and successfully on multiple independent incidents simultaneously. Training to take advantage of our expanded capabilities is underway.

Public Service, Public Education, Public Relations Summary by FF1st Class Matt Kerns

SCOTT Firefighter Stair Climb On Sunday March 2nd, 2008, 11 fire fighters from the City of Missoula Fire Department traveled to Seattle to climb the 69 stories to the top of the Columbia Tower, competing in the Scott Firefighter Stair Climb. This event serves as a fund raiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with the money raised going directly to fight blood-borne cancers. The Missoula Fire Department's fund-raising efforts netted over $4,500 for cancer research, and the team took seventh overall out of over 150 teams.

Habitat For Humanity Fire fighters from Missoula Firefighters' IAFF Local #271 traded in their bunker pants for tool belts to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity for 2 days in July 2008. Organized by IAFF L#271 President Jeff Brandt, the home in the Canyon Creek subdivision got a boost from the skills of the firefighters who donated their time and knowhow for this worthy cause. The firefighters participating have had training in building construction through the department's training program in addition to their own experience.

Muscular Dystrophy Association – "Fill-The-Boot" Campaign & Summer Camp Fire fighters from both Missoula City Fire and Missoula Rural Fire were seen on the bridges throughout town last August with bunker boots in hand to collect donations for their annual "Fill The Boot" campaign. This event serves as a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Montana, with firefighters throughout the state collecting donations. Missoula firefighters in 2008 collected over $20,000.00 for the cause, placing Missoula second in the state for fundraising. Money collected goes directly to funding research, to assist Montana's children with muscular dystrophy, and to pay the costs to send Montana children with muscular dystrophy to attend MDA's summer camp which was held in 2008 just outside Havre. Assistant Fire Marshal Gary Honold, who has been involved with MDA for almost twenty years, headed up MFD's presence at summer camp. More than 20 campers from Montana were able to attend the weeklong camp.

Personnel News & Newcomers Summary by Fire Chief Michael Painter

In addition to the retirement of Chief Tom Steenberg at the end of 2008, MFD Battalion Chief Russ Beree retired at the end of August with more than 32 years of service to his department and community. Firefighter Tim Pagelkopf resigned in April to accept a firefighting position with Duluth Fire – Tim's and his wife's families live in the area.

In April 2008, MFD welcomed Prob FF's Dave Smith, Justin Walsh, John LaRocque and Jamie Porter to the department. In October we also added Prob FF's Ahren Cornelius,

Aslan Summerday, Joseph Waggett, Bradly Davis, Jason Chesbro & Ryan Murer to our unified team.