The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has been focusing on High Visibility Garments for all responders to roadway incidents. The minimum mandatory requirement for Firefighters and First Responders is for either a Class 2 High Visibility Garment, or compliant Fire Department Turnout Gear. This requirement is for anytime Firefighters and First Responders are directing traffic, working at crash scenes or taking part in other activities that place them near moving motor traffic.
The High Visibility Garments are required by a number of regulatory agencies including the Federal Highway Administration, as well as Federal and Minnesota OSHA. Eden Prairie Fire has a Standard Operating Guideline that specifically requires compliance with these standards. In addition to our compliant Turnout Gear we also place Class 2 High Visibility vests in every piece of fire department apparatus. Firefighter Safety is key and cannot be compromised.
There is no doubt in my mind that High Visibility Garments lead to safer emergency scenes for all First Responders. The photo below is a good example of nearly everyone in the required Class 2 High Visibility stuff, either vests or compliant Turnout Gear.
Here is A BIG reason why, in my 25 plus years with the Eden Prairie Fire Department, I have never experienced a bad fire hydrant at a fire. Beginning in April, the City of Eden Prairie Utilities Division will perform a flushing and maintenance check on all City fire hydrants, both public and private. This process involves opening and exercising each of the hydrants, which expels any sediment that may have accumulated in the pipes. The flushing process is conducted annually to maintain the water quality within the distribution system and ensure that each of the City’s 4,000 fire hydrants, both public and private, are in proper working order.
The process is expected to take one month to complete. Please be aware that if you have any questions about the activities you see, including wet areas, water running down streets or shooting up in the air, fire alarms going off in commercial buildings or possible water main or valve leaks, simply call the Utilities Division at 952-949-8530 and let them know.
Congratulations to Firefighter Duey Harrison for being chosen The Eden Prairie Fire Department’s Firefighter of the Year! Duey has served the residents of Eden Prairie for nearly 22 years, always at the highest level.
Duey has mentored just about every new firefighter that has come along after he began his career in 1991. Duey, is the go to person for just about every topic imaginable. Duey truly exemplifies what it means to be a servant leader!
Congratulations to another excellent firefighter, in a long list of very deserving “Eden Prairie Firefighter of the Year”, awardees!
Yesterday the Eden Prairie Fire Department responded to a person not breathing. First responders found staff performing CPR on a resident who had collapsed. The AED was applied and an airway was secured. The engine company arrived and placed the Lucas II device on the patient. The paramedics arrived soon afterwards and began advanced care. Within a short period of time a return of spontaneous circulation was obtained. The patient was transported to local hospital with a pulse, good blood pressure, and making respiratory efforts.
In January the fire department purchased the Physio-Control, Lucas II Device to be carried on the first due engines. This device performs compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Research has shown that these devices perform better compressions through a consistent depth and rate which may result in better outcomes for the patient. One of the other benefits is it frees up responders from doing the compressions allowing them to carry out other life saving procedures. One point that is very clear in the outcome of patients in cardiac arrest is how quickly chest compressions begin after the heart stops. The quality of the compressions is key to success. The fire department is well positioned to be on the scene early, and having the Lucas II Device will afford our customers with a better chance of survival when chest compressions are necessary.
Below is a picture of the Lucas II as it would be placed on a patient.
Spring Forward and Remember to Check Smoke Detectors
When you spring forward an hour for Daylight Savings this Sunday, it’s also the perfect time to make sure you have a working smoke alarm in your home. Smoke alarms significantly increase the chances of surviving a deadly home fire. Take a few simple steps to get prepared including:
- Test and clean your smoke alarms monthly;
- Replace the batteries at least once a year;
- Install smoke alarms on every level of your residence, including the basement; and
- Replace the entire smoke alarm unit every 8-10 years or per manufacturer’s instructions.
After you test your smoke alarm, let everyone know via Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to also share these tips with your family and friends.
For more information about smoke alarms and home fire safety, visit www.ready.gov/fires and www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms or call the Eden Prairie Fire Department at 952-949-6200.
This morning I was asked about what we look for when conducting rental housing inspections. Well, here is a good link that goes over at a high level the things we are looking for. Our mission is to help you make sure your rental property is properly maintained, and the risk of fire is kept as low as possible. Call us anytime at 952-949-6200 if you have any questions or concerns about Rental Housing Inspections, or anything else related to either the Fire or Building Department.
Today there was an article in the Star Tribune about private fire hydrants failing when needed. The reason given was in part, because the private hydrants hadn’t always been annually tested. Most cities annually test city owned hydrants but some don’t test privately owned hydrants, and some private hydrant owners apparently don’t regularly test them on their own.
In case you’re wondering, Eden Prairie has tested both city owned and private fire hydrants for many years. Since becoming an Eden Prairie Firefighter in 1986, I cannot remember a time when we arrived, tagged a fire hydrant, and found it to be inoperable. I would credit this to our city policy of annually testing and repair, and of course the fact that Eden Prairie is a relatively new city, with new hydrants. As time marches on, annual testing will continue to be a big factor in always having fire hydrants that work when you need them.
February 4, 2013 – 3:27 pm
Finally we are getting some much needed snow to bring moisture to help ease the dry pattern we are in. I’m sure snow is a welcome sight to those folks that plow it for a living, the past couple of years have been lean in that regard. So the last couple of days the light snows have been piling up and the plows have been running, I’m sure.
For a plow driver in the early morning today the opportunity to earn some dollars came to an end as his truck, the way he makes his living, went up in flames. Crews responded from both Stations 3 and 4 and got a very quick knockdown on the fire, but it doesn’t take much fire to destroy a vehicle. On the positive side, nobody was injured.
The call came in at 0155 hrs and Engine 32 was on scene at 0201 hrs. Nice work by the crews from Engine 32 and 41. They arrived quickly and got the job done.
January 15, 2013 – 4:01 pm
2012 was a record year for City permit issuance in terms of both permit fees ($3,449,718) and valuation ($262,795,667). For 2012, a total of 5,699 permits were issued and over 8,612 inspections were conducted. In 2012, two major projects were issued permits which contributed over $125,000,000 to the permit valuation figures.
The two projects are: UnitedHealth Group (UHG), located at Shady Oak Road and City West Parkway — The first construction phase of a new business campus includes twin 8 story office buildings and a 7 level parking ramp; and Emerson Rosemount, located on Technology Drive — This project is a major renovation of both the interior and exterior of the building.
Permit fees are used to defray development related costs incurred by the City for services such as plan reviews and inspections. By State Statute the fees cannot be used for general fund expenditures other than those related to development. Permit fees are collected at the time of permit issuance, however on projects such as Rosemount and UHG the subsequent required inspections can extend for a year or more beyond the year in which the permit revenue was received with the receipt of no additional revenue. To date the Inspections Division has performed over 100 inspections at the UHG construction site. By the time a Certificate of Occupancy is issued 100s of inspections will have taken place over a period of approximately two years. The purpose of these inspections is to verify that all phases of construction are code compliant and ultimately that the structure is safe and structurally sound for the building occupants.
2012 was a very busy year, even without the two big projects listed above. Lots of activity took place in the construction industry, perhaps a sign that the great recession is coming to an end and brighter days are ahead for the economy in general. Of course, only time will tell.
December 14, 2012 – 1:16 pm
Be sure to watch KARE 11 at 6:30p on Saturday, December 15 for their 30-minute special called “Safe at Home.”
During the past several months, KARE 11 and Saint Paul Fire Investigator, Jamie Novak aired several fire safety segments on their 10p news shows about kitchen fire safety and residential fire sprinklers. With the help of the Coon Rapids Fire Department, they even burned a house down room-by-room to demonstrate how simple mistakes can become deadly. It’s very graphic. In addition, they interviewed fire survivors. The kitchen fire safety story won an upper-Midwest regional Emmy for Jamie and Boyd!
Now KARE 11 has put together these stories, told by Boyd Huppert, along with Fire Investigator, Jamie Novak, into a 30-minute “special” hosted by Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver. You won’t want to miss it!
