The Fire Chief’s Blog

Last night and early this morning four more fire deaths were reported in Minnesota. These latest four tragedies combined with the four from earlier this week in a house fire in Pequot Lakes and three others from earlier this month have the Minnesota Fire Service reeling. Eleven fire deaths in less than 30 days!

The incredibly tragic start to 2006 comes after two record low fire death totals in the previous two years, just 37 for all of last year.

Although the details are not known in all of the deaths so far, we do know that at least 5 of the deaths resulted, at least in part, from non-functioning or disabled smoke detectors. It is depressing and shocking to realize that people are still not able to prioritize having this life saving device in working order, or even present in some situations. The cost of a smoke detector is around $10.00 or less for the simple but effective battery operated models. A more robust system can cost a little more.

Let’s all do ourselves and our loved ones a favor and be sure there are working smoke detectors present wherever we live and work. Lets stop our tragic new trend and get back to setting records for fewer fire deaths.

Today, along with Fire Marshal Allen Nelson, Fire Inspector Tony Liddell, Firefighter Bill Beumer and Firefighter Jolin Tyler, I attended the funeral services for David “Cookie” Klapprich. Many Eden Prairie firefighters knew “Cookie” and probably almost every firefighter knows or has heard of his father, Paul. Paul has been the Chief of the Wayzata Fire Department for many years and he and his sons all have prominent roles in running the organization, both past and present. Cookie was only 43 years old and had just been promoted to Captain. I did not know Cookie but I know one of his brothers Kevin and his father well. The large church was filled with hundreds of people that knew Cookie. In addition, I counted over 20 different Fire Departments that sent trucks and staff to pay their respects to the Klapprich family and the extended family that is the Wayzata Fire department. This was a standing room only event. I am sure that Cookie is leaving behind a strong legacy as a result of his many contributions to his family, the community of Wayzata and the Wayzata Fire Department. Please keep the Klapprich family in your thoughts as they begin to recover from this tragic loss.

A small scale remodeling project is underway at Fire Station #1. There are five areas of the structure that are going to be addressed.

First, we are expanding the area that currently houses the Fire Prevention staff, the Assistant Chiefs, the Administrative Assistant as well as my office. The refined space will provide more room for plan review and also make room for the movement of the Radio Infrastructure staff.

Second, we are expanding the lounge area next to the communications room by reducing the communications room by the same amount. This improvement will allow more people to be available nearby during calls and also limit the number of people in the communications room during calls.

Third, we are adding space for our Technical Operations person and moving them from the Police Department space to a space in the Fire Station.

Fourth, we are relocating our station officers from their current space to new space in the first level of the station. The new space will be more efficient than their previous space.

Fifth and last we are making a better space for both the Training Captain and the Historical Coordinator position on the first level of the station.

While there will be some disruptions over the next 30 days the long-term improvements will be well worth the short-term dust. Our operations have grown over the last three years and this remodeling project reflects those changes.

After a lengthy process, twelve recruits are officially on their way to becoming fire fighters. Eleven of the recruits are pictured here, one was out of the Country on business. Last night was recruit orientation for this latest class. We are excited about this latest group of recruits as we make our way to an increased staffing level of 95 fire fighters.

Eden Prairie is fortunate to have such a great pool of candidates to choose from, people that are excited about serving their community and can make the commitment necessary to be successful.

Way to go, Class of 2006!

After more than 20 years we will be replacing our current fire boat with a new version. The new boat has more safety features like radar (for low visibility conditions, emergencies seem to happen when the weather is bad) and a bigger motor for operations in a swift water environment like the Minnesota River as well as a ton of scene lighting. Additionally this boat has an onboard fire pump that can deliver over 350 gallons per minute, enough to support two handlines and provide a water based fire attack option for structures located on our numerous lakes. Notice that the front of the boat is not the traditional “V” shaped, but rather a blunt nose configuration. The blunt nose allows a landing craft style feature that allows the boat to easily unload it’s cargo of fire fighters and gear at the shore. The boat has enough capacity to carry an ATV along with a full compliment of fire fighters.

The pictures included here are of the construction process as of the end of December. We will have the new boat in service by the time ice is off of our lakes.

A view from the stern, looking forward
Side View shows the blunt nose construction. The hull itself is still a “V” shape from the waterline and below.

Strong construction is the hallmark of this boat builder.