The Fire Chief’s Blog

Last weekend the Fire Department along with our Police Department’s ERU team conducted joint training. The training was highly successful and covered a broad range of potential situations where firefighters and ERU members would need to work together to rescue victims.

In the picture included with this blog, firefighters are receiving a protective escort from ERU team members to effect a rescue while in a hostile environment.

Eden Prairie police and fire training together has become a standard around here, although it is unique by most other public safety standards. We are very proud of the joint training efforts we have undertaken together. While we hope we never encounter the need to use this kind of training in a real world situation, if we have to, we will be prepared to perform our roles effectively jointly.

My sincere appreciation to those police officers and firefighters who took time from their weekends to further their skills in operating together under these potentially dynamic circumstances.

For the past few weeks we have been conducting Ice Rescue training on our area lakes. This is a good time of year for the training, the ice is generally not as thick and the temperatures are a little more moderate.

This year we are testing a new technology that allows the rescuers to carry a small inflatable boat out to the victim and then inflate the device when open water is reached. This is a new technology and we have been fortunate enough to have been selected to try it out. The new technology is highly effective, our training with it was a big success.

Like all of our training we hope we never encounter a ife threatening situation that requires getting people out of icy waters, but if it does happen, our regular trainng along with the effective use of new technologies gives us a better chance of a positive outcome for both rescuers and victims.

Almost 40 members of our CERT program showed up last night to get some SkyWarn Training. Our trainer for the night was Jim Flanders, Assistant Chief with the Minnetonka Fire Department. Jim is very knowledgeable about the subject matter and an excellent trainer to boot. In the photo above two CERT members discuss some specific topics with Jim after class.

Our CERT members are an integral part of our public safety team, after class some CERT members toured our new Rescue-Pumpers and our new Fire/Rescue Boat to keep abreast of equipment changes within the Fire Department. The photo below shows the equipment tour underway. Click photos to enlarge.

Both Assistant Chief Scott Taylor (left photo) and Assistant Chief Steve Koering (right photo) received their Emergency Management Certificates today at the Governor’s Conference for Emergency Management. (Click photos to enlarge.)

Presenting the certificate of completion was Kris Eide, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the State of Minnesota. It has been a long journey consisting of both classroom and on-line classes totaling more than 200 hours. These two have spent a lot of time together while cementing this valuable knowledge, and yet they still remain close freinds! Our city government’s operations and our citizens in general are better off thanks to their dedication. Nicely done, Steve and Scott!

Last Friday was the water testing day for our new Fire/Rescue boat, a few minor items were discovered that needed tending to so another session took place today, Friday. Click the thumbnails to enlarge.

The boat performed exceptionally well and is now back in Eden Prairie for some final details that our Fleet Services staff performs so well; wiring the emergency lighting, and final hook-up of the communications systems.