The Fire Chief’s Blog

Earlier this year the City of Eden Prairie approved the addition of a Fire Inspector position to focus on our city’s over 6000 rental housing units. In July the new position was filled and the program has been underway since mid July. So far over 300 individual units have been inspected. Our goal is to get into every building yearly and every individual unit at least once every four years. In addition to the routine inspections, we will also respond to both Tennant and landlord concerns as they are reported to us.

Some of the issues we have discovered so far include: Non working smoke detectors, extreme clutter, Emergency exit lighting not working, un-sheetrocked walls in a storage area, grills hidden on apartment decks, and a straw basket used as an ashtray on an apartment deck to name just a few.

Over the course of time we expect that this program will result in an overall increase in rental property upkeep, as well as a safer overall living situation for all Tennant’s in our city.

Recently the Eden Prairie Fire Department completed the final paperwork to “purchase” a Crash Rescue Truck from MAC Fire for $1.00. This is a good arrangement for all concerned.

The EPFD gets a truck that is specifically designed to operate in an airport environment. In other words, it has plenty of the specialized foam products needed to put out a large amount of extinguishing agent in the event of a plane crash. Additionally the truck can be pumping out the foam product as it is moving, thus reducing the time it takes to get extinguishment products onto a crash site.

MAC Fire gets better coverage at the Flying Cloud Airport by giving us a vehicle that can perform the needed tasks, this reduces the amount of times they would have to come over to Flying Cloud Airport to provide coverage for a potential in flight emergency.

The pilots that use the airport now have a much safer place to make an emergency landing. The final key to the success of this new equipment is getting the word out to call the fire department at the first sign of trouble, thus enabling a timely response. This critical timing link is not unique to the airport, all fire services need rapid notification in order to be the most effective.

Pictured to the left are 8 Eden Prairie firefighters that received “train the trainer” training from the highly capable MAC Fire Department staff. From left to right: Lieutenant Jess Irmiter, Firefighter Shaun White, Assistant Chief Rick Hammerschmidt, Lieutenant Ward Parker, Captain Mark Vandenberghe, Assistant Chief Scott Taylor, Assistant Chief Steve Koering and Fire Inspector Chuck Schaitberger) We expect this latest addition to our fleet to be ready to respond by the end of September.

On Monday of this week the Eden Prairie Lions Club held their annual golf event to raise money for local causes. I played in a foursome with two of my Assistant Chiefs, Scott Taylor and Steve Koering as well as Assistant Chief Greg Hayes from the Chanhassen Fire Department.

It was a beautiful afternoon for golf and a great organization to support. Our group shot a respectable 14 under par. The winners were a foursome from the Eden Prairie Police Department, they shot an incredible 21 under par. Win, lose or draw, it was a good event all the way around and one that both the Fire and Police Departments support every year.

From left to right, Scott Taylor, me, Greg Hayes and Steve Koering

As a result of modernizing our fleet of fire engines we have been selling off some of our older vehicles. One such sale was finalized today with the delivery of our “old” Engine 2. The college has been trying to upgrade their fire apparatus that is used to train students so….. We traded our truck to the Hennepin Technical College in exchange for college tuition credits.

Our department has had a long history of firefighters taking a lot of advanced firefighting and medical training at the college. we encourage that. With all that additional training comes additional costs for tuition. Both organizations got their respective needs met, a win, win situation.

Pictured here are Eden Prairie Assistant Chief Steve Koering and David Klocek, the person that runs the fire training operations for the college.

Below is a picture of station #4 under construction, taken from above this past Saturday, August 5th.

In the photo, north is at the top. The picture shows clearly the new Highway 312 under construction to the South and the now completed Miller parkway running off to the East through the Miller Park complex. The Western edge of the photo shows Dell Road and the newly completed bridge over Highway 312.

When the station is completed and the surrounding roadways are finished off, this station will enjoy excellent access to major roadways, an important feature to aid a speedy response to emergencies.

Last night was National Night Out, and despite the rain (much needed) a lot of neighborhoods still turned out to reconnect with their neighbors and show their support for this national initiative. In Eden Prairie Fire and Police had a list of 90 block parties to visit.

The crowds were very excited to meet some of the firefighters and police officers that provide public safety services to our residents and visitors. Pictured below are kids at a neighborhood party checking out the newest police squad car. Standing outside the car is Fire Captain Tony Liddell, the car is being driven by Officer Erica Halverson, pictured in the back window of the squad car is Paul Lentsch. Paul is very interested in public safety and frequently visits our fire station #1.

The support we are shown on a regular basis by our citizens is remarkable and National Night Out is no exception.