The Fire Chief’s Blog

This morning I received a few pictures and the following note from Eden Prairie Firefighter and Soldier, Nate Wiley. Nate is one of those very dedicated public servants who not only serves the community of Eden Prairie but also the entire country. Nate writes:

“Here are some pics of a HA (Humanitarian Aid) Drop we did at a school last week. We supplied 150 kids with school supplies, clothing, and toys, and were involved with Iraqi Army and Police elements from our local area. It was a win-win for us. The kids got school supplies that they needed and our involvement with Iraqi Army and Police forces creates a positive perception for the public that we are working together to make Iraq a better place.” Nate

We are all very proud of Nate and are awaiting his safe return in late March or early April of ‘07.

Fire Station #4 is moving along quite well.

The first picture is of Scott Vasko (left), the Job Supervisor from CM Construction and Assistant Chief Steve Koering. These two meet almost daily to iron out little issues that come up with any project this size. Both Scott and Steve deserve big credit for keeping the project on-time and on budget.

The next two pictures are of the building itself. The exterior brick work is completed and most of the windows are in, as of this posting all the exterior cement work is done and the final “lift” of blacktop is being put down this afternoon.

The final “pour” was done this morning as shown in the last picture. This last pour was a big one, beginning yesterday and finishing up this morning more than 120 yards of concrete were needed for the 3 apparatus bays. The apparatus bay floors are 8″ thick.

The project remains on target for a late January, early February occupancy. On March th we plan on having a grand opening along with a celebration for the th anniversary of the Fire Department.

This afternoon Assistant Chiefs Rick Hammerschmidt, Scott Taylor and I will go to Melrose Minnesota to attend a visitation for Kyle Weisbrich a 22 year firefighter. Kyle was killed while responding to the fire station for a call. Responding to the fire station in a personal vehicle and responding to calls in a fully marked fire vehicle rank as the number 3 cause of firefighter deaths annually. Fighting fires is a dangerous business on so many levels, but this kind of death is particularly tragic in that it could have been easily prevented.

I didn’t know Kyle personally, but I was once in Kyle’s same place as a new firefighter 20 years ago, eagerness needs to be tempered with discipline and care. Initial reports indicate that Kyle failed to stop completely at a stop sign and collided with a car in the cross traffic. A split second decision can be the difference between life and death. Kyle was on a motorcycle and wasn’t wearing a helmet. This is a line of duty death, as Kyle was responding to a fire call.

I feel deeply for Kyle’s family and the firefighters from Melrose Fire. I also feel a deep sadness for the person who couldn’t avoid hitting Kyle and that person’s family members. The impacts on everyone involved will last a lifetime. Last night at training myself and my command staff met with all of our firefighters to remind them or their responsibilities when driving in their personal vehicles to the fire station and driving fire apparatus to emergency scenes. We have very specific policies in place regarding driving behavior, but this sad event was another opportunity to revisit the topic.

This is a grim reminder to all of us that our decisions can have grave consequences for ourselves and other around us. Please drive safely for your own sake and everyone else’s.

Assistant Chief Scott Taylor and firefighter Kurt Schendel (Kurt is a pilot) went up for a flight on Saturday morning and shot this picture of Fire Station #4, which is under construction in western Eden Prairie. The building is scheduled to be in move in condition sometime in January 2007, just a few short months from now.

The photo is taken from the east looking west, so what you are seeing is the east face of the fire station. To the left or south is new highway 212, currently called 312. The highway is scheduled to open sometime in November..