West Valley Fire Fighters test for Engineer

12 West Valley Fire Fighters tested for the Engineers position in the Fire Department.

Candidates went through a rigorous testing process

Candidate Scott Byrne explains actions to evaluators

Candidate checking his calcualtions

The Engineer is responsible to take care of the equipment, make sure the crew gets to and from calls safely, and of course they get to pump all the water at the fire scene. Generally the Engineer is second in command of the crew and when the captain is off the engineer runs the show.

Congratulations to those that participated.

START SIMPLE....FINISH STRONG

I am often asked, where should I begin with emergency preparedness? That is a great question to ask. I love when I do get that question because it means that you are at least thinking about it.
The answer to the question is this. Just get started!
When the terrorist attacks on September 11 happend, we as a nation were overwhelmed at the daunting task that was before us. Where do we begin? How do we overcome this? It's too big to handle. But we as a nation did overcome it. How? We just got started! We took the whole picture and broke it into smaller pieces. This made it possible to do the work that needed to be done.
Members of Utah task force one were back at ground zero within a few short days. The rubble pile they faced was huge. Yet they took small areas and worked on them. It made a diffence. My group was there 60 days after September 11 and the rubble Pyle had been reduced to ground level. It was a completely different ball game from when Utah task force 1 was there, but there were still 60 floors below grade to work on. Bit by bit layer by layer, objective by objective the problems were overcome. The people of Japan are going through this same process.
It is not any different when we consider our own emergency preparedness. If we look at it, it can seem overwhelming. But if we will just take a moment to discuss things with our families or organizations. To prioritize and work on the simple things first, we will find that the more complex and costly things will fall into place. Talk with your friends and co workers, get ideas from them. Don't let the discussion die. Don't get caught up in the hype or doomsday mentality. You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish one thing at a time. If you start simple you truly can finish strong!

Don't be afraid........ Be prepared


Remember

BE Smart... BE Safe... BE READY

Fire Marshal Bob

Emergency Preparedness....What are you doing about it?

With all of the events going on in the world emergency preparedness seems to be a buzz word and topic. So with that said. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?

Statistics show that if you haven't acted by now in some way, you probably wont. Don't let that happen to you and your family. Resolve to act today! Its really quite simple. Start by talking with your family about what you would do if an emergency happened. Things such as how would you contact each other, what would you eat , drink and so on. when you do this talk about the solutions. Make a plan and then.........DO IT!

Remember

BE Smart...... BE Safe.... BE READY!

FIRE MARSHAL BOB

14 year old hit by vehicle while walking to school

Wes Valley City - 6000 west Wending lane
A 14 year old boy was hit by a car while walking to school. Fire crews were called to the scene of the accident. Due to the nature and the mechanism of the Injuries the youth was flown to Primary childrens medical center. West Vally City Police department is investigating the incident.

Bob Fitzgerald
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Fatal accident on Redwood Road

Sunday March 13 2011 - West Valley City

Car Embedded into a UTA bus
Photo Courtesy West Valley City - Kevin Conde

 Fire crews from West Valley and South Salt lake responded to a report of car verses bus at about 3850 south redwood road Sunday morning.











When crews arrived they found that a car that was said to be traveling between 80 - 100 miles per hour had hit a UTA bus that was stopped at a bus stop. The two occupants of the car were dead at the scene and crews had to first extricate the vehicle from the bus and then extricate the victims from their vehicle. No one on the bus was injured.

After Crews Separated the Car from the bus, the grueling task of extricating the two victims from the car
Photo Courtesy West Valley City - Kevin Conde

BHM broadcast Earthquakes, Tsunamis...

Join Bob Fitzgerald and review the events of the recent disaster in Japan. Earthquake Tsunami, and Nuclear melt downs........could we survive something similar hear? I hope we never have to find out!

Remember

BE Smart... BE Safe... BE READY

Fire Marshal Bob

Time For Spring Cleaning

Hello everyone, its time once again to change our clocks, and check the batteries in our smoke detectors. While were at it lets take it one step further. Spring is upon us, there's  no better time to do a little spring cleaning. Take just a few minutes to look around your house and look for fire hazards. A good place to start is your utility room. Check around your furnace and water heater to make sure you dont have any combustibe materials such as papers, boxes or any thing that could catch on fire. A good rule of thumb is to keep any of those items at least 24 inches away. Next look in your garage. Check for any flamable liquids, gas, oil, and any old rags that may be lying around. Keep your garage organized, youd be amazed the difference that it will make from a fire safety standpoint. Not to mention you'll be able to find your tools when you need them. Finally test you Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide alarms. You'll rest easier knowng that they are ready and working for you.

We hope you have a wonderful Spring.

Remember..........BE Smart... BE Safe...  BE READY!

Fire Marshal Bob

Two West Valley City Firefighters receive employee of the month

Firefighter Paramedic Scott Pearson and Captain Brett Russell received West Valley City employee of the month. What warranted this award was their actions on Easter morning 2010.

The two had just finished a 48 hour shift and were on the way home to be with family. The weather on this Easter morning was stormy, so stormy in fact that there were several accidents on the highway. Both had taken a different than usual route home because of the traffic. Both Scott and Brett noticed a car that had spun off the on ramp and rolled. The driver of the vehicle had been ejected from her car. She suffered multiple life threatening injuries, including two fractured femurs. The two stopped to render aid, neither one had any of the equipment that they noramally use day to day as paramedics. They worked to make sure the patient could breath and gave critical care until Salt Lake City crews arrived and transported the patient. The two then drove home and spent eh day with their families. When they returned to work no stories of bravado were given, in fact no one in the department knew what had happened until 7 months later.
Battalion Chief Jeff Fox was working another incident on the I-215 corridor with Salt Lake City crews when Captain Clay Coles asked if Chief Fox knew the names of the two that helped earlier in the year. He  wanted to " thank them personally" because with out the efforts of these two unsung heroes this woman would have died. Chief Fox made some inquiries and found out who the responsible parties were. The pair were given the award in a city Council meeting held on March 1st 2011. We congratulate Scott and Brett for the award, and the way they represent themselves, their families and all of us..
This certainly was a job well done!

Fire Marshal Bob