By CONNOR HOLMES
published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze 7/8/09
Behind a gated fence along the curved back road where Southeast 26th Street meets Southeast 17th Avenue sits the Cape Coral Fire Department's haz-mat building.
It is quiet and nestled inconspicuously between condos, single-story homes and other city facilities, a short distance from Fire Station 3 along Everest Parkway.
But Tuesday, the building's relaxed locale seemed to clash wildly with a white four-door Cadillac resting on its side with the driver's side doors smashed in.
The unoccupied car sat wrecked in the parking lot, awaiting firefighters to perform an emergency extrication. The extrication is a training exercise which about 8 to 10 firefighters will perform this afternoon.
The exercise simulates real-life scenarios of dangerous accidents, where experience and training make the difference between life and death, using cars donated from and smashed up by local NAPA Preferred Auto Care manager Wes Dale and his wrecker crews.
"With money being tight with the city and everything, we're volunteering and giving stuff to them to practice and save on their budget," Dale said.
NAPA donates cars for about one training session every three or four months, depending on demand, that have come to them through prior accidents and arrests and those which have been abandoned to them.
"Rather than just haul them to the junkyard, we give them to these guys and they get to practice," he said. "It's teaching them to be safe around the vehicles."
The trainings, which have taken place for the past several years, entail cutting windshields and seat belts, crushing metal, stabilizing unsturdy vehicles and rescuing dummies which weigh nearly 150 pounds - all while dressed in full rescue gear in the summer heat.
"It may be fun to cut a car because there's no real person in there, but we train as if there's a live person in there," said Cape Coral Fire Department Lt. Hugo Sorensen. "It's been mostly for the new guys because when they come out they haven't seen things like this."
Hugo recalled his first day on duty in 1988, responding to an accident on Palm Tree Boulevard. A vehicle had collided with a palm tree and several children had died in the accident.
"You have to learn fast," he said.
The extrication training will be held from 1-4 p.m., and will serve as an advanced course for emergency personnel of various skill levels.
Showing posts with label firefighters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firefighters. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Two North Fort Myers firefighters charged in Tween Waters fist fight
By CONNOR HOLMES
published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze, the Sanibel-Captiva Islander and the North Fort Myers Neighbor 5/21/09
Two off-duty North Fort Myers firefighters were arrested and charged in a Captiva bar fight Tuesday evening and face an internal investigation by the North Fort Myers Fire District.
Anthony William Pearce and Erik Lee Arnold, both 29, were allegedly involved in a physical disturbance among 15-20 people in the parking lot of the Crows Nest Bar, part of the Tween Waters Inn at 15951 Captiva Drive, at about 9:31 p.m.
The fight caused a broken window and bloody injuries. It ended with a confrontation involving a sheriff's deputy's baton, Taser and handcuffs.
Both men have been with the North Fort Myers Fire District for more than four years, and have never had any disciplinary issues with the department prior to Tuesday's incident, said North Fort Myers Fire Chief Terry Pye.
"They're both excellent firefighters," he said. "They do a good job. We've never really ever had a problem with them. It's a very unfortunate incident, but it has happened and we are going to deal with it."
Pye said his department does not condone the actions of Pearce and Arnold, despite the fact that they were off duty at the time of the fight.
"They were off duty, but these gentlemen are firefighters," he said. "People look at that as a 24-hour job."
Pye said a parallel internal investigation, contingent on the outcome of any criminal action against the two, will determine what, if any, disciplinary steps will be taken.
Pearce and Arnold will likely be asked to attend anger management courses, he added.
When Deputy Michael Sawicki arrived on scene Tuesday, he observed Pearce injured, bloody and screaming as several men attempted to carry him away from the fight, according to police reports.
Sawicki said Arnold approached him aggressively, stating, "Take me to jail! Take me to jail!"
When Arnold refused to stop, Sawicki hit him several times with a collapsible baton and used his Taser until Arnold cooperated, according to the officer's report.
Tween Waters Inn employees told Sawicki that they witnessed Pearce, Arnold and an unknown male fighting. Arnold broke a window during the fight, they said.
Tween Waters Inn general manager Jeff Shuff could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Employees at the resort declined to comment in Shuff's absence.
Arnold was charged with resisting arrest with violence - a felony - and resisting a public lodge operator.
Pearce was charged with criminal mischief over $200 but under $1,000 and resisting a public lodge operator.
Pearce has been released on $2,000 bond, according to Lee County Jail booking records. Arnold has been released on $6,000 bond.
published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze, the Sanibel-Captiva Islander and the North Fort Myers Neighbor 5/21/09
Two off-duty North Fort Myers firefighters were arrested and charged in a Captiva bar fight Tuesday evening and face an internal investigation by the North Fort Myers Fire District.
Anthony William Pearce and Erik Lee Arnold, both 29, were allegedly involved in a physical disturbance among 15-20 people in the parking lot of the Crows Nest Bar, part of the Tween Waters Inn at 15951 Captiva Drive, at about 9:31 p.m.
The fight caused a broken window and bloody injuries. It ended with a confrontation involving a sheriff's deputy's baton, Taser and handcuffs.
Both men have been with the North Fort Myers Fire District for more than four years, and have never had any disciplinary issues with the department prior to Tuesday's incident, said North Fort Myers Fire Chief Terry Pye.
"They're both excellent firefighters," he said. "They do a good job. We've never really ever had a problem with them. It's a very unfortunate incident, but it has happened and we are going to deal with it."
Pye said his department does not condone the actions of Pearce and Arnold, despite the fact that they were off duty at the time of the fight.
"They were off duty, but these gentlemen are firefighters," he said. "People look at that as a 24-hour job."
Pye said a parallel internal investigation, contingent on the outcome of any criminal action against the two, will determine what, if any, disciplinary steps will be taken.
Pearce and Arnold will likely be asked to attend anger management courses, he added.
When Deputy Michael Sawicki arrived on scene Tuesday, he observed Pearce injured, bloody and screaming as several men attempted to carry him away from the fight, according to police reports.
Sawicki said Arnold approached him aggressively, stating, "Take me to jail! Take me to jail!"
When Arnold refused to stop, Sawicki hit him several times with a collapsible baton and used his Taser until Arnold cooperated, according to the officer's report.
Tween Waters Inn employees told Sawicki that they witnessed Pearce, Arnold and an unknown male fighting. Arnold broke a window during the fight, they said.
Tween Waters Inn general manager Jeff Shuff could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Employees at the resort declined to comment in Shuff's absence.
Arnold was charged with resisting arrest with violence - a felony - and resisting a public lodge operator.
Pearce was charged with criminal mischief over $200 but under $1,000 and resisting a public lodge operator.
Pearce has been released on $2,000 bond, according to Lee County Jail booking records. Arnold has been released on $6,000 bond.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cape Coral firefighters and others suit up for training in water rescue
by CONNOR HOLMES
published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze 4/24/09
1.)Dive FTO Mike Bush and safety diver Jason Polar of the Cape Coral Fire Department discuss a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
2.)Safety diver Jason Polar and line tender Mike Sandoval bring to shore a fake baby in a car seat, rescued by primary diver Ryan Connor during a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
3.)Primary diver Ryan Connor and safety diver Jason Polar of the Cape Coral Fire Department enact a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
*Photographs copyright to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze
-----
The baby firefighter Ryan Connor pulled from a submerged vehicle in Crystal Lake in northwest Cape Coral Thursday afternoon was not real.
The vehicle the child car seat sat in was a construction of PVC pipes.
But the water rescue training session left Connor and 11 other firefighters stationed throughout the city prepared to save real lives.
The Cape Coral Fire Department's Dive Rescue Team, with core dive technicians stationed out of Fire Station 2 on Nicholas Parkway, responded to 93 water-related incidents in 2008, according to statistics from the Cape Coral Fire Rescue and Emergency Management Services Marine Committee.
Of those calls, 26 were cars submerged in canals and 24 were drownings or near drownings.
The fire department responded to 79 water-related calls in 2007.
In one scenario during Thursday's training, Connor was the primary diver searching the mock vehicle, while Jason Polar served as a safety diver and Mike Sandoval played the part of line tender.
While searching underwater, Connor can see about 5 feet in front of him, but kicking up silt at the lake bottom often reduces that visibility greatly, causing him to have to work from touch.
"Once you get close to the bottom and reach to touch anything, it all gets black and you can't see anything," he said. "For this scenario we had a car in there. Whatever information you get from dispatch and if there are any witnesses, then you know kind of what you're looking for. We had random objects down there, too, so I couldn't just be looking for a large vehicle."
Connor was armed with a window punch to shatter glass and scissors to cut seat belts or other entanglements, among other tools on his full-body dive suit.
He was able to rescue the mock youngster with the help of his fellow firefighters, but following protocol is as important a factor to his success as quickness, he said.
Reaching in to help save potential victims in the vehicle, Connor was careful not to put his face inside; if he had, a struggling passenger might have accidentally removed his facemask in a real-life scenario.
"Then you become a victim, and someone else has to go in there and rescue you and the person you're saving," he said.
The submerged vehicle drill, along with a separate drill with the mock-drowning of a swimmer, come at the tail end of several days of dive training, including classroom lectures and pool scenarios.
Each trainee was required to act as a primary diver, safety diver, line tender and dive group leader.
"Within 6 minutes is when brain damage starts," said dive field training officer Tim Clark. "The brain can only survive so long without oxygen. Our job is to get on the scene, get the guys in the water, find what we're looking for as fast as we can, get (victims) out of the water and start providing them with emergency medical care. We work on seconds and that's what we try to get them to do. Every second counts."
Currently the fire department has about 55 certified divers, and the training will bring that number up to about 70, said dive field training officer Ryan Corlew.
The department is attempting to replenish the positions of about seven or eight divers it lost to early retirement buyouts, he said.
"The city is so large, with 10 fire stations," Corlew said. "We have rescue swimmer mask, fins and snorkel and rescue diver equipment with a tank on every front-line apparatus in the city. If something happens right now down at the yacht club, there'll be a dive tank there in minutes, and that's the same thing throughout the entire city."
With more than 400 miles of canals in the Cape, the fire department ensures firefighters are trained extensively for water-rescue scenarios.
"There's a lot of water here," Corlew said. "The city of Cape Coral Fire Department might be different from other stations, because we take the water-rescue stuff very, very seriously."
In fact, potential firefighters are required to be comfortable in the water to even be considered for a position in Cape, he said. Those seeking diver certification undergo various tests, including a half-mile swim with dive gear and a 500-yard freestyle swim.
The department usually holds dive training at least two to three times annually.
"Our administration has provided tools and the training for us to have that, and now we're just trying to make sure that we provide that to the citizens with the best resources that we can," Clark said. "We can only accomplish that through this kind of training."
Divers from Upper Captiva Island participated Thursday, and the fire department helps train divers from various stations including Pine Island and Pembroke Pines.
"It's something that other departments are seeing a bigger need for," Corlew said. "And they're respecting and finding out how much we have to offer and how detailed our program is. So, it's working out well."
published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze 4/24/09
1.)Dive FTO Mike Bush and safety diver Jason Polar of the Cape Coral Fire Department discuss a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
2.)Safety diver Jason Polar and line tender Mike Sandoval bring to shore a fake baby in a car seat, rescued by primary diver Ryan Connor during a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
3.)Primary diver Ryan Connor and safety diver Jason Polar of the Cape Coral Fire Department enact a mock rescue from a submerged vehicle Thursday.
*Photographs copyright to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze
-----
The baby firefighter Ryan Connor pulled from a submerged vehicle in Crystal Lake in northwest Cape Coral Thursday afternoon was not real.
The vehicle the child car seat sat in was a construction of PVC pipes.
But the water rescue training session left Connor and 11 other firefighters stationed throughout the city prepared to save real lives.
The Cape Coral Fire Department's Dive Rescue Team, with core dive technicians stationed out of Fire Station 2 on Nicholas Parkway, responded to 93 water-related incidents in 2008, according to statistics from the Cape Coral Fire Rescue and Emergency Management Services Marine Committee.
Of those calls, 26 were cars submerged in canals and 24 were drownings or near drownings.
The fire department responded to 79 water-related calls in 2007.
In one scenario during Thursday's training, Connor was the primary diver searching the mock vehicle, while Jason Polar served as a safety diver and Mike Sandoval played the part of line tender.
While searching underwater, Connor can see about 5 feet in front of him, but kicking up silt at the lake bottom often reduces that visibility greatly, causing him to have to work from touch.
"Once you get close to the bottom and reach to touch anything, it all gets black and you can't see anything," he said. "For this scenario we had a car in there. Whatever information you get from dispatch and if there are any witnesses, then you know kind of what you're looking for. We had random objects down there, too, so I couldn't just be looking for a large vehicle."
Connor was armed with a window punch to shatter glass and scissors to cut seat belts or other entanglements, among other tools on his full-body dive suit.
He was able to rescue the mock youngster with the help of his fellow firefighters, but following protocol is as important a factor to his success as quickness, he said.
Reaching in to help save potential victims in the vehicle, Connor was careful not to put his face inside; if he had, a struggling passenger might have accidentally removed his facemask in a real-life scenario.
"Then you become a victim, and someone else has to go in there and rescue you and the person you're saving," he said.
The submerged vehicle drill, along with a separate drill with the mock-drowning of a swimmer, come at the tail end of several days of dive training, including classroom lectures and pool scenarios.
Each trainee was required to act as a primary diver, safety diver, line tender and dive group leader.
"Within 6 minutes is when brain damage starts," said dive field training officer Tim Clark. "The brain can only survive so long without oxygen. Our job is to get on the scene, get the guys in the water, find what we're looking for as fast as we can, get (victims) out of the water and start providing them with emergency medical care. We work on seconds and that's what we try to get them to do. Every second counts."
Currently the fire department has about 55 certified divers, and the training will bring that number up to about 70, said dive field training officer Ryan Corlew.
The department is attempting to replenish the positions of about seven or eight divers it lost to early retirement buyouts, he said.
"The city is so large, with 10 fire stations," Corlew said. "We have rescue swimmer mask, fins and snorkel and rescue diver equipment with a tank on every front-line apparatus in the city. If something happens right now down at the yacht club, there'll be a dive tank there in minutes, and that's the same thing throughout the entire city."
With more than 400 miles of canals in the Cape, the fire department ensures firefighters are trained extensively for water-rescue scenarios.
"There's a lot of water here," Corlew said. "The city of Cape Coral Fire Department might be different from other stations, because we take the water-rescue stuff very, very seriously."
In fact, potential firefighters are required to be comfortable in the water to even be considered for a position in Cape, he said. Those seeking diver certification undergo various tests, including a half-mile swim with dive gear and a 500-yard freestyle swim.
The department usually holds dive training at least two to three times annually.
"Our administration has provided tools and the training for us to have that, and now we're just trying to make sure that we provide that to the citizens with the best resources that we can," Clark said. "We can only accomplish that through this kind of training."
Divers from Upper Captiva Island participated Thursday, and the fire department helps train divers from various stations including Pine Island and Pembroke Pines.
"It's something that other departments are seeing a bigger need for," Corlew said. "And they're respecting and finding out how much we have to offer and how detailed our program is. So, it's working out well."
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