2b. Fire Department ReportCHANHASSEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Station :t
PO Box 97
7610 Laredo Drive
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Station 2
6400 Minnewashta Pkwy.
Excelsior, MN 55331
TO: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
FROM: John Wolff - Fire Chief
Ed Coppersmith - 0 Assistant Chief V '
Rick Rice - 2 Assistant Chief
Mark Littfin - Fire Marshal
DATE: November 17, 2011
SUBJ: Monthly City Council Update
Fire Department Overview:
Staffing is at 48 active firefighters as of November 16, 2011. There are two firefighters currently
on leave and five new members attending probationary firefighter training. A total of five
firefighters have retired this year. Shelley Mehl, the longest tenured female firefighter in
Chanhassen's history, announced her retirement this week after 21 years of service. We
anticipate that three to four firefighters may retire or resign in 2012.
Year to date (YTD) there have been 475 calls for service, which is a 14.7% reduction. At this
time last year we were at 557 calls for service. The primary driver for the difference is the high
number of EMS /medical calls we saw last year. This year we have also seen a 15% reduction in
false alarms.
There were 43 calls in October 2011 compared to 50 in 2010.
There was one call for mutual aid during the month of October.
Staff Time (not call related): Our staff time for community events, fire education, duty crew
standby, department meetings, and training is at 6,291 hours year to date. At the same time last
year we were at 5,451 hours.
Training: Training for the month of October has involved over 310 hours of training. It has
covered areas such as sport injuries, hazardous material response, first and second engine
response procedures, incident command and use of tactical worksheets. We also participated in
training at the Southwest Metro Training Facility with several other departments covering mutual
aid response procedures.
Fire Marshal
Fire Prevention: Fire Prevention week officially ended October 21 ". Between the four
elementary schools, pre - schools, day cares, and station tours we had interactions with over 2,000
children. We received many positive comments from teachers, parents, and kids. The number of
Chanhassen firefighters who volunteered their time broke records and continues to grow each
year.
This year, as in past years, the firefighters took to the streets on Halloween evening with a
decorated fire truck handing out candy and hot cider to kids and parents who were out
trick -or- treating. Our crew also made several stops at neighborhood block parties to visit with
residents and let the kids climb on the truck.
Fire Investigations: We had a few fires occur during the month of October to report on.
A dumpster fire located at 780 Flying Cloud Drive occurred on October 10 at 12:54 PM. There
was no damage to the property.
Another small fire was in an air compressor on October 17 at 9:21 PM located at RR Donnelly
at 18780 West 78 Street. The fire was kept under control by one fire sprinkler head with final
extinguishment done by the fire department. The company was able to resume operations once
the fire department cleared the scene and was back in the business the following day. Excelsior,
Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie Fire Departments were called for assistance. We were on the scene
for approximately two hours, and no injuries were reported.
Then on October 28 the fire department responded to a woods fire on Homestead Lane. We
had two grass rigs and one tanker from Chanhassen, one tanker from Chaska, one grass rig from
Victoria, and Eden Prairie was standing by at Station 1 with an engine and crew. There was no
damage to the property, and no injuries were reported.
Fire Inspections: Projects at various stages of completion include downtown parking ramp,
K. Hovnanian Town Homes, Autobahn Motorplex, Futurestar, Wooddale Town Homes, Total
Automotive, Express Track, the Cub Foods expansion, and a few smaller remodeling projects.
c
Summary of Total Calls
October 2011
2011 YTD
October 2010
2010 YTD
Total
. 43
465
50
542
Detail of Incident Types
October 2011
2011
YTD
October 2010
2010 YTD
Incident Type
Fire
5
28
3
27
Structure Fire
1
9
0
11
Grass Fire
1
4
0
1
Misc Fires
3
15
3
15
Overpressure Rupture, Explosion, Overheat
0
0
0 ,
1
Rescue* Emer enc : Medical Service Incident
23
091
247,
Medical
21
166
17
206
PI Crash
2
31
4
38
Misc Calls
0
2
0
3
`Hazardous Condition
6,`
49
5
36
Gas Leak
2
23
3
19
Misc Calls
4
26
2
17
Service Call
1
17
2
24
Mutual Aid
0
9
0
11
Misc Calls
1
8
2
13
Good Intent Call
3
68
5 :
73
Rescue/Medical - Dispatched &Cancelled
1
20
2
30
Smoke Scare, Odor of Smoke
1
16
2
13
PI - Dispatched & Cancelled
0
11
0
7
Misc Calls
1
21
1
23
False Alarm & False Call
5
102 !
,
14''
130
CO Alarm
1
17
0
1,6
Dirty/Old Smoke Detector Activation
0
10
2
6
Unintentional Transmission of Alarm
3
55
6
51
Burnt Food Smoke Detector
1
5
0
12
Misc Calls
0
15
6
45
Severe Weather & Natural Disaster
0
2
0
4
Total Iucident;'counf
43
465
50
542