2b Gregg Geske, Fire Dept.
FIRE DEPT.
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CHANHASSEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
P.O. Box 97' 7610 Laredo Drive' Chanhassen, MN 55317
Bus. Phone 934-9191 . Minnewashta Station NO.2' Phone 474-7094
TO:
Todd Gerhardt, City Manager D~'
Gregg Geske- Fire Chief
Sherri Walsh - I st Assistant Chief
Randy Wahl- 2nd Assistant Chief
Mark Littfin- Fire Marshal
Ed Coppersmith - Training Officer
MEMORANDUM
FROM:
DATE:
May 16, 2005
SUBJ:
Monthly City Council update
Fire Department Overview:
Staffing is at 42 active firefighters as of May 13, 2005. Allocation is 45 PTEs.
Fire calls are at 186 as of May 8th, down 36 from the same period in 2004. We did have several
minor structure fires during the last couple of weeks. The fires were small due to the fact that
they were noticed and reported early. At least one of the fires may have been due to careless
smoking. One of the structure fires was due to overheating cooking oil. Luckily, no one was
injured. We are planning on having a new hire orientation in May.
Fire Training:
During the past month Chanhassen firefighters were involved in very extensive training with
auto extrications. This was a hands on evaluation that involved multiple vehicles, multiple
victims and was complicated by inclement weather and diminishing daylight. Also, engineer
training was done to maintain firefighter skills with fire apparatus operations and also to train
new firefighters as fire apparatus operators.
Fire Investigation:
We had three small fires this past week as mentioned by the Fire Chief. Two were from
discarded cigarettes and the third was a cooking fire. The fires upon our arrival were small in
nature, however 10 to 15 minutes more and there would have been substantial structural damage.
We were also fortunate this year with as dry as it was, that we had no grass fires in our city.
Todd Gerhardt
May 16, 2005
Page 2
Fire Inspections:
Weare in the process of inspecting the hotels/motels and restaurants in town. Very few
violations are being found. We will be starting apartment inspections in the next week or so.
New construction projects are coming along well. We have started issuing certificates of
occupancy to some tenants at Market Street Station, Chanhassen Community Bank and the new
Edina Realty building. Life Time Fitness and Park Nicollet Health Clinic are also progressing
well. There are approximately twelve other remodel jobs that are at various stages of
construction.
Fire Prevention: