Moorhead

Fire Dept

111 12th St N

Moorhead MN  56560

(218) 299-5432

Fire Department Holds Safety Training

February 18th, 2005

Steve Kreis, Assistant Chief with the Phoenix Fire Department presented an interactive afternoon seminar in the Council Chambers at City Hall exclusively for Moorhead Fire.  He focused on three topics of conversation relating to Firefighter safety and improving customer service delivery.

Effective Incident Command

Discussion focused on what command functions do for us and how to implement and operate as a command team.  Currently, we have been working to split the overall command functions into two functional groups; overall command and and operations sector.  With seven to nine personnel arriving on the initial response, staff shortages are creating challenges. Utilizing second alarm companies in the form of mutual aid response and call-back of staff on pagers, we are trying to build a three person command team and staff a safety officer and sector officers as appropriate.

Rapid Intervention Crews

Research being conducted by the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department suggests that OSHA required RIC teams are not effective at removing Firefighters in trouble during interior fire operations.  It takes too long to provide rescue and one in fire rescue crew members also get into trouble.

"On-Deck" Staffing

In this concept, three crew of people rotate through a hazardous assignment in ten minute intervals to reduce potential for stress related injury and provide continuous staffing for any particular function.  Penetrations into large structures are generally limited to no more than 150 feet to reduce the occasion of lost or disoriented personnel, and rescue crews are prepared for quick entry. 

Our challenge...

is to develop effective operating practices to implement these concepts; thereby increasing the safety of our staff and improving the service to our customers.

The Assistant Chiefs are working on new standards to address these issues and serve as the framework for upcoming training to change the way we operate.

Last modified: August 02, 2007