Pencil Pushers Have Gone 3 Years Without a Raise

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, CITY MANAGER Troy Schulte presented his proposed budget to the City Council members on Tuesday.  His $1.3 billion proposal includes a lot of cutbacks in several city services, but the one measure that has raised eyebrows is his suggestion to lay off 105 firefighters.  He told the Kansas City Star, as Kansas City’s economy remains stubbornly sluggish, firefighters should no longer be untouchable. "We have to make strategic reductions in public safety," he said.

City Manager Schulte  (K.C. Star)

In a most absurd justification, he is also quoted by the Star:

His budget letter to (Mayor) James recommended reducing the Fire Department by 105 positions because fire calls have dropped by more than 60 percent in the past 10 years. He said he believes the reductions can be made without jeopardizing public safety.

So there you have it.  The number of firefighters and fire stations is to be determined by how many fires you get, not what you need when get a fire.  By his logic, all the firehouses will then be clustered around the high-activity neighborhoods leaving those slow residential areas to stand in the front yard and watch as their rare house fires consume all they own.  As for the airport… well, a hot-line phone box will do.  How often does a plane crash out there, anyway?

But as the late Ron Popeil used to say, Wait, there's more!  Again from The Star:

Those personnel cuts would help free up about $7.6 million — money that could go toward raises for other city employees. Many of them haven’t had a pay increase in three years.

No raise in three years, but at least they'll still have a job.  This is budgetary Russian roulette.

Note:   He earmarked $5 million for police raises and the balance for other management-level employees.

The City Council at its regular session today  (Wednesday) publicly reviewed the proposed budget.  The Local had exactly 105 firefighters in the council chambers this morning making their presence obvious.  KSHB-TV Ch. 41 had their video crew there too, and filed this report earlier today:

Local 42 President Mike Cambiano believes that this just might be some sort of dance and preening on the part othe city manager leading up to contract negotiations with the FF's that begin in April.  In addition, the fire chief was never consulted by the city manager on these proposed reductions.

Later this afternoon, following the above video report, Fire Chief Smokey Dyer addressed the Council.  The Star reported this afternoon:

Dyer told the city council’s Public Safety Committee that Chicago, Memphis, Louisville, Dallas and Houston are among major U.S. cities that require at least four firefighters per pumper, in compliance with national fire protection standards. That staffing allows two people in the first pumper on the scene to begin spraying water on a fire, while two others can begin attacking the fire within a building and rescuing any victims.

Chief Dyer  (KCUR)

Kansas City began increasing its firefighting ranks and staffed up its pumpers ten years ago to meet that standard. But City Manager Troy Schulte has recommended cutting 105 firefighters, saying the city has far fewer fires now and can save $7.5 million without compromising public safety.

Such a reduction would force deployment changes and reductions to the pumpers, Dyer said.

Mayor James will present his response to Schulte's plan tomorrow.  However one councilman didn't wait to voice his opinion:

Committee Chair John Sharp said the city made a conscious decision in 2001 to beef up its pumper staffing and he opposes any change. He said the fire department has to accept cuts like all other departments, but not this way.

“I can’t imagine a worse way to make cuts in the budget,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/08/3417307/fire-officials-warn-cutbacks-could.html#storylink=cpy

The City Council will approve whatever budget is decided on in late March for the fiscal year that begins on May 1.

Read the earlier referenced story from the Kansas City Star HERE.
Read a more in-depth report on the city manager's plans HERE.

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Drivers Left With Sauer Taste

A SAUERKRAUT TRANSPORT TRUCK was involved in a messy accident Tuesday morning in the German state of Hesse shortly before 5 am.  The driver of the kraut-carrier misjudged the speed of a car directly ahead and drove into the rear of the car.  A second truck failed to react in time and crashed into the rear of the kraut transporter.

All photos via FNP

The secondary crash cause several hundred bags of sauerkraut to be flung out onto the highway where they splatted open in the sub-freezing weather.  The chopped kraut and the juices all froze almost immediately onto the pavement making an unnavigable slippery mess.

Shovels or brooms were no use on the stubborn chopped vegetable and the highway department had to send a salt truck out to cover and thaw the frozen mess.  The autobahn had to be completely shut down causing a 10-kilometer backup while the vegetables and vehicles were all removed from the crash scene.

The lanes were finally reopened at 9 am.  The woman driving the car was slightly injured and the two truck drivers were not injured at all.  The damage estimate was 157,000 Euros.

Franfurter Neue Presse has the STORY.

Hat tip:  Christian Lewalter.

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Driver Escapes Spectacular Blaze

A GASOLINE TANKER LITERALLY CRASHED AND BURNED in Anderson County, South Carolina, Tuesday morning.

Independent-Mail / Kelly

The truck was carrying 9,000 gals. of product when it drifted off the road around 10:20 am.  WYFF-TV tells what happened:

Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Bill Rhyne said the 2009 Kenworth tractor-trailer tanker driven by 46-year-old Jose Emilio Calderon of Easley. Calderon was wearing a seat belt, was injured and was taken to AnMed for treatment, Rhyne said.

Rhyne said the tanker truck was headed south on Shady Grove Road when for unknown reasons it ran off the left side of the road and then off the right side of the road, hitting a fence and a power pole.

The cab of the truck remained upright, while the tank turned on its side. Power lines came down on top of the tanker, igniting the fuel that was on board.

The driver was able to crawl out of the cab before it began burning and two neighbors ran over and dragged him to safety.

WSPA-TV provided some good raw video of the fire:

After the fire department had a foam supply on hand and set up, they had the fire knocked down in about 15 minutes.  About 4,000 gals. of gasoline was saved and it was later transferred to another truck.

Read more at WFYY-TV website HERE.
The Anderson Independent Mail has MORE.

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Save Money and Fight Fires (or something like that)

THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, HAS DIRECTED the Fire Chief Laura Knapp to cut spending 10% over the next three years.  So she has come up with a plan that the City Council loves to hear.  So much so that yesterday morning (Tuesday) they unanimously approved the plan and gave her the go-ahead to start implementing it.

The city has 11 fire stations and Knapp plans to replace the fire engines in three of them with "Quick Response Vehicles" (QRV's), described by the fire department as "basically a Dodge chassis with a box on the back" for a 300-gallon water tank and compressed-air foam system.

This GRFD drawing looks an awful lot like THIS ONE:

SGVN photo

The selling points for this conversion are first of all, replacement costs of $873,000 for all three units compared to a comparable price for one real fire engine. 

Secondly, the QRV's will only carry two firefighters instead of the three or four currently riding on the real fire engines.  This will allow the department to operate with 12 fewer firefighters, music to a councilman's ears.  Twelve is the magic number because the SAFER grant that the FD received to fund 12 positions runs out in three years and apparently the city does not have plans to retain those slots.

Chief Knapp projects a total savings of $21 million over the next 15 years once the plan goes into effect.

The Grand Rapids Press tells us:

Knapp hopes they will help the fire department maintain existing service levels in the face of coming staffing cuts.

About 89 percent of current fire-service calls are handled by a single unit, Knapp said. The "quick-response" units could handle those calls, she said.

"We need to better align our resources with these single-unit calls to ensure our performance is maintained (as we reduce firefighters to cut costs)," Knapp said. "Right now we don’t have a lot of flexibility in our deployment. The (‘quick-response vehicle’) is the answer for our current rigid operational system."

The firefighters themselves aren't convinced yet that fewer fire engines and fewer FF's will translate into "maintaining existing service levels."  William Smith, president of the Local tells the GR Press,  "If they’re rolled out, we’ll do what we’re told to do. There’s a question of how effective they’ll be."

WZZM-TV filed this brief video report:

Full report in the Grand Rapids Press HERE.
Local President Smith speaks more about their skepticism HERE.

Firegeezer notes:  These things became popular back in the great recession of the late 1970's.  Back then they were called "mini-pumpers" and were introduced with the same promises we're hearing from Grand Rapids.  Several dozens of fire departments jumped into the concept, but within three years they were all back to Plan A.  Why do people think it will magically start working now?  Or is this just a gimmick to get the budgeteers to turn their focus onto another agency?

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Wednesday Morning – New Learning Opportunities Await

Let's talk a little more about this internet technology stuff this morning.  To begin with, there has been a lot of buzz about Google's new plan (already being phased in) to consolodate all their various operations such as YouTube, Gmail, Google+ and about 30 others, so that your every move online will be noticed by their Master-of-the-Universe computer that will then more effectively select what ads to serve up when you click onto any Google site.

They have been posting the new Privacy Notices on all the sites that you bring up with a password and thus become sucked into the Great Network.  One prominent example is played out if you, for instance, log onto a Gmail account and remain logged on (even though you leave the page) while you resume other activities.  If you use Google Search later on, then the topics you select and the sites you click onto will be duly noted by the Master.

If you are rightfully concerned about this intrusion into your personal computing activities, WIRED emagazine has published a good, concise guide on How to Hide From Google.  It's basic stuff and easy to follow.  In fact, much of it is passive action that simply reminds you to segment your email accounts and similar activities.  They also cover protecting your smartphone usage, too.  I recommend that you CLICK HERE and read through the article.  It's not long, so you don't have to set aside any time block to read it.

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Another topic we've been touching on recently is the rapid growth of what is often called "distance learning."  While many colleges and universities are putting more and more courses online, thus expanding the numbers of students of higher education, many new schools are opening up that are online-only facilities.  They are more often than not offering classes and "degrees" that are not properly accredited, thus not fully recognized as acceptable alternatives to genuine colleges.  But that will change rapidly as more of them get online and pressure the accrediting services to start recognizing their programs.

But it is not only scholarly learning that is going online.  Other traditional training and learning centers are now online, too.  For example, now you can go online and learn how to belly dance.  Now don't laugh, we're talking serious physical fitness programs here.  Belly Motions Online is already up and running dancing and offering their services where you can "learn to dance, exercise, and immerse yourself into a new way of living healthy and happy, all from the comfort of your own home; anywhere, anytime!"

No longer do you have to put on your harem costume and drive to some seedy shopping center to get your muscles toned.  You can do it right in the comfort or your own tent home.  So go ahead and CLICK HERE to view their program outlines and videos.  You can even buy a coin belt from their belly dance store.  Tell then the Geeze sent you.

Now let's shimmy and sway over to the apparatus and get the equipment checked out.  I'll get some more high-octane coffee going for us before we meet back in the day room.

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They're All Gone Now

THE LAST KNOWN SURVIVING UNIFORMED VETERAN OF WORLD WAR I has passed away in England.  It was announced today (Tuesday) that Florence Green of King's Lynn died in her sleep in a nursing home on Saturday, just two weeks shy of her 111th birthday.

According to published news releases,  Green joined the fledgling Royal Air Force in September 1918 at age 17 and served as a mess steward at two air bases in Norfolk.  Two months later the Armistice was signed ending the war, but she continued in the RAF until the following July.

The dear lady never mentioned her service in later years until a researcher at the UK military archives discovered her records.  On her 109th birthday the RAF honored her with a visit from a wing commander and a representative mess steward of today who brought a cake.

Mess Steward Hannah Shaw visited Florence in 2010
to help celebrate her 109th birthday.  (Ministry of Defence photo)

Her mind was alert and nimble right to the end.  On her 110th birthday someone asked her what it was like to be that old, and she replied, "It's not much different than being 109, I guess."  Her husband Walter died in 1970 and since then she lived with her oldest daughter, now 90, until the end of this past November when she entered the nursing home.

BBC News has the STORY.
The Associated Press has more details HERE.

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Old Buildings Wall-to-Wall

A DIFFICULT FIRE IN HECHINGEN, GERMANY, Monday evening destroyed a centuries-old home in the town center and heavily damaged four others before the firefighters could put a stop on it.  The ancient town is noted for its extremely narrow streets and alleys that are the only access to many of the buildings.

The fire alarm was sent at 4:45 pm and the Hechingen Feuerwehr found smoke showing from the top floor and three people trapped and waiting at windows for rescue.  While more engines and three additional aerials were being dispatched to the town, Hechingen's tower-ladder removed the two men at one of the windows and a 78-yr.-old woman who was at another 3rd-floor window.

The firefighters went to the upper floor to attack the fire, but the false ceilings began falling on them and the entire  circuit of live electric wiring dropped down on them causeing one to receive a heavy shock.  As the fire began running the attic and spreading to the neighboring structures, the fire commander ordered the fire building to be evacuated.  Extreme sub-freezing temperatures were also causing hose stream runoff to immediately freeze over.

This on-the-scene video report from TV24 includes some good fire footage:

With the arrival of help from other fire brigades, a perimeter was set up to contain  the fire which was then breaking through the roofs.  When it was put out several hours later, five buildings had been destroyed or heavily damaged.

Spray and runoff were immediately freezing over  (SWP)

The fire brigade remained on the scene through the night taking care of hot spots and daybreak saw the arrival of a crane to tear down the remains of the fire building and begin debris removal.  Investigators hope to be able to begin looking for the cause sometime today (Tuesday).

SWP

Full news reports are included in Schwarzwaelder HERE and SWP  HERE.

Thanks to Christian Lewalter of Feuerwehr Blog.

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Ruminations on outcome based research

Spent time as a first-line supervisor on a haz-mat rescue company, when being a "glo worm" was new and cool.

The first response with the rescue was weird. A box alarm dispatch to a mid-rise senior facility was sending four engines, two trucks, an ems unit and the rescue … and my crew was S-L-O-W-L-Y walking to the rig.

Was this a test for the new officer?

Welcome to the Toast Patrol

The chauffer explained that they ran this address two to four times a day. The first due company is a few blocks away.

On almost every incident the first engine is returning the box alarm assignment within a few minutes.

It would be the first of hundreds of times the rescue would pull out into traffic, with me wailing the 2QB and stuttering the air horns. We drove the length of the shopping center parking lot next to the fire station before going in service.

Pretty dumb – why not just send the first engine and truck?

Apparently, we used to … until a 1+1 dispatch during a severe winter storm became a two alarm fire with rescue of an occupant in the fire apartment.

Looking at the details

The mid-rise facility was constructed in 1973, before fire sprinkers were required by the code to be installed within the apartments.

Built in an "in-field" property, truck company access to the rear of the building is tight.

The facility has almost 300 bedrooms.

A smoke detector is mounted in the kitchen, near the refridgerator. Every extra crispy toast and overbrewed teapot generated an alarm … breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lean Manufacturing Model

Dylan Scott, writing in the February 2012 issue of Governing magazine, described the application of best practices by Patricia Gabow, MD, to improving Denver Health operations.

The lean manufacturing model is based on five principles, according to the Lean Enterprise Institute:

1. Identify the value of the product for the customer
2. Map the process for creating the product and eliminate elements without value
3. Create a flow for the value-creating steps
4. Let customers pull value from that flow
5. Begin the process again and seek perfection.

Put more simply, it’s about eliminating wasteful actions. Anything that doesn’t add value for the ultimate customer is considered wasteful. “The philosophy is that waste is disrespectful to humanity because it squanders scarce resources, and waste is disrespectful to individuals because it asks them to do work with no value,” Gabow says. “We’ve added that waste is disrespectful to our patients because it asks them to endure processes with no value.”

Denver Health Becomes Profitable After Using Toyota As A Template

It it valuable to send seven fire companies two to four times a day for extra-crispy toast?

Wonder what the cost comparison and risk analysis would be if we placed a fire-rescue person at the facility to immediately respond to activated fire alarms? Maybe an ems credentialed responder with AED?

An example from Denver Health Medical Center:

Lean also inspired a restructuring of the Denver Health Medical Center’s rapid response system for patients who go into cardiac arrest. At most hospitals, a dedicated team is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for rapid response, and temporarily assume care of those patients from their primary nurses and doctors.

But in applying the lean principles, the medical center’s staff recognized an opportunity to cut costs while ensuring continuity of care. A regular assessment schedule was established for nurses to monitor their patients, and criteria were developed for nurses to determine if a patient was at risk. Then a specific protocol was outlined for staff to follow if a nurse made that determination, providing guidelines for moving up the chain of command if the immediate attending physician is not available or the patient’s condition did not improve.

An analysis by Denver Health staff found that the number of non-ICU cardiac arrest incidents decreased significantly following the implementation of the new procedures. And it bestowed rapid response responsibilities on staff members who were already working, rather than requiring an entirely separate team.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

This post dedicated to Technician Mark Baban, Rescue 401, B-shift. You left too soon.

Passenger Van Involved

A PASSENGER VAN CARRYING MIGRANT WORKERS was struck broadside by a flat-bed truck Monday evening at a rural intersection near Stratford, Ontario, in the far southeastern portion of the Province.  The collision killed ten people in the van and the driver of the truck.  Three people have survived and are hospitalized.

CTV image

The accident occurred around 5 pm and was caused by the van that passed through a stopsign into the path of the truck.  The impact drove the van into the side of a nearby house.

Rescuers cut off the entire side of the van to extricate
the 13 passengers, many wearing seat belts.  (Toronto Star)

Currently the police do not yet know if the van simply drove through the stopsign or did stop first and then pull out, unaware of the approaching truck.  The deceased drivers of both vehicles will have blood samples taken for alcohol testing.  The passengers of the van were all migrant workers from Peru who are employed at a nearby chicken farm.

The wreckage of the truck's tractor testifies to the violence
of the collision and the certainty of the driver's failure to survive.
(Toronto Star)

Linda Rockwood, chief of the Perth County EMS. said seven ambulances responded to the crash, along with OPP Perth County police officers and Shakespeare volunteer firefighters.

CTV has the STORY.
The Toronto Star has a video report from the scene HERE.
The Globe and Mail has MORE.

Thanks to Matt W.

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Tuesday Morning – We Go Through the Looking Glass

Somewhere, Lewis Carroll is laughing and taking notes.  Carroll (the pen name of Charles Dodgson) is immortalized as the author of the Alice in Wonderland stories that told of the political absurdities of 150 years ago couched in writing designed as children's books.  I say he's laughing now because the absurdities live on and have popped up this week in the U. S. fire and rescue service.  And as Carroll's nonsense was in  the 1850's, today's nonsense is rooted in loopy judicial behavior.

Earlier this week the Fire Critic pointed out to us that as a result of an illogical court decision, one of the more unusual methods now being taken by the FDNY to encourage more hiring of minorities is to watch firefighters going out door-to-door and try to entice people who are so undereducated that they cannot fill out a basic employment application to try again, this time with help.  Just the kind of person you need to fill out a recruit class ….. somebody who can't understand basic instructions.

But a little ways west of NYC in Erie, Pennsylvania, absurdity was kicked up two notches yesterday when a judge and jury both equally mush-brained, in the spirit of "fairness" ordered the  Erie Fire Department to rehire (with back pay) a firefighter who had been dismissed after setting a fire in her own house in a pathetic suicide attempt.  At the time she was under the care of a psychiatrist and taking six medications, all of which had potential side effects of inducing suicidal thoughts.

Nearly four years ago on March 25, 2008, Firegeezer reported HERE on Mary Wolski's attempt to get her job back by filing an appeal with the Civil Service Commission.

On April 11 of last year Fire Chief Tony Pol wrote her a letter of termination and detailed what Pol said was her attempt to set her father’s house on fire.

Pol wrote that Wolski disconnected the smoke detectors in the house, located in the 1800 block of East 34th Street. He said she took an overdose of medication before starting a fire.

“This incident renders you presumptively unsuited to be a firefighter, as you pose an ongoing threat to the safety of the public, other firefighters and yourself,” Pol wrote.

After appealing the termination, the Civil Service Commission upheld the firing with the admonishment, “(S)etting a fire … is the single most significant act a fire fighter may not commit. The act of establishing a fire in a residence is wholly incompatible with the role of the fire fighter….”

Failing at that attempt for reinstatement, Wolski then began a long trudge through the courts claiming unfairness, violation of her constitutional rights, violaton of the Americans With Disability Act, etc., etc.  (Firegeezer report HERE.)  Wolski and her lawyer finally found the "perfect storm" of judicial disconnect with  the team of Judge Sean J. McLaughlin and an 8-member jury whose concern with fairness overrides their concern about public safety.  The Erie Times-News has a complete summation of yesterday's court decision with background of the trial HERE.

Apparently nobody representing the city was able to impress on the jurors the necessity of holding emergency personnel of police, fire and EMS agencies to a higher standard of ethical and behavioral practice than that of the standard work force.  Mary Wolski may indeed have been an exemplary employee for her first ten years in the fire department.  But the citizens of Erie cannot be holding the same level of trust and confidence in their fire department that they had before yesterday.

It is time now for us to confidently check out our equipment for the day.  In the spirit of fairness I will get more coffee started for all of us before we meet back in the digital day room in a little while.

……. Bill Schumm, Firegeezer.

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