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BOISE, Idaho - To take part in Fire Prevention Week, which was Oct. 5-11 and October’s Fire Prevention Month, the Gowen Field firefighters hosted an open house Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Fire Department on base. Firefighters gave tours of their new vehicles, held demonstrations that showcased their equipment and educated people about the department’s capabilities.
Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Sawmiller who has been full-time in the department for four years said, “Fire Prevention Week and Fire Prevention Month is something we take pretty seriously around here. We have a really good fire protection program.”
The department inspects more than 200 buildings, and some of those are inspected up to four times in a year.
“The more we do on the prevention side of things, the less we have as far as actual incidents,” he said.
Gowen Field Fire Department had rescue and extrication tools set up for attendees to view and try out. To demonstrate their rescue tripod system, they suspended a simulated victim wearing a rescue harness, this allowed visitors to take a try at tugging the victim up to safety. The rescue tripod allows the 185 pound dummy to be pulled at one quarter of its weight. This rescue tripod would be used to rescue an individual from a manhole, or similar situation.
Additionally, visitors operated a tool that is commonly called the “Jaws of Life.” This tool is a hydraulic rescue tool used for incidents such as a vehicle crash. This tool weighs in at roughly 50 pounds, with spreaders at the tip that expand at 30,000 pounds of force per square-inch.
Not only does the department respond to calls stemming from Gowen Field, they take calls from Boise and provide support for wildfires.
Senior Master Sgt. Chris Brearly, Gowen Fire Chief said, “If they needed us we would respond just like Boise City, any house fire, if they needed our capability.”
During the open house the department also highlighted their medical capabilities.
“A lot of people, even that work out here full-time, don’t realize we have the medical capability, that everybody’s an EMT, and that we have an urban search and rescue team right here on base,” said Brearly.
Gowen’s urban search and rescue team has equipment that is kept to deploy within six hours. In event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, flood, or storm, this team would pair up with Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Regional Team 10 based out of Seattle.
A feature that makes the Gowen Field Fire Department unique from Boise City is their rescue capability. Boise City Fire Department has no rescue capability, which means they do not have a rescue vehicle. Both departments would be called at the same time, but Gowen would show up with the rescue vehicle.
Brearley said, “Their [Boise City] whole purpose out here is to provide water. They provide the water, the foam, and we provide the rescue. We would actually get inside the aircraft, shut the aircraft down, and pull the pilot out.”
A real incident happened just roughly a week before October drill. A civilian Boeing 737 that was diverted on a Las Vegas charter flight came in with report of a fire in the wheel well. Gowen Field Fire Department got the initial call stating a chute deployment was a possibility as the aircraft came in. This means that the aircraft would deploy its slides to get the passengers off the aircraft to safety. Gowen was in charge of the entire rescue operation and had city units assigned to them. After the aircraft landed, they realized there wasn’t a fire. Gowen confirmed with the aircraft and pilot whether they wanted to bus the passengers to the airport or evacuate them anyways. The aircraft was eventually towed back to the gate.
Another strength of the Gowen Field Fire Department is their water tender, “Smokey 3,” according to Sawmiller. Smokey 3 has a water capacity of 4,000 gallons. Boise City will call Gowen’s department for assistance in the event that they are busy and need more water. Gowen Field Fire Department will set up on the road and refill and top off Boise City’s trucks as they come by. Currently, there is a Mutual Aid Agreement under consideration by the Boise District of the Bureau of Land Management, allowing Gowen Field Fire Department to respond to incidents within Ada County.
Sawmiller also explained that Gowen and Boise City have a good working relationship. Boise City can be confident that if they call Gowen, they will be getting qualified members to bring a tender out.
Gowen Field Fire Department is also fully capable of fighting wildland fires. According to Staff Sgt.Timothy Tullefson and Staff Sgt. Jason Rodgers, every Gowen firefighter is certified to the level of Wildland Firefighter 1 --the same training expected of BLM or Forest Service Firefighters. There are three classes going into this certification, a field day, you also must know how to deploy the fire shelter, and there is refresher training every year following.
This open house showcased Gowen Field Fire Department’s unique capabilities such as their water tender, brush trucks and rescue equipment. According to Brearley the department hopes to share the knowledge of their abilities with everyone on base. If a caller dials 911 from a cell phone, even on base, the call goes directly to downtown Boise which causes a delay, while dialing through the DSN the call will go to the Gowen Field Fire Department.
| Date Taken: | 10.05.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2014 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 146781 |
| Location: | BOISE, ID, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Idaho ANG firefighters showcase department's capabilities, by SSgt Skyla Child, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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