1 | Annual Report - 2019
City of Pullman Fire Department
ANNUAL REPORT 2019
2 | Annual Report - 2019
Table of Contents
Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………..…….. 3
Fire Department Responses ……………………………………………….………………..………. 4
Station Responses ………………………………………………………………………..…………. 5
Concurrent Calls …………………………………………………………….…………..………….. 5
Incident by Time of Day and Day of Week …………………………………..………..…………... 6
Mutual Aid Responses ………………………………………………………………..……………. 6
Total Fire and Medical Responses …………………………………………….……..…………….. 7
Fire Responses ……………………………………………………………………….…………….. 8
Fire Loss and Salvage ……………………………………………………………………………... 10
Emergency Medical Responses …………………..…………………….…………….……………. 11
Wildland Mobilization ……………………………………………………………….……………. 12
Personnel …………………………………………………………………………………………... 13
Fire Prevention and Investigation…………………………………………………….……………. 14
Public Education ………………………...………………………………………………..……….. 15
Training ………………………………………………..….…….…………………………………. 16
3 | Annual Report - 2019
Executive Summary
It is my honor and privilege to present the 2019 Annual Report of the Pullman Fire
Department. I am very proud of the men and women who work extremely hard to
deliver outstanding services to those who live, work and play in Pullman. Each
member that wears the uniform of Pullman Fire Department is reminded of the faith
and trust that is bestowed upon them by the community. It is a symbol of our
commitment to excellence that we take very seriously.
In this report you will find the details of the Department’s daily activities, including
the accomplishments by our response personnel, fire prevention, public education
and training. 2019 was an outstanding year for the department, meeting several
goals in staffing, training, certifications and equipment. Staffing was increased at
the career and reserve levels allowing for an enhanced response to emergencies by
allowing each station to independently cover their assigned area more often. The
department increased the level of firefighter 1 & 2 training and certification through
the assistance of a federal grant, which paid for 90% of the program. This has
reduced the mandated hourly state training requirements per month by 50%. Numerous members completed
nominal training at the National Fire Academy developing projects that have improved the service delivery of
the department. The safety of our members were enhanced through the purchase and installation of two
hydraulic cots in two more of the ambulances reducing the exposure to lifting injuries.
The dedicated professionals of the Pullman Fire Department are devoted to your safety and the wellbeing of the
community. They will continue to work hard to serve you and provide the best service they can.
Michael J. Heston, Fire Chief
4 | Annual Report - 2019
Total Department Responses
The department responded to 2654 individual calls for service, which is up 1% from 2018. Call percentages
remain similar to 2018.
Incident Type Count
Fire 69
Rupture/Explosion 11
EMS/Rescue 1870
Hazardous Condition 44
Service Call 71
Good Intent Call 216
False Call 371
Severe Weather 1
Other 1
Totals 2654
5 | Annual Report - 2019
Station Responses
Station 1 responded to 1427 incidents (54%) with Station 2
responding to 1223 calls (46%). The call difference between
stations has steadily decreased since 2015 due to more efficient
operational changes. The main reason in 2019 was the
utilization of reserves and the flexibility of the 4-platoon career
shift. This has increased the staffing at Station 2 from 3 to 4
personnel more frequently. A staffing level of 4 personnel
allows the station to independently manage most calls in their
response area without the assistance from Station 1. This greatly
enhances the safety and capability of the crews on scene, reduces
unnecessary response with better utilization of resources.
Concurrent responses or back-to-back calls in 2019 occurred 25 % of the time. This was an 8 % decrease over
the 2018 concurrent call data. Concurrent calls have the potential to severely limit the number of adequate
resources available to respond which increases the frequency of mutual aid.
FIRE Station 1
Incidents 1427
Fire 343
EMS 1084
FIRE Station 2
Incidents 1223
Fire 367
EMS 856
6 | Annual Report - 2019
Incidents by the time of day increase at the beginning of the
regular workday period and then continue through the
evening until about midnight. The evening activities extend
the responses depending on the time of year and day of the
week. The incidents by the day of week were steady until
the weekend activities increased starting on Thursday with
the busiest day on Saturday.
During 2019, the department received or provided mutual aid 127 times with the area agencies. Over
92% of the aid provided was related to providing medical services. Mutual aid is assistance specified
by the receiving agency that is activated by the Officer in Charge (OIC) after the call begins due to a
shortage of resources. Automatic aid is pre-determined assistance that is activated at the beginning of
the emergency by a pre-developed plan utilized by dispatch.
122108
84
6045 52 54 59
112
128108115
123111
145
121
148130 124
161146
136139
123
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Incidents by Time of Day
346 345377
344384
410448
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Incidents by Day of Week
2019 Mutual Aid Responses
WCFD12 Palouse WCFD4 Albion Colfax Garfield Lewiston Airport Other Total
5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
5 0 0 3 3 3 1 0 9 24
39 46 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 92
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
54 46 6 3 3 3 2 1 9 127
Received Mutual Aid
Received Automatic Aid
Provided Mutual Aid
Provided Automatic Aid
Total
Other Aid Given
7 | Annual Report - 2019
The total 2019 fire and medical response are broken out as follows:
College Hill26%
WSU Campus19%
WCFD 12/Pull3%
Pioneer Hill20%
Military Hill17%
Sunnyside Hill11%
WCFD 4/Pal3% Other
1%
2019 TOTAL FIRE AND MEDICAL RESPONSES
8 | Annual Report - 2019
Fire Responses
The department responded to 711 fire responses during 2019 totaling 27 % of the total calls. This was
a 2% decrease from the previous year. There was a total of 20 fires located inside a structure during
2019.
2019 Most Common Fire Calls
Nature Nature Nature
Fires Hazardous Conditions Good Intent Calls
Buildings 20 Natural Gas/Odor 10 No Incident Found 47
Cooking 13 Arcing, shorted 9 Cancelled Enroute 38
Outside Rubbish/Trash 11 Power Line Down 6 Gas Odor 20
Forest, Brush, Grass 11 Equip. Elec. Problem 5 Smoke/Odor Investigation 19
Vehicles 6 Carbon Monoxide 4 Approved Fire Container 5
Ruptures/Explosions Service Calls False Calls
Steam Rupture 2 Public Assist/Agency 32 Smoke Detector Related 293
Excessive Heat 9 Fire Drills 10 Malicious 34
Fire Alarm Reset 8 Carbon Monoxide 29
Water Problem 8 Trouble/False Alarms 9
Unauthorized Burning 4 Sprinkler Related 5
9 | Annual Report - 2019
Fire response percentage by geographical area:
College Hill39%
Military Hill13%
Pioneer Hill16%
Sunnyside Hill7%
WSU Campus24%
Other1%
2019 FIRE RESPONSES
10 | Annual Report - 2019
Fire Loss and Salvage
The department keeps track of fire loss from structures lost or damaged. Fire loss is an estimation of
the total loss of the structure and the contents in terms of replacement in like, kind and quantity. This
estimation of fire loss includes contents damaged by fire, smoke, water and overhaul. The department
uses an “average” construction costs per square foot formula to estimate the initial property loss and
the most recent tax assessment for the total value.
The total fire loss for 2019 was estimated at $476,526
with the total property valued at $3,053,781. This is a
net savings of $2,577,255 for the property owners of
Pullman. The largest single fire loss was estimated at
$390,000 involving a commercial building on May 5,
2019 at 0139 hours. The total value of the property was
estimated at $1,800,000 creating a savings of $1,410,000
for the property owner. The fire damage was limited
due to the quick response of the fire department and
progressive fire protection measures in the fire resistive
coating required on the ceiling and fire sprinklers. This
kept the fire from spreading throughout the business and
to the adjoining building.
$476,526
$2,577,255
2019 Total Fire Loss and Value Saved
Value Lost Value Saved
11 | Annual Report - 2019
Emergency Medical Responses
The department responded to 1943 individual medical responses in 2019 totaling 73% of the call
volume. This was an increase of 45 (2.4%) responses from 2018. Patients were transported 52% of
the time with 55% of the responses dispatched as needing a paramedic or Advanced Life Support
(ALS). To increase firefighter safety in lifting patients, two ambulances were retrofitted with
hydraulic lift cots. This has greatly reduced back injuries during
this phase of the transport. A second cardiac CPR assist device was
added to fire station 2 to provide more consistent compressions and
free up personnel during the call. It also increases the safety during
transport as this eliminates a person standing up while performing
compressions. One of the most exciting calls occurred in May
during an unpredicted flash flood. Over 20 people, including an
infant and a medical patient, were rescued by firefighters during the
operation without any injuries.
2019 Most Common Medical Transports
Nature Nature
Sick Person* 15.7% Abdominal Pain 3.3%
Syncope/Unconscious* 11.2% Stroke/CVA 2.5%
Falls* 10.6% Alcohol 2.3%
Chest Pain/Cardiac 9.2% Psych/Suicide* 2.3%
Transfers 3.7% Hemorrhage/Lacerations 2.1%
Breathing Problems* 6.8% Overdose/Poisoning* 2.0%
Convulsions/Seizures* 6.2% Legal Blood Draws 1.7%
Other Medical/Unknown* 5.2% Back Pain 1.6%
Traumatic Injuries 4.1% Allergic Reaction 1.3%
Vehicle Accidents 3.3% Diabetic Problems 0.8%
*Alcohol/drugs are sometimes a contributing factor
Medical response percentage breakdowns by geographical area were:
College Hill21%
WSU Campus18%
WCFD 12/Pull4%
Pioneer Hill22%
Military Hill18%
Sunnyside Hill13%
WCFD 4/Pal4%
Other0%
2019 EMS RESPONSES
12 | Annual Report - 2019
Wildland Mobilization
Extremely dry weather patterns projected an active wildland fire season for
2019. However, due to aggressive fire attack by local agencies and
expanded air attack resources, major fires were kept to a minimum. Pullman
Fire Department members and apparatus responded to a total of seven State
mobilization requests. Six of the fires were immediate Type 3 responses and
one longer Type 2 response. All duty shifts were covered and the costs were
reimbursed while invaluable experience was gained while creating revenue
for the city.
The department continues to have contracts with
Washington State Patrol (WSP) and Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) for sending equipment and
personnel to assist other fire agencies in their time of
need. The City of Pullman Incident Management Team
members continue to be called upon for their assistance
and expertise in managing statewide activities and
incidents.
13 | Annual Report - 2019
Personnel
The City Council authorized the hiring of two firefighters for 2019. Due to a temporary closure of the
Washington State Fire Academy at North Bend, both candidates attended the Spokane County Fire
Academy. Firefighters Patrick Domries and April Manyon successfully completed the training and
increased the career staffing to 32 shift members.
Firefighter Manyon left the department in the fall and was
replaced in December with Firefighter Paramedic Christian
Schad. Christian was a former reserve firefighter who left
to complete his paramedic certification.
The fire department acknowledged
the retirement of long time Fire
Reserve Michael Chapman. He
joined the department in 1991 and
worked for over 27 years. Michael
was well known to the citizens and
youth of Pullman as a firefighter
and long time childcare provider to
numerous families. He served as a
Crew Leader for the Reserves and
excelled in public education for the
community. Michael was an active
instructor leading numerous
Hazardous Materials, Wildland and
Recruit firefighter courses and
proudly served as a member of the
Honor Guard.
Numerous certifications and course completions were achieved in
2019 by the staff. Firefighter Chuck Caessens, Lieutenant Chris
Volk and Captain Mark Johnson completed the second year of the
Managing Company Officer program at the National Fire Academy.
Deputy Fire Chief Ray Lamoureux achieved the Fire Officer
Designation and Fire Chief Mike
Heston received the Chief Fire Officer
Designation as well as the 2019 Fire
Chief of the Year by the Washington
State Fire Chiefs Association.
An intern was utilized from Washington State University to help
with creating an educational video and workout program to help
prepare candidates for the Reserve Physical Agility testing
process. The video was added to the newly updated fire
department website to help support future Reserve Candidates.
In a joint effort with the Police Department, the Fire Department
switched over to using Public Safety Testing for hiring new
members. This has greatly enhanced the candidate pool for
recruiting, testing and hiring firefighters.
14 | Annual Report - 2019
Fire Prevention and Investigation
The Fire Prevention office had a busy year with training
and certifications in arson investigation, explosive
investigator, fire sprinklers and building plan reviews.
The prevention office reviewed over 147 construction
plans in 2019, which is nine more than 2018. The city
composed of 109 plan reviews and WSU accounted for
38. Two of the
largest and
most complex projects were continued from 2018, the WSU-
Global Animal Health Phase II and WSU-Plant Sciences
Building. Both projects started in 2018 and will continue into
2020. A large apartment complex was started just north of
Pullman, The Hills on Grand Ave, and will carry through to
2020. Twenty-two operational and 29 construction permits
were issued for 2019 generating fee revenue just over $25,000.
This is a slight decrease from last year based on WSU and
SEL slowing their construction projects. The prevention office is still conducting construction
inspections on projects that were started in 2018.
A majority of time was spent in inspections for the
installation of sprinkler and alarm systems though out
Pullman and WSU. Other large housing projects have
been discussed with the prevention office which will
continue to add to their work load. The department
investigated 17 fires in the city and three fires out of the
city through mutual aid requests.
Deputy Fire Marshal Nuttman held the second annual fire investigation
task force meeting with investigators and discussed ways to increase
scene management. He also attended the National fire Academy for fire
plans examiner, the Washington state chapter of IAAI conference, and
the Washington State Fire Marshal’s conference.
The Fire department continues to conduct occupancy inspections in city businesses, the familiar
findings continue to be violations for extension cords improperly used as permanent wiring, non-
working exit signage, fire extinguishers and hood systems out of annual inspection date. These
violations are common throughout the industry and are promptly mitigated by the business and/or
property owner. The Prevention office also took the first steps in minimizing paper processes with the
use of computers for producing inspection reports by email.
The Fraternity inspection process continues to show great
improvements. More pro-active meetings were held discussing
improved strategies for success with the house representatives.
The increased education and cooperation with the Fraternities
have improved the first-time fully compliant houses from 12 in
2018 to 20 in 2019.
The fire prevention office preformed 21 fire safety talks to the
community throughout the year to various organization and
schools. This included fire extinguisher classes, smoke
detector, STOP, DROP, and ROLL and two ways out.
15 | Annual Report - 2019
Public Education
The department conducted 12 First Aid and/or CPR classes in 2019 at
the fire station as well as local businesses improving the skill level
and awareness of over 120 students. Several fire extinguisher classes
were held utilizing the eco-friendly portable fire simulator.
In October, the department collaborated with
Walmart for the annual Prevention
Week in
utilizing their
parking lot.
Numerous
community
members
braved the
challenging
weather to attend the educational event. The Fire
Safety House from Moscow Fire Department and Sparky teamed up to teach families how to react to a
simulated smoke and crawl out of the room while staying low as the smoke detector sounds.
The department continued to provide dozens of tours at the fire station
and at local children centers. The department supported the community
activities and events such as the 4th of July, Lentil Festival, Holiday tree
lighting, Community Egg Hunt at Kruegel Park,
Pullman Family Fair, Schweitzer Engineering
Health Fair, Neill Public Library book reading,
Pullman High School football games, WSU-
Pullman Community Safety Fair, WSU Alive
Orientation sessions, Regency Celebrations and
WSU and YMCA Youth camps.
Another unique opportunity to commemorate the
fallen was to be selected to receive a ceremonial
traveling flag in honor of Fire Captain Michael
Bell of Farmington, Maine, who died in the line
of duty. The flag was signed by department
members and transported to the Moscow Fire Department on its long
journey east passing through numerous fire departments along the way.
16 | Annual Report - 2019
Training
2019 was a banner year for the International
Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC)
training here at Pullman Fire. The department
received an Assistance to Firefighters Grant
(AFG) to cover the costs of conducting this
training for the career staff. One hundred
percent of the career staff are now IFSAC
certified in Firefighter 1, Hazardous Materials
Operations, and Firefighter 2; the reserve staff
are working towards meeting this same standard
with a plan to have this accomplished by the end
of 2020. Since there was money leftover within
the grant, FEMA allowed us to extend the
performance period to conduct an IFSAC Fire Instructor 1 class. Because of FEMA’s willingness to
extend our performance period, we now have 22 of our 34 career members certified to the Fire
Instructor 1 level. We also certified 12 personnel from surrounding agencies at no cost to them.
We continue to look for ways to develop and train our
officers and acting officers as they prepare themselves
for future promotions. Chief Lamoureux, with assistance
from Chief Heston, Captain Johnson, and FF/PM
Tadema developed an officer development program to
give our personnel the knowledge, skills, and abilities to
perform at the high standards we expect from our officer
and acting officers. This is a 3-year program set to begin
in February 2020 with a 3-day class titled Captains
College. This class instills the basics skills in
professional development, employee supervision, and
tactics on the emergency scene. This will be followed up
with an offering in Fire Instructor 1 and Human
Resources for Line Officers in the first year. The
remaining two years will take them through Fire Officer
1 and 2, Strategies and Tactics, Blue Card Hazard Zone
Certification, and finish the program off with Budgeting and Finance for Line Officers. They are also
required to read two leadership books a year
and provide an executive summary on what the
book covered as well as how they will apply it
in their career.
The reserve recruit academy continues to
produce high quality firefighters for our
Reserve Firefighter Program. Chief Lamoureux
and Chief Scharnhorst made some changes to
the program to allow the reserves to work shift
work alongside the career staff to better use our
reserve personnel. This has allowed the
Reserves to fully experience the daily routine
of a career firefighter and experience more
emergency calls. This has assisted Operations in staffing station 2 with four personnel as much as
possible until our new hires complete the Washington State Fire Academy and station 2 is staffed with
17 | Annual Report - 2019
four in 2020. Recruitment for the reserve program was also very successful in 2019. Due to vacancies
created from reserves graduating from WSU and others moving on, 12 positions had to be filled with
recruit class 20-01. We had 36 applicants apply for these 12 positions, which gave training the ability
to select excellent candidates. We are looking forward to similar recruitment levels in 2020.
2019 also saw some additional cooperative
training between our departments here on the
Palouse. During the summer, the training
division invited our surrounding fire service
partner agencies to participate in some multi-
company drills at the Pullman Fire Training
Center. Colfax Fire and Whitman County Fire
District 12 sent personnel and/or apparatus to
participate giving each department a chance to
interact with each other, as well as work with
each other’s equipment. The training officers
from Pullman, Moscow, and Lewiston also
started to meet more frequently to foster more
cross department training and increasing each
department’s professional development.
Washington State University continues to support the Pullman
Fire Department Training Division wherever they can. The access
they have given to the training division has been invaluable in
making our training as realistic and challenging as possible within
the confines of non-destructive training. WSU PD has also
allowed the training division use of their training room. This has
enabled us to host some professional development classes such as
the National Fire Academy’s offsite offering of Strategies and
Tactics for the Initial Company Officer. This class was held free
of charge, and saw fire
service personnel from
Grant County, Spokane,
and the Tri-Cities in
attendance.
The Pullman Training
Division cannot thank our
partners such as Washington State University, FEMA, National
Fire Academy, and the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office
– Accreditation Division enough for helping to make 2019 a
great training year for Pullman Fire. Most of all, we could not
provide the training to our personnel without the leadership and
financial support from our department and city leadership, so
THANK YOU!
Top Related