HomeMy WebLinkAboutReport of the Fire Department for May 1981TO: Honorable F.G. Marcham, Mayor, and the Members of the Board of Trustees
FROM: F.L. Miller, Fire Chief
RE: Report of the Fire Department for the month of May 198(1
During the month of May there were 5 general alarms, 2 incident calls, and 10
rescue calls.
On May 4, a false alarm from Northeast School brought 11 men and 3 engines out
for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
On May 8 a hedge fire at 904 Triphammer Road caused 7 men to spend 1 hour and
52 minutes of man hours to put out the fire with 1 engine.
May 15 we took 1 engine to 899 Cayuga Heights Road to put out a tractor fire.
The call was in Lansings territory but the dispatcher made a mistake and sent
us. 1 engine and 16 men spent 5 hours and 52 minutes of man hours on this call.
On May 24 a dumpster fire behind 606 Winston Court called 9 men out of bed with
1 engine for 2 hours and 33 minutes of man hours.
On May 27 16 men spent 4 hours and 48 minutes of man hours looking for a false
alarm at Hasbrouck Apartments. Three engines, 1 ladder truck and 1 pick up
could not find any fire. We traced down the person reporting the fire and fould
the fire to be someone starting a bar -b -que fire. They would not even share the
steaks with us.
One incident call was an assist to the Police Department to standby with an
engine while a car was pulled from the ditch on North Sunset Drive.
The second incident was to investigate a smoke detector sounding in a house at
505 The Parkway. The cause was determined to be dust in the detector.
The Rescue Squad had a busy month with 5 motor vehicle accidents, 2 person down
calls, 1 respiratory problem, 1 possible stroke, 1 cardiac problem. Five of these
calls were mutual aid to Lansing. The Squad had a bad month with two fatalities
in two of the accidents they went to this month. The first was on Route 13 under
the Cayuga Heights Road bridge where a motorcycle driver went off the road and
struck the rock wall under the bridge. The second was the accident on North
Triphammer Road where a Cornell student was killed when his car ran into a tree
and he was pinned inside the car for a while. Lansing Rescue was called into the
Village to extricate the person from the car with their Jaws of Life.
On May 7 one of our own firemen, Dan Rogers, was injured in an accident at the
Ithaca Trainning Center during preparation work for a company drill. Danny
received first and second degree burns about the face and neck and wrist areas
as a result of starting a fire for trainning purposes. Danny is back at work now
and expects no permanent scars or damage from the accident. We are indebted to the
fast response by Ithaca Rescue and Bangs Ambulance Service to the scene of the
burning. Their fast service saved Dan much pain and aided in his fast recovery.
Report of the Fire Department for the month of May 1981 (page 2)
The Fire Council requests permission to purchase protective clothing for the Fire
Department members as included in the proposed budget for the year 1981 -1982. The
clothing will include fire helmets, fire boots, and fire gloves which will replace
worn out equipment. I have contacted several sales outlets regarding the prices of
these articles. I will buy the equipment from the lowest prices that meet the
standards we need. I do not plan on spending all of the money in this budget for
this item at the present time.
Also in the budget is the money for four rechargable hand lights and two vehicle
rechargers. We would like to buy two hand lights and one recharger at this time
to try out. These lights will be mounted on a truck to replace lights used now
which have replaceable batteries. The cost of these batteries has risen so much
recently,and they are replaced at least twice a year, that rechargeable batteries
should pay for themselves in very short time. .
We would like to order the two Motorola Minitor pagers which are in the budget.
Not in the proposed budget is an item the Fire Council feels we should buy. We
can purchase a light bar for the top of a vehicle for the price of $425. The
list price of this bar is $535. The addition of this item to our inventory of
red lights will greatly improve the emergency lighting available to the Chief
officers of the Department.
The Rescue Squad would like to order the electronic blood pressure pulse unit
listed in their budget for $350.
Rpspectfully submitted,
Francis 1. Miller
Fire Chief