DEPARTMENT
NEWS
Volunteer Captains Joel Galloway (L) and Larry Pruss stretch a hose line
to extinguish a piece of heavy machinery Saturday (August 16) along
a stretch of Lake Valley Drive under
construction.
MFD
extinguishs machinery fire despite
roadblock
Maumelle
career and volunteer firefighters were dispatched shortly before 6:30 pm
Saturday evening (August 16) to a report of construction equipment burning
near the intersection of Lake Valley Drive & Breckenridge
Lane.
Firefighters, who saw the column of smoke while reroute,
arrived to find the fire on a portion of Lake Valley Drive under construction
with access for the fire engine blocked by construction vehicles. Volunteer
firefighters returned to the station and responded with Brush 1, which
has a pick-up chassis and has four-wheel drive capability.
Once Brush 1 arrived on scene, firefighters made
quick work of the remaining fire in the engine compartment and the burning
tires. After extinguishment, the scene was turned over to a representative
of the construction company. In all, four career and six volunteer firefighters
responded to the incident with Engine 1 and Brush 1.
AUGUST 12, 2008:
Pulaski
County burn ban lifted after weekend
rain
After three days of consistent rain, Judge Buddy Villines lifted the Pulaski
County burn ban Monday morning (August 12). The ban has been in place since
August 1 due to hot, dry conditions that worsened throughout the month of
July.
The Maumelle Fire Department has resumed approval
of burn permits. Permits that expired while the ban was in effect must be
renewed by the fire department before burning. As always, all permit
holders must call the fire department receive permission each day before
burning.
AUGUST 1, 2008:
Villines
issues burn ban for Pulaski
County
County Judge Buddy Villines issued a burn ban for all of Pulaski County Friday
(August 1). Pulaski County became the 19th county in the state to enact such
a ban this summer, which prohibits all open burning of trash, grass, brush
or other materials throughout the county -- including those holding
valid City of Maumelle burn permits.
Currently, Pulaski County is considered to have
moderate risk of wildfire by the Arkansas Forestry Commission and the burn
ban will remain in effect until the county receives sufficient rainfall to
lower that threat.
Burn permits that expire during while the ban is
in effect will have to be renewed by the fire department once the ban is
lifted.
JULY 31, 2008:
Firefighters set
new monthly record with 122
runs
Exactly one year after establishing their previous record for runs in a
single month, Maumelle firefighters nudged the high water mark up by
one in July by responding to 122 requests for service.
July marked the sixth consecutive month of
triple-digit run numbers for the department. Through
July 31, Maumelle firefighters were averaging 107 runs per month and
were 67 runs ahead of last year's pace.
JULY 25, 2008:
Resident
gets wake up call from Maumelle Fire
Dept.
A
Maumelle resident received an unusual wake-up call early Friday morning (July
25) as firefighters awoke her from sleep after forcing entry into the house
and finding the residence full of smoke.
Maumelle career and volunteer firefighters were
dispatched to a report of an automatic residential fire alarm at approximately
1:17 a.m. at 7 Parkridge Drive. The four on-duty career firefighters responded
with Engine 1, arriving to find no smoke or fire visible and unable to summon
anyone to answer the door. During their investigation of the exterior
of the structure, firefighters detected the odor of something burning
and forced entry into the house.
According to reports, smoke was present from floor
to ceiling and there was an odor of a cooking fire present. Firefighters
traced the smoke to a burned pot on the stove, which was still on. After
turning off the stove to prevent a fire, firefighters and police officers
searched the residence for occupants, finding one asleep in a bedroom
and unaware of the smoke conditions in the house. Metropolitan EMS (MEMS)
responded to the scene and evaluated the resident for smoke inhalation.
Although the alarm company's detectors inside the
home prompted the response from Maumelle firefighters, the regular smoke
detectors inside the house did not function.
Also responding to the incident was Fire Chief George
Glenn and one volunteer firefighter.
JULY 15, 2008
Firefighters
respond to simultaneous building
fires
In
fire service circles, it's often said that the job entails long periods of
boredom with sudden bursts of intensity. Such was the case for Maumelle
firefighters in the early morning hours of July 15th.
Maumelle Police & Fire Communications dispatched
career and volunteer firefighters to a fire alarm in the Cintas facility
at 102 Champs Blvd. at approximately 1:13 am. Although no smoke or fire was
visible when the three on-duty firefighters arrived on scene four minutes
later, they found a burning clothes hopper inside the building while
investigating the source of the alarm.
Even without the aid of backup -- no volunteer
firefighters had yet responded to the scene -- the three members of Engine
1 (C-Shift) went to work. After removing the burning hopper from the structure,
it was realized that fire had extended to other hoppers and bags of clothes
inside the building. Firefighters stretched a handline inside the structure
to begin extinguishing the fire.
At approximately 1:29 a.m., some 12 minutes after
firefighters had been operating at the fire on Champs Blvd., a second fire
was reported in a house at 181 Diamond Pointe Drive. With all three of the
career firefighters committed and working alone at Cintas, volunteer firefighters
began responding to the second fire.
The first arriving volunteer at Diamond Pointe reported
finding heavy smoke from the garage and fire coming from a laundry room inside
the residence. An engine company was requested as mutual aid from North
Little Rock and off-duty career personnel were recalled to duty.
Engine 2 responded to the call initially, with
firefighters stretching their first handline in through the garage to knock
down the main body of fire in the home's laundry room. They later stretched
a second line to prevent extension of the fire into the rest of the home.
In all, volunteers responded with Engine 2, Truck 1, Brush 1 and the Mobile
Air Unit.
Firefighters at both scenes reported their fires
under control at almost the same time -- 1:59 am on Champs Blvd. and 1:57
am on Diamond Point Dr. Fire damage to the structure was prevented at Cintas,
although a number of fabric items were damaged or destroyed. The fire at
Diamond Point caused fire damage to the laundry room near the garage with
the remainder of the residence sustaining heat and smoke damage.
JULY 7, 2008
Probationary firefighters Patrick McIntire (L) and Brett Burris wash Engine
2 Tuesday (July 8) afternoon. McIntire and Burris are two of five probationary
firefighters that began work July 7. Four of the five positions are being
partially funded by a federal grant.
Five
new career firefighters start work at
MFD
The
Maumelle Fire Department took a significant step towards operating two separate
companies as five new career firefighters joined their ranks on Monday (July
7).
The hires represent four new positions for the department
funded by a $377,053 federal SAFER Act grant in March. The fifth probationary
firefighter fills a vacancy created by a resignation in June.
New to the department are Probationary Firefighters
Brett Burris, Russell Barker, Travis Foreman, Patrick McIntire and Dustin
Worlow.
After three weeks of departmental orientation, all five
will report to "Rookie School" at the Arkansas Fire Academy in East Camden
for three months of training in firefighting, emergency medical skills, hazardous
materials response and emergency vehicle driving.
The successful completion of Rookie School paired with
the planned promotions of existing members to captain and engineer
will allow the department to consistently staff -- albeit minimally -- two
pieces of apparatus around the clock.
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