Tradition Excellence Of - FireWire 2017

TraditionofExcellence2015 Annual Report

Introduction 2Letter from the Chief 4Firefighter of the Year 6Promotions/Retirements 7Statistics 8Fire Incident Summary 10EMS Incident Summary 12Other Incidents Summary 14Response Timeline 16Facilities/Stations 18Office of the Chief 26Grants/Finance 28Fire Human Resources 30Standards/Public Information 32Award Recipients 33Operations 34Emergency Operations 36Fire Prevention 40Prevention and Inspection 42Fire Investigations 44Capital Assets andPersonnel Support Services 46Office of Emergency Management 48Special Operations 50Fire Medical Research 52Logistics 56Facility Oversight 58Aircraft Rescue Firefighting 60Technical Services andProfessional Development 629-1-1 Communications 64Health and Safety 66Operations Research 68Professional Development and Training 70El Paso Fire Department416 N. Stanton STE 200El Paso TX 79901(915) 485-5600www.epfire.orgOn Sunday April 26, the El Paso Fire Department wasdispatched to a Third Alarm fire at the 1300 block ofLomaland Dr. Crews fought the fire for nearly sevenhours. Firefighters used “trench cutting” to separatethe section of the building that was on fire from thetwo other unaffected wings of the property. A total of25 units and 74 personnel responded to the incident.Photo and cover photo by PIO Carlos A. Briano.Table of Contents1

TraditionofExcellenceExcellence is not easily achieved. It’s a descriptor mainly reserved for theTwo decades later, El Paso firefighters, along withthose from 54 other fire departments from across thenation, became charter members of the IAFF, InternationalAssociation of Firefighters founded in 1918.That tradition continued into the 40s when in 1942,EPFD placed fifth in the nation in the National Fireupper echelon, the cream of the crop. The El Paso Fire DepartmentPrevention Contest; it was the highest ranking departmenthas always strived for that standard. And by meeting that standardin Texas. In that decade, the department was one of therepeatedly over the course of 143 years, the department hasfew in the nation to pioneer booster tanks on fire engines.established a tradition of excellence.From its initial formation in 1883, the El Paso FireDepartment has established itself as one of the best firedepartments in the state. Now, it can be argued thatit is one of the best in the country, if not the world.The examples are many. On July 8, 1901,the El Paso Herald reported that the 900GPM steam pumper acquired byIn the 1970’s, the department was one of the first toexplore the Fire Cat technology, a self-propelled monitornozzle.department constructed it’s state-of-the art burn buildingin 1993, the first of its kind in Texas. In 1997, El Pasofirefighters began to use thermal imagers. Today, EPFDhas one on every structural apparatus, a rarity among fireIn 2003, the department earned a Class 1 rating inpowerful ever seen in thisPublic Protection from the Insurance Services Organizationpart of the country.”(ISO). As a result, El Pasoans pay some of the lowestproperty insurance rates in the nation. In 2012, theContinued on page 3.department received international accreditation from theCommission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)estimates there are 30,052 fire departments in the UnitedStates. The El Paso Fire Department is one of only 217accredited fire departments in the world, and one of only61 in the country with an Insurance Services Organization(ISO) Public Protection Classification 1.Only 13 fire departments in the country are both anISO Class 1 department and recognized as an accreditedagency. Only three are metro-sized (populations over500,000).In it’s 143-year history, the department has shown thatPhoto by PIO Carlos A. Briano.Annual Report 2015is to provide emergency response, prevention,preparedness and education to residents,businesses and visitors of our city so they canlive safely and prosper in a hazard resilientcommunity.Visionrecognized leader in the fire and rescue serviceat the local, state, regional and national level.Our culture will reflect a trusting, cooperativeand friendly team atmosphere nurtured byrespect for each other and for the pubic weserve.We will earn and honor our community’s trustthrough the provisions of the most effective,efficient and fiscally responsible service possibleto all groups in all areas in the city.We will explore all opportunities to improveour people and our services, and spend time andenergy developing the best strategy possiblefor providing the service delivery required in ourcommunity.We will demonstrate our excellence at alltimes, and will be internationally accredited andrecognized for applying industry best practices.ValuesProfessionalismthe City of El Paso has exceptional coverage for all of itsRespectcitizens, businesses and visitors. We hope you will enjoyIntegrityreading many of the ways the El Paso Fire DepartmentDutycontinued its Tradition2The Mission of the El Paso Fire DepartmentThe El Paso Fire Department will be aThe excellence continued into the 90s when thedepartments nationwide.the department “was the mostMissionof Excellence in 2015.ExcellenceIntroduction3

I am pleased to present the El Paso FireAcademy and 58 personnel, ranging from Firewe develop a direct communication link betweenDepartment’s Annual Report for 2015. ThisSuppression Technician to an Assistant Chief,the department and the community we serve, 21were promoted; they are all well-deservingjournalists were trained and certified as Certifiedthe city, but for the fire department asemployees contributing towards the success ofFire Journalists through our Media Academywell. We trained 114 Company Officers inthe organization.program. By educating and training reportershas been a year of changes not just forand photographers to comprehend fire servicestandard command practices for common,Many of the department’s accomplishmentseveryday strategic and tactical emergencywill be reported in the following pages. However,tactics, strategies, equipment and jargon, the fireoperations through the Blue Card systemwhat the report may not show is the outstandingdepartment helps ensure the public will receiveas we move towards a standard Incidentdedication and professionalism of the employeesmore accurate and complete information aboutCommand approach. Our staffing haswithin the organization. As you look throughthe service the fire department provides.faced some changes due to annualretirements. A total of 37 recruitswere graduated fromthe Fire Trainingthis report, my staff and I hope you will noticeWe’ve taken advantage of every opportunitya few testimonials which have been placedto present our safety messages. Firefighterswithin it. These testimonials are from citizenscompleted hundreds of hours in public safetywho utilized our services over the past yearevents including Compression-Only CPRand were gracious enough to send us a letter oftraining, Water Safety Training, In-Stationappreciation. These testimonials are only a smallTours, Fire Department Youth Camp, Daycareglimpse of the positive comments my officeInspections, Home Safety Surveys, Smoke Alarmreceives annually, but they are typical of theInstallations and a variety of others.many received each year.One program I am very pleased to report aboutOur 2015 Annual Report is a reflection ofour commitment to the community we serve.is the success of our Community Health andIt is filled with statistics and informationWellness initiative through the assistance ofthat identifies ways in which we continue tothe Delivery System Reform Incentive Paymentsuccessfully meet our mission and improve our(DSRIP). Prompted by the goal of enhancingdepartment for the future.access to healthcare, the health of patients andOur success is due to the dedicatedfamilies served, and improving the health of ouremployees of our department, the support of ourcommunity’s population, over the past year wecommunity and its leaders. We could not meethave provided more than 2,000 immunizationsour mission without this dedication and support.and wellness checks to underinsured residentsin our community. The program has helpedhundreds in the community to follow their healthI hope you find this report informative andinteresting.Respectfully,care plans and may keep them from having tocall 9-1-1 for emergency medical services.Public Safety Education is very important toour employees and to our community. To ensure4Annual Report 2015Fire Chief Samuel PeñaFire Chief ’s Letter5

Firefighter of the YearThe El Paso Fire Department congratulates the following personnel who have been recognized asoutstanding firefighters. Each quarter an individual is selected as the Firefighter of the Quarter. Theseindividuals exemplify the mission, vision and values of the El Paso Fire Department. One of these four isthen selected as the Firefighter of the Year, one of the highest recognitions the department can give anindividual firefighter.Firefighter of the QuarterAt the Annual MedalDay Ceremony,held Thursday Sept.3 at the ChamizalNational MemorialAmpitheater, FFEfrain Garciawas named 2015Firefighter of the Year.He is shown here withKeynote SpeakersCongressman BetoO’Rourke and EmmaW. Schwartz. Photoby Fred Jones.First QuarterSecond QuarterThird QuarterFourth QuarterFPM Wyatt SchmidtFF Efrain GarciaFF Max MartinezCapt. Gonzalo Soto6Annual Report 2015PromotionsAssistant ChiefJorge CortezDeputy ChiefRicci CarsonRamon ValenciaBattalion ChiefDaniel CoronadoKevin M. DieterChristopher EscandonRaul Garica-FloresCaptainKevin D. DieterRaul MaciasPaul MottKenneth PersingerAlex PortilloChristopher ReavesJesus SalmeronMiguel TorresRichard VarelaLieutenantJ.J. BeemanRonald BrinksSteven DeveauRyan DubordJaime GonzalezMatthew HunterPeter LiechtiManuel MaldonadoGabriel MartinezEdwardo MontoyaJose MunozManuel OrtizBryan SilvaEsau VillegasUniformMichael Ortiz, 32Cesar Martinez, 30Christopher Celaya, 28Vicente Gonzalez, 28Juan Rodriguez, 28Michael Moss, 27Edward Beltran, 27Daniel Valles, 27Miguel Valencia, 26Jesse Bustamante, 26Ruben Flores, 26Francisco Villegas, 26Rodolfo Rodriguez, 26Armando Medrano, 26Raymond Cano, 26Rafael Reyes, 25Gerardo Arreola, 25Michael Cade, 24John Concha, 24David Rios, 23David Tellez, 23RetirementsFire Suppression TechnicianFrancisco AlonsoDaniel BoisselierCraig DagenChristopher FalconEduardo FloresEfrain Garcia, Jr.Benny GutierrezCarlos HernandezJesus LemusMartin LermaAndres LopezRamon LueraOrlando MartinezJodie MatejcekPascual MendozaRicardo MendozaJaime MunozGil NevarezJames NicholsonMarco Santiago, 23Daniel Gonzales, 23Calvin Shanks, 22David Smith, 22Adolfo Duarte, 22Fermin Sosa, 22David Valero, 21Dennis Reglen, 21Jay Binion, 21Gustavo, Guerrero, 20Paul Bianchi, 17Andrew RenteriaEmilio SalcidoVictor SanchezArturo SantanaDavid TorresRamiro VegaAlonzo ZambranoCalvin ZielsdorfCiviliansReymundo AtilanoDavid AvilaEdwin AyalaDora CastanedaJonathan HernandezDavid MontoyaDeidra MoralesRachel VargasCivilianRaul Muro, 22Maria Robles, 20Martha Bilbo, 15Zoraida Burke, 13At thePromotionCeremonyheld ThursdayFeb. 26 at theFirefightersHall, FST DavidMcWatters, FSTVictor Sanchezand Lt. JaimeGonzalez werepart of the30 personnelhonored ontheir promotion.TrainingChief JorgeCortez wasthe KeynoteSpeaker forthe event.Photos by RudyGutierrez/ElPaso Times.Promotions and Retirements7