Special Operations Annual Report

“The teams that responded to that

situation were all of the highest cali-

ber and very professional, I had

nothing but positive things to say

about the professional working rela-

tionship between all of the agencies

involved. Beings how situations like

this are few and far between, pref-

erably none, everyone has to be on

their game for success to be

achieved.”

Ryan E. Headrick, Iowa OSHA

February 03, 2016

The Special Operations Teams Providing Value Added Emergency Service

When a tractor trailer overturns on the freeway and is leaking 8,000 gal-

lons of diesel, or a worker becomes incapacitated while cleaning a chemi-

cal storage tank, or a window washer is stranded on the side of a building

dangling 125 feet up in air, or a boat capsizes in the river and its occu-

pants need rescued, the Des Moines Fire Department’s Special Opera-

tions will get the call. We are ready to respond and provide service 24

hours every day of the year. Our teams are comprised of high energy

firefighters who have the specialized equipment, expertise, and requisite

skill sets to manage almost any high risk rescue or emergency situation.

The team is made up of firefighters and paramedics who spend a majori-

ty of their time responding to medical emergencies, fires, and other re-

quests for service commonly associated with fire departments. However,

these same firefighters are cross trained as hazmat technicians, technical

rescuers, or water emergency rescuers and they spend a considerable

amount of time training to perfect their craft. During 2016, these mem-

bers of the special operations teams amassed over 4,250 hours of train-

ing. Perhaps even more impressive than the number of training hours

that they completed is that most of this training is provided by expert

instructors within our organization. We are proud to be able provide

excellent, cost-effective, specialized rescue services in the Des Moines

area, in part by capitalizing on in-house training experts.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

Special Operations Staff

Assistant Chief Tom Patava

(515) 283-4229

Captain Bob Suarez

(515) 283-4248

Lieutenant Brian Davis

(515) 283-4091

Page 2 Hazardous Material Team

Page 4 Water Emergency Team

Page 5 Technical Rescue Team

Page 7 The Year in Pictures

The DMFD Hazardous Material Team

The Hazardous Material Team A local, regional, and state-wide asset

Collaborating to improve the delivery of services, generate opera-

tional efficiency, and minimize fiscal impact is a relatively new con-

cept in some areas of the country. Over 20 years ago, the Des

Moines Fire Department acted on that concept when we began

providing hazardous material mitigation services throughout cen-

tral Iowa, using our team of highly trained hazmat technicians with

specialized equipment to manage a variety of situations such as

anhydrous ammonia leaks, overturned vehicles leaking fuel or

chemical products, natural gas leaks, unknown substances in places

of business, and a variety of other chemical/hazardous substance

release situations. To have every fire department train their fire-

fighters as hazmat technicians (and maintain those competencies),

purchase personal protective equipment, meters and field analyz-

ers, and a vehicle to respond in is inefficient, impractical, and frank-

ly a poor business model. The Des Moines Fire Department’s Haz-

mat Team is one of the best in the state, and we are proud to serve

the 700,000+ citizens who work and live in Polk, Boone, Story, Mar-

shall, Warren, Madison, and Dallas counties.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

2014 ..………… 58

2015 ………….. 65

2016 ………….. 64

3 year comparison of hazardous

material responses

In 2017, the Des Moines Fire De-

partment’s Hazmat Team will re-

ceive the Gemini FTIR/Raman

handheld analyzer (pictured

above). Gemini leverages the field

-proven performance of Thermo

Scientific™ FirstDefender™ and

Thermo Scientific™ TruDefender™

instruments to accurately identify

a broad range of solid and liquid

chemicals, from explosives and

chemical warfare agents to indus-

trial chemicals and precursors.

The DMFD Hazardous Material Team

Training To Be The Best…. And training others to be better too!

2016 was the beginning of a new training paradigm shift for the

Hazmat Team. Rather than the previous requirement for every

hazmat technician to complete 50+ hours of training annually, we

developed a program that is designed to have the hazmat team

members demonstrate knowledge and skill proficiency on those

tasks that are needed to provide safe and effective hazmat re-

sponse service. Known as the job performance requirement (JPR)

task book, the basis for the change is the proven concept that fire-

fighters learn best by doing, and for most, active training is more

meaningful. The change has been well received by our team. We

did not create the JPR task book idea, but we have developed an

excellent training tool that other hazmat teams in the state have

expressed interest in. When the DMFD Hazmat Team is not en-

gaged in their own training, we help our fire and law enforcement

emergency response partners throughout central Iowa improve

their hazmat skills. Following is a partial list of training endeavors

that the DMFD Hazmat team assisted with during 2016:

Des Moines Police Dept. hazmat operations refresher classes—18

Iowa Law Enforcement Academy hazmat operations classes—9

Local Fire Department hazmat operations refresher classes—12

Des Moines Police Dept. hazmat technician refresher classes—5

Out of town/table top exercises/other training classes—8

We appreciate the opportunity to assist our partners with their

hazmat training needs and firmly believe that the foundation that

we’re building by training together will benefit the citizens that we

are sworn to protect when called upon to respond.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

Des Moines Firefighters who be-

came members of the Hazmat Team

during 2016:

Chris Brown

Eric Jacobson

Randy Jones

Stephen Kiburz

Joe Marks

Matt Waechter

Hazmat responses by incident type:

Natural gas/LPG leak—32

Oil/combustible liquid spill—4

Gasoline/flammable liquid spill—3

Toxic condition—3

Chemical spill/leak—6

Other hazardous condition—15

Trench recovery—1

The DMFD Water Emergency (WET) Team

The Water Emergency Team It has been more than 20 years since Retired Fire Chief Char-

lie Morgan created the Des Moines Fire Department’s Water

Emergency Team. At the time, some questioned the need to

purchase equipment and train firefighters to perform river

and flood related rescues. Since then, the DMFD WET has

executed numerous river, flood, and ice/cold water rescues.

Without the DMFD Water Emergency Team, many of those

victims would not have survived. While the original basis for

the team (performing water based rescues) has not changed,

the Des Moines Fire Department’s Water Emergency Team

has better equipment, is better trained, and is capable of exe-

cuting a variety of water and ice rescues. A new training pro-

gram was initiated in 2016 that consists of a JPR Task Book.

Current members of the WET, and firefighters who are interest-

ed in becoming a member, must complete a series of specific

tasks to demonstrate that they possess the requisite

knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform water and ice res-

cues. It is worth noting that all of this training is provided in-

house by officers and tenured firefighters who have

the expertise to provide the training, thereby reducing

impact on our budget. The members of the WET

spent 842 hours training this year, and to remain cur-

rent on emerging trends in water and ice rescue,

members of the Water Emergency Team attended the

International Assoc. of Water Rescue Professionals

Conference in Indiana. There is a palpable synergy

with the Des Moines Fire Department’s Water Emer-

gency Team, and we are proud of our ability to pro-

vide swift water rescue, cold water/ice rescue, and

stand-by water rescue services during special events

like the Des Moines Triathlon.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

DMFD

Pictured above are members of the Des

Moines Fire Department training on the

ring buoy rescue evolution.

Des Moines Firefighters who became

members of the Water Emergency

Team during 2016:

Brandon Gray

Joe Van Haalen

3 Year History of Water Rescue Responses

2014 2015 2016

The Technical Rescue Team

Expanding our Capacity—Objective Complete !

Training our own to serve you better

In January 2015, the Des Moines Fire Department embarked on a mon-

umental project designed to expand the Technical Rescue team, so that

on any given day, we are staffed with enough trained members to per-

form a confined space rescue, trench rescue, high angle rope rescue, or

any other specialty rescue request for service that we are asked to pro-

vide. While it may have taken a little longer that anticipated, the Des

Moines Fire Department’s Technical Rescue team did not waiver on

their commitment to complete this project. This endeavor was com-

pleted in July 2016. The training was hard, time consuming (1,195

hours in 2016), and at times physically challenging. Few organizations

have the technical expertise to provide this specialized training without

using outside instructors, but the Des Moines Fire Department com-

pleted an overwhelming majority of this training using in house exper-

tise. Special recognition to Captain Amy Montgomery, Captain Tim Pa-

tava, Captain Linda Frangenberg, Captain Allen Rodriguez, Captain Joe

Hogan, Captain David Leever, Lt. Randy Jones, and Captain Bob Suarez

for their commitment and effort with this project. Their expertise and

experience, coupled with the commitment and dedication by everyone

involved with this project has been remarkable, and will ultimately lead

to delivering improved service.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

Des Moines Firefighters who be-

came members of the Technical

Rescue Team during 2016:

1st Division

Captain Allen Rodriguez

Medic Kelly Dooley

Engineer John Elliott

Firefighter J. D. Stover

Firefighter Mike Miller

2nd Division

Captain Joe Hogan

Medic Scott Johnson

Medic Jonathan Taylor

Engineer Joe Sciarrotta

Firefighter Nate Stewart

Firefighter Bryan Schlotterback

Firefighter Brandon Hutcheson

Firefighter Brian Peppmeier

Firefighter Ed Palizzolo

3rd Division

Captain David Leever

Medic Marcus Yuen

Engineer Pat Houlihan

Firefighter Jeremy Feldman

Firefighter Doug Vogel

The Technical Rescue Team

Altoona Trench Recovery On Wednesday January 6, 2016, the Des Moines Fire Department was requested to assist the Al-toona Fire Department with a trench rescue/recovery. Other agencies who responded to this inci-dent included: Altoona Police Department, Altoona Public Works Department, and Polk County Emergency Management.

DMFD apparatus and personnel that responded were:

Technical Rescue 7 – Captain Linda Frangenberg, Firefighter Blake Johnston, Firefighter Jay Rho-ten, and Firefighter Doug Vogel

Medic 7 – Senior Medic Rick Schaffer and Fire Medic Jason Bernstein

Engine 2 – Lieutenant Dave Huntoon, Lieutenant Ron Dycus, and Firefighter Mark Leonard

Engine 4 – Captain Dave Leever, Firefighter Dave Conn, Firefighter Nate Stewart, and Fire Medic

Marcus Yuen

Hazmat 3 – Engineer Joe Kelly, Engineer Josh Wiebel, Firefighter Dwayne Vos, and Firefighter Phil Porter

Special Ops staff – Captain Bob Cox and Captain Bob Suarez

DC 2 – District Chief Steve Brown

Iowa OSHA Enforcement Officer Ryan Headrick sent his thanks and appreciation to the Des

Moines Fire Department for its cooperation regarding the trench rescue/recovery. He noted the

situation was difficult, the weather was not very pleasant but the goals of recovering the victim

and everyone going home were met with success. He truly appreciated all of your efforts.

Des Moines Fire Department 2016

A Potpourri of Pictures

A Potpourri of Pictures