Why do we use lights and sirens all the time?
The purpose of emergency warning equipment is
to let drivers and pedestrians know that an emergency vehicle is on the way to
an emergency. By state law, we do have certain privileges extended to us.
Those being, to proceed through controlled intersections without stopping,
travel against the designated flow of traffic, to exceed the posted speed
limit. All of these privileges have rules that the legislation and department
policy put on the drivers of these emergency vehicles. The main rule is that
we can not do these things unless there are lights flashing and sirens going.
Even in the middle of the night.
We use this equipment to get us to the scene
of an emergency in a quick, but safe manner. Above all, we are mandated to
have control over the vehicle at all times. If you see an emergency vehicle
approaching you, pull over and stop and let them by.
Why
do we need fire trucks to respond with the ambulance to medical calls?
The answer is simple. We do need
them. Our standard response to any medical call (excluding vehicle accidents)
within the city is to send an engine company consisting of an officer
and two or three fire fighters, depending on manpower levels. These
engine companies are the same ones that respond to all fires within the city.
We do not have enough bodies available to separate fire fighting assignments
from emergency medical assignments. We do not have enough vehicles to neatly
divide them into fire fighting trucks and medical trucks. To do so would cost
taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars, and most of you would find that
alternative to be unacceptable. Therefore, we are forced to respond to medical
calls with a fire engine that is big enough to carry medical equipment as well
as fire fighting equipment.
The average citizen seldom
considers fire department procedures until he or she requires help. Imagine
that you and your spouse are relaxing at home some evening and suddenly your
spouse experiences a tightness in the chest. You dial 911 and ask for
assistance. Soon you hear sirens, and a fire truck pulls up in front of your
home. Three or four fire fighters pile out and cross your threshold carrying a
confusing array of equipment. You protest that you wanted an ambulance, not
the fire department. You complain that your spouse gets nervous with so many
strangers hanging around asking questions. You make a mental note to call city
hall the next day to complain about such an inconvenience. Meanwhile, your
spouse takes a sudden turn for the worse and loses consciousness. The fire
department personnel check for vital signs while hooking your spouse to a
heart monitor. They find no pulse and no respirations. The heart is
malfunctioning and needs to be shocked to help restore a normal rhythm. While
one fire fighter compresses the chest to manually pump the heart, another
manually fills the lungs with oxygen. A third prepares to deliver an
electrical shock through a defibrillator. The fire fighter/paramedic intubates
the patient and starts an I.V. to be able to better manage the airway and
administer needed medications. While all this is going on, the City ambulance
transport service is still two minutes away. Your spouse has a chance to
survive because the fire department was on the scene early enough to make a
difference and with enough people to do the job right.
So many times we respond to a call
that sounds routine but turns out to be much more. A woman has fallen. We
respond thinking that she may have injured a leg or an ankle. We discover that
she fell because she had a heart attack. We respond to a report of a car fire,
but the burning car is inside a garage that is attached to a house. If we
subscribed to the theory of "take a little fire truck to a little
fire", what would we do when it turned out to be a big fire? Imagine the
outcry if we had to run back to the station for a bigger truck! And what about
those not so rare occasions when we respond directly from a medical emergency
to a fire, or vice versa. How sympathetic would you be if your emergency had
to wait until we could switch trucks to accommodate the situation?
Fortunately, you do not have to worry about such things because our "big
truck" and the fire fighters it carries are trained and equipped to
handle whatever emergency comes along.
Why do we chop holes in peoples roofs?
This
is called vertical ventilation. When a house or business catches on fire,
intense heat, toxic gases and smoke rise to the ceiling. It remains there
until it finds a way to get outside. Sometimes the fire gets trapped and has
no way to 'ventilate' itself. When this happens, a condition known as
flashover occurs. Everything in the room on fire that can burn, reaches its ignitable
temperature simultaneously. If flashover occurs with people inside the
structure, including firefighters, they too could catch on fire. We let this
heat out of the structure so that we can gain safe entry into the inside.
Another very dangerous condition, similar to flashover, is called backdraft.
It is also known as a smoke explosion. We ventilate to prevent this condition
also. Frequently, we use powerful mechanical fans or hose streams to ventilate
a structure horizontally at the same time we are ventilating vertically.
In
order to accomplish our task we often have to chop a hole in the roof. Such a
sight can be very disturbing to a property owner, but it is simply a matter of
choosing the lesser of two evils. If the building is not vented, the fire
fighters might not be able to complete an interior attack and the structure
will be lost. The same is true for fires burning behind walls and above false
ceilings. There are two alternatives: leave the structures intact and allow
the fire to spread, or tear off exterior coverings and extinguish the exposed
flames. The correct choice is obvious. Something not so obvious is the fact
that, after the main body of fire is knocked down, it is generally necessary
to dig into insulation and check behind finishing materials to locate any
hidden hot spots. If this is not done, a tiny smoldering ember could grow into
a second fire many hours later; and those same property owners who complained
when we began pulling down insulation and ceiling tiles would then question
our competency because we let the fire start up again!
Every effort is made to keep
property damage to a minimum during fire fighting operations. Water is used as
sparingly as possible and tarps are spread over furniture and carpeting
to protect from whatever water run-off and other debris. You need
to remember that when we break out a window or open a roof, we can save a
room that can save the entire structure. We get no pleasure out of
damaging property, but we know all too well what will happen if we don't.
What class of fire rating does the City of Raytown carry?
The
Raytown Fire District efficiency is graded by the Insurance Services Office.
This organization rates how well a fire department can fight a fire in a
commercial business. This rating is then used by insurance companies to adjust
their fire insurance premiums. We were officially graded in 1988. We have been
given notice twice since then that we have not changed significantly to
warrant a rating evaluation. Currently our rating classification
is 4. The lower the classification number, the better the grade.
How can I get a copy of a fire report?
If
you are requesting a copy of a fire
report, you can come to the headquarters station and
pick it up or we will mail you a copy. Cost is a dollar per
page, plus postage that must be paid before a report is
released. There is a minimum of three pages per report.
Those three reports include the basic fire report, complete
narrative, and property involvement. Additional information
is available on response data, causality information and
many other types of reports.
Emergency
Medical reports are not released without a signed
authorization release of information form. Primarily, this
form is signed by the patient. For patients that are minors,
parents or legal guardians may sign. These forms are usually
available through your medical insurance provider. Prior to
release, these reports are verified by proper identification
and relationship to the person that was treated. To protect
the privacy of the patient, information will not be released
to any other person. These reports must be picked up in
person, we will not mail these reports.
Investigation
reports are not considered public documents. Copies are made
only through insurance companies or attorney's offices after
a request for that report is given clearance from the
Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. Their number is (816)
881-3555.
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How old do I have to be to be a Raytown fireman?
All requirements can be found on the
Hiring
information page. To answer the direct question, you must be at least 21
years old.
What are the qualifications to be a firefighter in
Raytown?
The
qualifications and hiring information can be found on the Hiring information
page. You can
click here to get to that page.
What is the difference between a fire protection district
and a municipal fire department?
In
fire protection terms, there is no difference. Each type of fire department
has the same basic equipment and manpower on each apparatus. The size of the
department may be different, meaning that one may be larger than the other.
There are Fire Districts in eastern Missouri that are larger than some
municipal fire departments in the same area. In western Missouri, there are
several fire districts. Central Jackson County Fire Protection District covers
the cities of Blue Springs, Grain Valley and portions of unincorporated
Jackson County. Fort Osage Fire District covers areas of Buckner and Waverly,
Missouri. South Metro Fire District covers the City of Raymore and Winnebago.
South Platte Fire District covers areas of Platte County, Parkville, Weatherby
Lake, Platte Woods and other areas. The Raytown Fire District covers the city
limits of Raytown. In the mid 1960's the cities of Kansas City and
Independence annexed property around what is now the city limits of the
City of Raytown. Prior to that annexation, the Raytown Fire Protection
District covered that area.
The
governmental and budgetary structure are very different than an municipal fire
department.
A
municipal fire department is a department within a city and they provide
services primarily to that city. Funding for a municipal department is
appropriated from many sources above and beyond what a fire district can do.
However, the fire department must compete against other departments
within that city to obtain funding.
A
Fire District is specifically a separate taxation entity and is authorized by
Missouri laws on how to operate. The funding source is primarily through a
property tax levy. However, Fire Districts can issue obligation bonds with
voter approval, they can collect a sales tax with voter approval, they can
enter into contracts for services and leasing fees, they can obtain grants,
they can receive donations and they can incur debt by loans. The
governmental body that oversees the Fire District operations and funds are set
up under Missouri law also. A minimum of a three member board of
directors (up to a maximum of five directors) are publicly elected in staggered
six year terms. For more exact details on Fire Protection Districts refer to
Revised Missouri Statues Chapter 321 or you can visit the States web page by
clicking
here.
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How can I contact the fire department for non-emergency questions?
Please
call (816) 737-6034 Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm for administrative
question or requests for tours or fire reports. Any fire protection question
can be addressed during normal day time hours. If no one answers the phone,
try again later. We may be out of the station on a call.
How do I get a fire extinguisher refilled?
There
are a number of ways to do so. The first is to look in the yellow pages under
Fire Safety Products. There are several vendors to choose from. Ask for a
price quote on you make and type of extinguisher. Ask them if they are
certified and insured. A second way is to bring your fire extinguisher by fire
station 1. There is a vendor that comes by here to pick up extinguishers to be
serviced. We offer this service only as a place for convenience to drop off.
We do not fill them ourselves and we receive no fee for providing this. Please
be aware that an old fire extinguisher may need more than just refilling.
