NEWS AND EVENTS

Flood Relief Efforts in Osawatomie, KS
July 4, 2007

Click on picture to view slide show

On July 4th, 2007 Fire District #1 was given the opportunity to send four firefighters, Tyson Graham, Eric Kramer, Brian Salmon, and Kyle Terstriep, to Osawatomie, KS to assist their fire department with flood relief operations.

Our four-man crew responded at 0630 hours and arrived in Osawatomie at 0715 hours at which time we were instructed to check in at the EOC command post.  At the command post we were given our assignment to report to the Osawatomie fire department’s main station at 7th street and Walnut to assist the firefighters in their needs.  At that time we were told we would be staying 72 hours and would be replaced by a fresh crew at the end of that period.

We arrived at the fire station and reported to Captain Love, who gave us a brief overview of their situation and status, and the situation and status of the town.  We went over protocol and were instructed to run the “show” like our department would, using our protocols.  Our assignment from Captain Love was to run their calls and assist other firefighters and the public as needed.  We all spent the next two hours going over their apparatus and learning how to operate all of their equipment.

Osawatomie runs five rigs out of that station which is an all-volunteer station, and they run no EMS calls unless it requires the landing of a helicopter.  They have two engines, one of which is a city engine that does not leave the city; the other is a rural engine that can go anywhere.  They have a rescue unit that rolls on all calls that is a first response unit for all non-fire calls and a support vehicle for fire calls.  They also have one tanker that responds only on fires or as a personnel transport for other incidents.  Their fifth piece of apparatus is a rescue boat that is rarely used.  In our stay, Firefighters Kramer and Terstriep manned the engines, while Firefighters Graham and Salmon manned the Rescue and Tanker.  Since different calls get different trucks, we split into two man crews.  Firefighter Graham was our “company officer” for our stay, and there was always one Osawatomie firefighter with us to help get us to calls.

The Osawatomie fire department shares a building with the city public works department and both share a common restroom that was in dire need of a good cleaning.  The four of us spent several hours cleaning the restroom, washing two of their rigs inside and out, cleaning bay floors, and doing laundry.  We stocked their stand up coolers with water and Gatorade cases for quick deployment in the event of a fire.  We also assisted the firefighters in getting their water rescue equipment and boat back into operating condition.

Our most important function in our stay was the relief of the Osawatomie firefighters, who were in great need of rest.  The men and women that volunteer were obviously worked thin and they were very thankful that we were there to relieve them.  After their rest they told us we were free to leave.  We told them that we would be happy to stay and assist but they told us they could handle the rest.  We only stayed 24 hours but it was well worth it and we all were glad we could help out.  It was a good experience and we believe we did a great job of representing Fire District #1.

E. Kramer, T. Graham, B. Salmon, K. Terstriep