Lakeside Assists Heartland Fire & Rescue on Interstate 8

City of El Cajon-

On Friday, January 31st, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. the Heartland Communications Center received 911 calls reference a semi-truck involved in a multiple vehicle accident. Calling parties reported that one occupant was trapped when her car was pushed up against the freeway wall. The initial calls reported the accident on westbound Interstate 8 near Greenfield Drive. Crews eventually located the accident west of Mollison near the Highway 67 interchange.

The occupant in this vehicle exited on her own and received minor injuries.

A CalFire battalion chief in the area arrived and started the process of locating all the victims from the four involved vehicles. Fortunately all the injuries are considered minor, and nobody was trapped, although the damage would suggest differently. Crews from Lakeside, Heartland Fire & Rescue, and San Miguel made contact with all the occupants looking for possible injuries.

Crews remained on-scene till CalTrans crews arrived to arrange for long term lane closures. Traffic was backed-up in the westbound lanes beyond Greenfield Dr.

CHP is currently investigating this accident. Crews from Heartland Fire & Rescue, Lakeside Fire District, San Miguel Fire District, Santee Fire Department, and CalFire responded to the incident.

Photo/Narrative By: Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District

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Vehicle Accident Causes Blackout in Glenview

Glenview-

On Friday, January 31st, 2014 at 7:13 a.m. the Heartland Communications Center received a 911 call reference a vehicle accident with possible trapped victims. Reporting callers reported a vehicle that had struck a power pole in the 13100 block of Highway 8 Business. Callers stated that the occupant appeared trapped in the heavily damaged pick-up truck. A rescue response was sent that included a structural pumper, a rescue company, an ALS medic unit, and a chief officer.

Firefighter-Paramedic Jose Corona starts a patient assessment on the occupant.

En-route to the incident first responders received reports of a blackout that stretched from the Greenfield area to the Los Coches area.

On the arrival of Rescue 3 and Medic 3 (Lake Jennings Fire Station) they located an occupied vehicle with heavy damage. Crews evaluated a single occupant that had received injuries sufficient to be transported to the trauma center at Sharp Memorial Hospital. Fortunately the patient was not trapped.

Fire crews load one patient while a crew from Heartland Fire & Rescue works on another patient up the road.

Engine 8 (Heartland Fire Rescue) started evaluating occupants from a second vehicle that had three occupants. An additional ALS ambulance was requested to respond to the scene to transport one of the occupants that had a complaint of pain. None of the injuries are believed to be life threatening.

CHP is currently investigating the accident. SDG&E crews arrived to begin the process of power restoration to the area.

A total of 8 Lakeside personnel responded to the incident, assisted by Heartland Fire & Rescue.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District

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Vehicle Damages Structure on Los Coches Road

Lakeside-

On Thursday, January 30th, 2014 at 2:03 a.m. the Heartland Communications Center received a 911 call reference a vehicle that had just struck a structure in the 8800 block of Los Coches Road. Assigned to the alarm were three structural engines, a truck company, an ALS medic unit, and a chief officer.

On the arrival of Engine 3 and Medic 3 (Lake Jennings Fire Station) they discovered a vehicle that had struck a residential structure with sufficient force to breech the wall. Crews initiated a medical assessment on the driver while other crews entered the structure to look for additional victims. On inspection of the interior of the building it was discovered that the impact had narrowly missed a crib occupied by a small child. Much to the relief of crews the child was unharmed.

One patient was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Crews remained on-scene till the vehicle could be removed from the structure. The accident is currently being investigated by CHP.

A total of 12 Lakeside personnel responded to the incident, assisted by the Santee Fire Department.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District
Photos By: Fire Captain Wes Barnes, Lakeside Fire District

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Lakeside Units Provide Mutual Aid to San Diego County Fire

Deerhorn Valley:

On Monday January 27, 2013 Lakeside units were called to assist with a fire off of Honey Springs Road in the Deerhorn Valley area.  The fire, which was in San Diego County Fire's area, involved a double wide mobile home that was fully involved when the first units arrived on scene.  No interior attack was made, all efforts were focused around an exterior defensive attack.

This area of the county has no plumbed water supply system like we have in Lakeside, the closest fire hydrant was close to 5 miles away.  The lack of plumbed water system makes it very difficult to suppress a structure fire without a great deal of resources.  The amount of water needed to extinguish fully involved structure fire is on the order of thousands of gallons, which is far more than is carried in a first alarm structure fire response.

San Diego County Fire crews work on an exterior fire attack

The water supply issue was resolved by setting up a water point system.  This system involves setting up a portable water tank, which can hold over 2,000 gallons of water, and having fire engines draft water out of that tank while they pump water onto the fire.

WT7251 Offloading it's 2,000 gallons of water into a portable tank

Lakeside Units were called to help with this operation.  Lakeside Water Tender 7251 (a county resource) along with Engine 2 from the River Park Fire Station went to assist with the water point operation and Lakeside Rescue 3 was dispatched to provide incident support.  Once at the scene WT7251 and E2 provided water support for a short time before being released back to the incident.  This incident again shows the high level of mutual aid that exists in the county of San Diego.  Being able to share resources allows fire departments to have less of a need to buy low use highly specialized fire equipment.  This "sharing of resources" proves to be a benefit not just to the citizens of the county but the citizens of Lakeside as well.

Photos and Story by Captain Bernie Molloy.

New Blog and Facebook Page for Emergency Net

Often it can get confusing when stories of very different interests get interwoven on a single page. Thus with the recent addition of the Lakeside Emergency Net the need arose to create a new blog and Facebook page. This should allow us the ability to keep the Lakeside Fire District Blog committed to topics of public safety.

The new Lakeside Emergency Net blog can be located at this site: Lakeside Emergency Net

The new Lakeside Emergency Net Facebook page can be located at: Lakeside Emergency Net Facebook Page.

It is our hope that you will enjoy both sites.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District

Runaway Vehicle Sends One to Trauma Center

Glenview-

On Friday, January 17, 2014, at 6:11 p.m., the Heartland Communications Center received a 911 call reference a vehicle that had rolled down a hill with a victim lying in the street. A structural first alarm was sent to the incident in the 13300 blk of Los Coches Road East. The response included three structural engines, a truck company, an ALS medic unit, and a chief officer.

Lakeside and Santee firefighters prepare the patient for transport to Sharp Memorial.

On the arrival of Engine 3 (Lake Jennings Station), firefighters discovered a large pick-up truck that had impacted a structure. Some distance from the vehicle, a victim was located with significant traumatic injuries. The crew initiated treatment and secured the vehicle. The victim stated that the car had rolled away from him while in the process of doing some maintenance. The vehicle had dragged the victim a significant distance before he was thrown free.

With the arrival of Medic 5 (Santee Fire Department) ,the victim was loaded for transport to the trauma center at Sharp Memorial Hospital. The incident is being investigated by CHP.

A total of four Lakeside personnel responded to this incident. Assistance was provided by Santee Fire Department, Heartland Fire & Rescue, and the San Miguel Fire District.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District

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Lakeside Fire Promotes New Captain

Lakeside, CA -

At the Lakeside Fire Protection District Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 14, 2014, Lakeside had a badge pinning ceremony for the department's most recent promotion.  The district has recently promoted Firefighter / Paramedic Eric Stamm to the position of fire captain.  In the ceremony, Fire Chief Andrew Parr, in front of a large crowd of citizens in attendance at the board meeting, gave some history on the position of fire captain and what it took to achieve it within our organization.  Captain Stamm was presented with his badge and his children pinned it on him for the first time.

Captain Stamm Gets His Badge Pinned by his Children

Captain Stamm has already had a long career in the fire service.  He became an EMT in 1995 and worked as a paid call firefighter with the Valley Center Fire Protection District from 1995 until 1998.  During that time Eric attended paramedic school at Crafton Hills College, after which he was hired with the Barona Fire Protection District in 1998.  In 1999, after a short time at Barona, Captain Stamm was hired with the Lakeside Fire Protection District where he took on many roles including serving as a department training paramedic and as the chair of the EMS Committee for the fire department.

Promotions within the Lakeside Fire Protection District represent much more than time served.  On a department such as Lakeside, which has limited promotions due to the size of the district (4 stations),  promotions are filled based on a list that is established through a testing process.  These promotional tests occur once every two years for each position and have established minimum requirements to take the test based on the position the candidates are testing for.  With the high-driven nature of the firefighters of the Lakeside Fire Protection District, promotional exams are highly competitive affairs with crews studying and preparing for up to a year in advance of the test date.  The tests, though different for each position, entail written, manipulative, and interview components and take several days to complete.  Eric demonstrated that he possess the skills and knowledge necessary to not only fill the position of Captain, but excel in it.  The Lakeside Fire Protection District is happy to have Captain Stamm here in Lakeside to serve the citizens of the district.


Photo and Story submitted by:  Captain/Paramedic Bernie Molloy

Lakeside Emergency Net Kick-Off Approaches

River Park Fire Station Complex-

In six days, on January 19th, the Lakeside Communications Volunteer Group will conduct the first "Lakeside Emergency Net" from the base station at the River Park Fire Station Complex. While the primary objective of this net is to forge a relationship with the amateur radio community the net also provides an opportunity for operators of all proficiency levels the chance to operate in a formal net environment.

While the name of the net seems rather formal it is our hope that you will find the format relaxed and inviting. Our Net Control Managers are not only members of our community, but bring a depth of experience that should provide a learning environment for newer operators.

The amateur base station at the River Park Fire Complex has been granted the call letters K6LKS to better reflect the Community of Lakeside. But this net is in no way limited to amateurs located in Lakeside, this net is open to all amateur radio operators.

It's very likely the first few net sessions will be committed to organization as we get to know each other for the first time, but as time passes we hope to perfect a format that the community finds beneficial.  Will all efforts we need feedback from you on the format of the net, so please feel free to send suggestions to radionet@lakesidefire.com.

We again thank the members of the East County Repeater Association of the generous use of their repeater. Without this repeater there would not be a community net.

The first net will be conducted on January 19th at 7:00 p.m. The Rattlesnake Repeater can be found on a frequency of 147.765 (-) with a P/L tone of 79.7. This repeater is located at an optimal location and should provide great coverage.

See you on the net.....

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, CVG Coordinator, Lakeside Fire Protection District

Lakeside Fire Participates in Multi-Agency Training

Interstate 8 View Point-

The Scenario: A vehicle has left the freeway and plummeted 200 feet into a canyon. The occupant has a broken leg and requires immediate attention from medical personnel.

Crews stand ready to pull the crew up from 200 feet below.

That was the scenario presented to crews from Lakeside, Viejas, San Diego County Fire Authority, Alpine, and Sycuan during a training exercise held at the view point on Interstate 8 east of Alpine. These types of operations require careful attention to detail as crew safety is dependent on a properly constructed rope system. Should this system have a catastrophic failure the safety of crew members on the rope could be compromised, so we practice.

A crew prepares a victim to be raised up in a basket while medic tend to their injuries.

Crews met during three training exercises to refresh skills that are not commonly used. But just weeks ago crews were called to this very location for a vehicle that had broken through the barrier wall and ended up in the canyon below. A haunting reminder of this incident remains as crews were lowered to an area near the wreckage..

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District

Vehicle Rescue on the Slaughterhouse Grade

Moreno Valley-

On Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 at 5:34 a.m., the Heartland Communications Center received a 911 call about a driver that had impacted the rear of a semi truck on northbound Highway 67 just north of Slaughterhouse Canyon Rd. Dispatched to the incident were two structural engines, a rescue company, a ALS medic unit, and a chief officer.

Crews evaluate the extent of entrapment.

While units were still responding to the incident a SDPD officer arrived and reported that the occupant was trapped. With the arrival of Engine 2 (River Park Station) they reported a full size SUV with a single occupant trapped in the front seat. The crews initiated medical care and made an effort to see that there was no potential for fire.

Crews start the task of removing the dash from the victims legs.

Crews remove the back of the drivers seat. This facilitates removing the victim on a backboard.

With the arrival of Rescue 3 (Lake Jennings Fire Station) a plan was developed to free the occupant. During the rescue operations the crew faced a number of challenges as the damage to the vehicle had compressed the occupants legs under the dash. After a number of plan revisions the occupant was freed. Care of the patient was transferred to the paramedics on Medic 2. After a brief assessment the patient was transported to the trauma center at Sharp Memorial Hospital.

A total of 12 Lakeside personnel responded to the incident. The accident is currently being investigated by the CHP.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District
Photos By: Fire Engineer Robert Williams, Lakeside Fire Protection District

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Central Zone Assists with Structure Fire in Descanso

Descanso-

On Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 at 2:09 a.m., the Heartland Communications Center received a call to assist the San Diego County Fire Authority with a structure fire in the 25100 block of Manzanita Ln in the Descanso area. Dispatched was Engine 25 from the Viejas Fire Department, and Rescue 3 from the Lakeside Fire Protection District.

Smoke pours from the front of the structure.

Arriving Fire Authority units reported a two story structure with significant involvement in fire. Crews quickly located the occupant and rendered medical assistance. With the arrival of more engine companies crews made an interior attack on the fire and continued to search for other occupants.

Fortunately the sole occupant had exited the structure, along with his dogs. Crews now faced an extended overhaul situation with significant fire loading in the all wood structure. Additional companies were requested  to respond to assist. The occupant was evaluated by AMR medics and transported to a local hospital.

Investigation of the fire will be handled by the San Diego County Fire Authority.

Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire Protection District

 

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