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Texas Departments Prepare, Wait for Rita
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LON SLEPICKA
Firehouse.Com News
As Hurricane Rita moves toward the Texas Gulf shore and the Galveston and Houston area, fire departments are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. And the way Hurricane Katrina was handled in New Orleans painted a picture they want to improve upon.
Galveston will be first to see Rita. On a barrier island, a seventeen-foot concrete wall is there to greet the wind and waves, but it only faces the water a third of the way from east to west.
Galveston Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Smith said Thursday afternoon, the city was shutting down electricity to the island. Stations on the west end the island were abandoned and equipment was moved to a safe haven, the showroom floor of the convention center located on the higher east end. There was no longer any fire protection to the west end. Smith said the island in past hurricanes has split at two places leaving areas inaccessible. And by now, island evacuation is nearly total.
The police department is keeping their whole force on the island. The fire department is moving half their department to Friendswood, which is inland and about half way to Houston, to a high ground shelter of last resort.
In the city, Galveston Fire Department is setting up a command post at the San Louis Hotel located on an old WW II military bunker, hopefully above the storm serge. Shift operations will shut down Thursday night and firefighters have been given the choice of staying or moving up the Friendswood site. “They are saying the San Louis Hotel will be able to stand all this. God help us if they are wrong,” Smith said.
There will be about 75 firefighters on the island and 50 evacuated, when the hurricane arrives. Preparations have been exhaustive and the department has been fully involved in helping with the evacuation of elderly from homes and those in hospitals. At this point, Smith said they have been working straight for two days.
“Our guys have really stepped up. Even though we have a category four hurricane looking to give us a direct hit, we have had no one saying they are going to abandon their post. They just want to know where we want them. For most of them this isn’t their first rodeo. Most of them have already been through a hurricane or two. We just want to find the safest possible place for them.”
Praising the forecasting, Chief Smith said they did not play the waiting game with their own police and fire families. “We sent our families off several days ago. We said we are going to make a conscience decision based on this forecasting to send our families out. All our families are safe.”
Smith said the media coverage in New Orleans played a part in how Galveston looked at the situation. Saturated coverage of people being stranded moved the city to push hard for evacuation.
And because of what happened in New Orleans, Chief Smith says they know they will have massive mobilization of forces into the area after the storm hits. “Because of what happened in New Orleans we are going to be in pretty good shape. Hopefully we are not the ones who have to be rescued.”
Smith expected 20 to 30 small communities to the west would be completely blown away and the effort will be going house to house. USAR teams and others brought in will be used for that. “Our work is clearly ahead of us. Unfortunately we are pretty fatigued right now. The hardest part now is watching and waiting.” They are trying to get as rested now because they know what is coming.
The good thing Smith said, was everything they needed was available. And the impact of New Orleans is going to lower the impact of this hurricane on Galveston. “You hear about communities that are afraid to pull that trigger and evacuate. We are going to look bad if it turns. But our managers said we are going to error on the side of caution. Hell or high water we are going to pay the price for this and get people out now.”
“We have a great group of firefighters here. A lot of them grew up here, second and third generation with lots of family. They care about the community. Many want to stay but we have to get some off and that has been a delicate balance. We need to have some fresh people coming afterwards.” The department has about 125 on staff. The Fire Chief is Mike Varela.
Smith said they have also heard from many departments across the country who say they are there for them if needed. “Departments have said we’ve got you taken care of. It is an amazing response ahead of time. If we do get hit hard, and we do lose a lot of houses I can tell you that the fire service is not going to let us hurt. It is fantastic consolation that we are going to be taken care of by our brothers.”
Texas City is located between Galveston and Houston. Captain David Zacherl said the Texas City Fire Department has moved most of their apparatus to high ground at Santa Fe High School which is 25 to 30 feet above sea level. Several other departments in the area including Tiki Island, Santa Fe and La Marque are locating there along with the State Police who have established a command center there. Texas City is manning one station in the town, Station 3 on the west end that also has good elevation and construction that they expect will survive quite well.
The department operates out of 3 facilities, Central Station built in 1994, Station 2 built in 1995 and Station 3 built in 1999. The Department operates in 3 shifts with 54 line positions and 3 staff positions for a total of 57 personnel. The Fire Chief is Gerald Grimm.
“During the hurricane we are just going to hunker down and pop our heads up when it’s over,” Zacherl said.
They are following a county-wide plan set up after Hurricane Alicia 20 years ago and that included extensive evacuation of the area. “Most people are gone. It was a good evacuation in this area.”
They also considered early on the needs of firefighter families. “All the guys I have talked to are comfortable. Their families are gone as of yesterday. Wives and kids are in a safe area. We worked on that in house with the planning and I think we are good to go.”
There is a shift change for the department Friday at 7 a.m. and they will keep those on duty until and the next shift that comes in on Saturday will hopefully make it. Then they will change out the staffing. “We told the crew coming in tomorrow to be prepared to be here 72 hours and when relief crews show up we will start transferring guys out,” Zacherl said. “The biggest thing is people got out of town. We have 24 hours yet. If people just stick with the plan it will work out.”
Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief of Logistics, Rick Flanagan said they have an extensive plan for the fourth largest city in the country. And now they are fine tuning such things as adjusting personnel in station houses, how to downsize response and informing the public on what to expect from the department. They will take care of the immediate needs while dealing with a disrupted city and different new challenges.
Fuel is an immediate concern at the 88 city fire stations. They think they will lose some of their capacity because of flooding. And they are preparing everyone to face a long haul.
They are sheltering in place but know where traditionally the flooding occurs. At a particular time, they will pull staff from about seven stations and move them to safe ground.
They are doing staff holdovers and adding about two firefighters to station houses. The department may have about 1,400 firefighters on duty Friday and Saturday, twice the normal number. Assessment teams from each station will keep the command post informed of what is needed. They have worked with Motorola to set up a communications with layers they will be able to work with all the way down to vhf.
“We look at this thing as, what do we do day to day? Now you increase the emergency response outcry about ten fold. So that’s the magnitude of what we are saying, that there are certain incidents that we won’t be responding to. Like downed power lines and automatic alarms. Mission critical is communication, fuel and staffing,” Flanagan said.
Houston too realized the need to take care of firefighter families. “We started this emergency plan about three days ago and the first priority was to get staff to take care of their families first. They were already the higher priority. We think we have that covered.” They have also established a family response line that will allow families to communicate with the department and perhaps allow firefighters to handle emergencies if possible.
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Printable version may be for personal use only. Content many not be duplicated, re-used or otherwise replicated without expressed, written consent from Firehouse.com and/or the original author/source
............
LON SLEPICKA
Firehouse.Com News
As Hurricane Rita moves toward the Texas Gulf shore and the Galveston and Houston area, fire departments are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. And the way Hurricane Katrina was handled in New Orleans painted a picture they want to improve upon.
Galveston will be first to see Rita. On a barrier island, a seventeen-foot concrete wall is there to greet the wind and waves, but it only faces the water a third of the way from east to west.
Galveston Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Smith said Thursday afternoon, the city was shutting down electricity to the island. Stations on the west end the island were abandoned and equipment was moved to a safe haven, the showroom floor of the convention center located on the higher east end. There was no longer any fire protection to the west end. Smith said the island in past hurricanes has split at two places leaving areas inaccessible. And by now, island evacuation is nearly total.
The police department is keeping their whole force on the island. The fire department is moving half their department to Friendswood, which is inland and about half way to Houston, to a high ground shelter of last resort.
In the city, Galveston Fire Department is setting up a command post at the San Louis Hotel located on an old WW II military bunker, hopefully above the storm serge. Shift operations will shut down Thursday night and firefighters have been given the choice of staying or moving up the Friendswood site. “They are saying the San Louis Hotel will be able to stand all this. God help us if they are wrong,” Smith said.
There will be about 75 firefighters on the island and 50 evacuated, when the hurricane arrives. Preparations have been exhaustive and the department has been fully involved in helping with the evacuation of elderly from homes and those in hospitals. At this point, Smith said they have been working straight for two days.
“Our guys have really stepped up. Even though we have a category four hurricane looking to give us a direct hit, we have had no one saying they are going to abandon their post. They just want to know where we want them. For most of them this isn’t their first rodeo. Most of them have already been through a hurricane or two. We just want to find the safest possible place for them.”
Praising the forecasting, Chief Smith said they did not play the waiting game with their own police and fire families. “We sent our families off several days ago. We said we are going to make a conscience decision based on this forecasting to send our families out. All our families are safe.”
Smith said the media coverage in New Orleans played a part in how Galveston looked at the situation. Saturated coverage of people being stranded moved the city to push hard for evacuation.
And because of what happened in New Orleans, Chief Smith says they know they will have massive mobilization of forces into the area after the storm hits. “Because of what happened in New Orleans we are going to be in pretty good shape. Hopefully we are not the ones who have to be rescued.”
Smith expected 20 to 30 small communities to the west would be completely blown away and the effort will be going house to house. USAR teams and others brought in will be used for that. “Our work is clearly ahead of us. Unfortunately we are pretty fatigued right now. The hardest part now is watching and waiting.” They are trying to get as rested now because they know what is coming.
The good thing Smith said, was everything they needed was available. And the impact of New Orleans is going to lower the impact of this hurricane on Galveston. “You hear about communities that are afraid to pull that trigger and evacuate. We are going to look bad if it turns. But our managers said we are going to error on the side of caution. Hell or high water we are going to pay the price for this and get people out now.”
“We have a great group of firefighters here. A lot of them grew up here, second and third generation with lots of family. They care about the community. Many want to stay but we have to get some off and that has been a delicate balance. We need to have some fresh people coming afterwards.” The department has about 125 on staff. The Fire Chief is Mike Varela.
Smith said they have also heard from many departments across the country who say they are there for them if needed. “Departments have said we’ve got you taken care of. It is an amazing response ahead of time. If we do get hit hard, and we do lose a lot of houses I can tell you that the fire service is not going to let us hurt. It is fantastic consolation that we are going to be taken care of by our brothers.”
Texas City is located between Galveston and Houston. Captain David Zacherl said the Texas City Fire Department has moved most of their apparatus to high ground at Santa Fe High School which is 25 to 30 feet above sea level. Several other departments in the area including Tiki Island, Santa Fe and La Marque are locating there along with the State Police who have established a command center there. Texas City is manning one station in the town, Station 3 on the west end that also has good elevation and construction that they expect will survive quite well.
The department operates out of 3 facilities, Central Station built in 1994, Station 2 built in 1995 and Station 3 built in 1999. The Department operates in 3 shifts with 54 line positions and 3 staff positions for a total of 57 personnel. The Fire Chief is Gerald Grimm.
“During the hurricane we are just going to hunker down and pop our heads up when it’s over,” Zacherl said.
They are following a county-wide plan set up after Hurricane Alicia 20 years ago and that included extensive evacuation of the area. “Most people are gone. It was a good evacuation in this area.”
They also considered early on the needs of firefighter families. “All the guys I have talked to are comfortable. Their families are gone as of yesterday. Wives and kids are in a safe area. We worked on that in house with the planning and I think we are good to go.”
There is a shift change for the department Friday at 7 a.m. and they will keep those on duty until and the next shift that comes in on Saturday will hopefully make it. Then they will change out the staffing. “We told the crew coming in tomorrow to be prepared to be here 72 hours and when relief crews show up we will start transferring guys out,” Zacherl said. “The biggest thing is people got out of town. We have 24 hours yet. If people just stick with the plan it will work out.”
Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief of Logistics, Rick Flanagan said they have an extensive plan for the fourth largest city in the country. And now they are fine tuning such things as adjusting personnel in station houses, how to downsize response and informing the public on what to expect from the department. They will take care of the immediate needs while dealing with a disrupted city and different new challenges.
Fuel is an immediate concern at the 88 city fire stations. They think they will lose some of their capacity because of flooding. And they are preparing everyone to face a long haul.
They are sheltering in place but know where traditionally the flooding occurs. At a particular time, they will pull staff from about seven stations and move them to safe ground.
They are doing staff holdovers and adding about two firefighters to station houses. The department may have about 1,400 firefighters on duty Friday and Saturday, twice the normal number. Assessment teams from each station will keep the command post informed of what is needed. They have worked with Motorola to set up a communications with layers they will be able to work with all the way down to vhf.
“We look at this thing as, what do we do day to day? Now you increase the emergency response outcry about ten fold. So that’s the magnitude of what we are saying, that there are certain incidents that we won’t be responding to. Like downed power lines and automatic alarms. Mission critical is communication, fuel and staffing,” Flanagan said.
Houston too realized the need to take care of firefighter families. “We started this emergency plan about three days ago and the first priority was to get staff to take care of their families first. They were already the higher priority. We think we have that covered.” They have also established a family response line that will allow families to communicate with the department and perhaps allow firefighters to handle emergencies if possible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printable version may be for personal use only. Content many not be duplicated, re-used or otherwise replicated without expressed, written consent from Firehouse.com and/or the original author/source
