On Sunday August 10 it became apparent that the Spokane area might be looking at another severe weather event. Late that evening District 9 Chief Jack Cates (Chairman of the Inland Empire Fire Chiefs Association) and District 4 Fire Chief Randy Johnson (Chair for the Northeast Region Fire Defense Committee) decided that a plan was needed to prepare for the potential severe weather. Monday August 11, Chiefs Cates, Johnson, Williams (SFD), Scharff (FD10), Kuheana (FAFB) and DNR Operations Officer Eddie Lewis met with the senior staff of the National Weather Service Spokane to discuss timing, trajectory and duration of the expected weather for Tuesday August 12. Upon completion of the meeting it was decided amongst the local fire service to pre-position three fire task forces to serve as a surge force in the event we experienced weather similar to 23 July and 2 August. One task force was staged at FD9 Station 92, one at the Spokane Fire Department Training Center and one at FD10 Station 10-1 in Airway Heights. Chief Johnson was assigned to the Consolidated Communication Center as Area Coordinator, with the responsibility to direct resources during periods of high call volume. As it turns out Fire 9 and Fire 4 ended up with the most impact. Three fires were started along Peone Road south of State Route 206. Unfortunately three out buildings and one turn of the 20th century home were lost, however given the close proximity to the north task force staged at Station 92 the outcome of these fires was considerably less given the 35mph sustained winds. Life and property was most certainly saved due to your local fire service leadership taking a proactive progressive approach to incident planning. Our citizens, and the citizens across all of Spokane County can sleep well knowing they are protected by a progressive fire service in Spokane County that is rivaled by none!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 01:56:39 +0000